Asia Times: Greens battle oil TNCs in nature reserve


	June 6, 2000	atimes.com

India/Pakistan

Greens battle oil TNCs in nature reserve
By Muddassir Rizvi

ISLAMABAD - Green groups in Pakistan, backed by locals, are battling the military government's decision to allow pre-exploration activities by transnational oil companies in the country's largest wildlife reserve.

They are unhappy that the government did not wait for the findings of a study by an Australian firm, to be submitted in January 2001, that was ordered to decide if the oil companies should be let into the Kirthar National Park in the southern Sindh province.

Located 150 kilometers to the northeast of the southern port city of Karachi, the Kirthar reserve is home to several rare and threatened animal species like the Sindh Ibex, Urial sheep and the Chinkara gazelle. Kirthar is the country's first environmentally protected area and is on the UN list of protected sites.

The controversy began in July 1997 when then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's government invited British Premier Oil to search for an estimated 3 trillion cubic feet of natural gas believed to be trapped in the porous rock beneath the 25-year-old park. In 1998, Premier Oil and Dutch oil giant Shell set up a joint-venture company registered in the Netherlands called Kirthar Development BV, commonly known Shell-Premier, for prospecting in the park.

However, protests by green groups forced the government last year to order a baseline study of the park's ecological status to determine if such activity should be allowed. The initial findings of the baseline study are to be submitted to the Sindh provincial government early next year. This has forced Premier-Shell to suspend the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of the park it had begun. Green groups say an EIA by the oil companies in Kirthar violates the country's wildlife laws as it is the first step toward exploration.

According to environmental activists, prospecting in Kirthar is in violation of the 1972 Sindh Wildlife Ordinance that clearly prohibits clearing or breaking up of any land for cultivation, mining or any other purpose. The 1993 Sindh Wildlife Amendment Act and a notification by the Sindh government also provide an ''ironclad constitutional safeguard to protected areas'', says Foqia Sadiq Khan of the Islamabad-based Sustainable Development Policy Institute.

The institute is part of an informal alliance of green groups set up to oppose gas exploration in the park. Others campaigning against the proposed exploration include the World Conservation Union (IUCN), the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), the Sungi Development Foundation, the Pakistan Institute of Labor Education and Research and similar groups. The alliance has launched a hectic media campaign in the national press against the project and is also collecting signatures in support of its agitation. ''Most of the commitments made by the Sindh government and Shell-Premier to the citizen groups have not been fulfilled,'' says Farhan Anwar, of the Karachi-based citizens' group Shehri, who is also convener of the alliance campaigning against mining in Kirthar park.

A Canadian firm, Agra-Earth Consultants, has been chosen to conduct the EIA being funded by Shell-Premier. ''We selected the firm only to maintain the independence of the EIA,'' says an official of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Resources. However, the green groups are not convinced. ''An EIA is a specific project-related activity and will lead to mining and exploration prohibited under the present laws,'' says Anwar.

''We supported a baseline study of the park so that there is enough scientific data on the ecological status of the park which could help us determine whether or not there could be any commercial activity in the precincts of the park,'' he adds.

Meanwhile, provincial government officials in Sindh are accusing the protesters of being ''anti-development''. The officials claim that the gas prospecting would lead to an economic boom that would transform the poor countryside. ''These groups never cried hoarse over the rampant cultivation in the park by the locals, which is also banned. The mining activity will bring prosperity to an otherwise backward area. We will be able to build hospitals and schools, and create jobs,'' argues an official of the Sindh Wildlife Department.

Environmental groups shrug off the criticism and say their opposition is being misunderstood. ''We are not against development. All we say is that development must be sustainable,'' says Ali Qadir, coordinator of communications at the Karachi office of the IUCN.

Those living near the nature park are also not impressed by the official promises of prosperity. Nearly 11,000 people live in the 93 villages within the park area. Most of them seem to believe that the gas exploration would not make any difference to their lives. They give the example of Sui where the largest natural gas reserves of Pakistan so far were found. ''The people of Sui are still struggling to get cooking gas connections in their homes. How come they (the government) expect us to believe that mining in Kirthar will result in prosperity for us,'' the locals argue.

The government claims that the exploration would not threaten the Kirthar ecology. ''Shell-Premier is a responsible company. We are sure that they will take all necessary measures to protect the environmental damage in Kirthar,'' says a Petroleum Ministry official, requesting anonymity.

Green groups ridicule Shell-Premier's claim of using clean technologies. ''We don't know what technology they are going to use. They could use magic wands for all we care, but the goal remains illegal and morally unacceptable,'' says Karachi-based green activist Aly Ercelawn.

The environmental groups are also alarmed by reports that the Sindh government may be yielding to pressure from the multinational oil companies to modify provincial conservation laws that would permit gas exploration in Kirthar. ''We oppose any change in the law. We urge the federal government to formulate a transparent, non-arbitrary and participatory license concession policy in accordance with the principle of provincial autonomy and concerns of civil society groups,'' says a press note issued by the green groups.

According to green activist Foqia Khan, the Pakistani government is obliged not only to enforce national laws, but honor international commitments to protect biodiversity.

(Inter Press Service)

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�1999 Asia Times Online Co., Ltd.

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