Report finds 61.5 million hectares of protected areas overlap with oil and gas blocks — Mongabay

A new Earth Insight report found that 61.5 million hectares of protected and conserved areas in tropical countries overlap with active or planned oil and gas blocks. Another 42.7 million hectares of such lands overlap with mining blocks or concessions, Mongabay reports.

The analysis involved a coalition of non-governmental organizations, including Earth Insight, the World Commission on Protected Areas, the Key Biodiversity Areas Secretariat, and the International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity. It examined how extractive activities overlap with areas under varying levels of protection.

Gaps in biodiversity protection

The report’s authors also recorded significant gaps in the protection of Key Biodiversity Areas. More than 36 million hectares, or 19% of unprotected areas of this type, are located within oil and gas blocks. Another 28 million hectares, or 15%, overlap with mining concessions.

Among marine Key Biodiversity Areas, 91 million hectares remain without protected status, and 19% of this area overlaps with oil and gas blocks. More than 40% of identified terrestrial key biodiversity areas in the Amazon lack protection; in the Congo Basin, the figure is 29%, while in Southeast Asia and Central America, it exceeds half.

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Pressure in the Congo Basin

In the Congo Basin, 31% of protected lands are designated for oil and gas activities, while another 5% are designated for mineral extraction. Among unprotected Key Biodiversity Areas, 33% overlap with oil and gas blocks and 16% with mining areas.

The report separately mentions the proposed 54-million-hectare Kivu–Kinshasa Green Corridor in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. According to researchers’ estimates, 39.2 million hectares, or 72% of this territory, will overlap with oil and gas blocks; 2.6 million hectares with mining concessions; and 6.4 million hectares with logging concessions.

The authors called on governments not to limit themselves to expanding protected areas in order to achieve the global 30×30 target — conserving at least 30% of land, inland waters, coastal and marine areas by 2030. In their view, large-scale extractive activities should be banned on protected lands, their effective management should be ensured, and the land rights, governance and conservation activities of Indigenous peoples and local communities should be recognized and properly funded.