Oil activities by TotalEnergies in Murchison Falls National Park have had adverse effects on the park’s climate and biodiversity, research by the Africa Institute for Energy Governance (AFIEGO) has revealed.
Total and other stakeholders are currently developing infrastructure including oil rigs, well pads, pipelines and roads among others in the park.
The AFIEGO study assessed the risks presented by development of the infrastructure to biodiversity conservation in the park.
The study, whose objective is to raise stakeholder awareness about the status and impacts of oil infrastructural developments in the park, is based on satellite images from February and May 2024, and interviews with biodiversity experts and members of the host communities.
Maps, developed based on the satellite images, show that two of the ten well pads that are being developed to enable oil extraction in MFNP are too close to the Murchison Falls-Albert Delta Ramsar site, a wetland of international importance that is important for conservation of vulnerable bird species such as the Shoebill.
The study shows that vibrations from the oil rig in the park had affected elephants, which are sensitive.
“The study participants noted that elephants were increasingly moving away from the park and into community areas, where they had caused fatalities. As many as five people in Buliisa district, which neighbours the park, were reported to have been killed by elephants between 2023 and April 2024,” the study notes.
According to the study, the host communities threatened that if Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) does not address the invasions by elephants, they could engage in retaliatory killings, which endangers the conservation of the elephants, which are listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
The study also showed that there were fears amongst conservationists that the bright light from the drilling rig, which is visible from as far as 13.9 km away, could cause significant disruption to nocturnal wildlife.
The study reveals that species, some of which are listed as vulnerable, by the IUCN such as leopards, hyenas, lions, and certain bird species, which rely on darkness for hunting and other activities could be particularly affected.
According to the study, the development of roads in the park has raised the conservation risks for wildlife such as various antelopes, elephants, hippopotami, giraffes and others as the roads ease access to the park by poachers.
“The roads have also increased motorization in the park, with trucks carrying materials for the Tilenga oil project infrastructural activities, being implicated in contributing to the increase. The trucks and other motor traffic heighten the road accident risks faced by biodiversity, and cause disturbances for nocturnal wildlife such as lions that sleep during the day,” the study noted.
The study recommends that TotalEnergies and government stop all oil exploitation activities in the park. It also calls on the United Nations (UN) Ramsar Secretariat and UNESCO World Heritage Committee to engage the government to stop the oil activities in the park.
