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DE RUEHLC #0585/01 2561436
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FM AMEMBASSY LIBREVILLE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9318
INFO RUEHYD/AMEMBASSY YAOUNDE 0720
RUEHKI/AMEMBASSY KINSHASA 1324
RUEHLU/AMEMBASSY LUANDA 0927
RUEHNJ/AMEMBASSY NDJAMENA 0396
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 0829
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 0087

C O N F I D E N T I A L LIBREVILLE 000585 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/13/2016 
TAGS: SENV EFIN EPET PGOV GB
SUBJECT: CHINESE OIL EXPLORATION THREATENS GABON'S FLAGSHIP 
NATIONAL PARK 
 
REF: A. LIBREVILLE 495 
 
     ¶B. LIBREVILLE 382 
 
Classified By: CDA Katherine Dhanani.  Reason: 1.4 (d). 
 
¶1. (C) Summary: Chinese oil company Sinopec's petroleum 
exploration in Gabon's flagship Loango National Park fails to 
meet minimal standards for environmental protection. 
Sinopec's impunity is just one example of recent GoG failure 
to live up to natural resource commitments; Gabon risks 
losing GEF and World Bank projects because it has failed to 
fulfill conditions.  Sinopec is most likely operating with 
the approval of President Bongo, whose recent decisions show 
him to be a fan of China.  Just four years after Bongo 
attracted widespread favorable attention when he created the 
Gabonese national park system, he may have concluded that 
traditional exploitation will better serve Gabon than 
protection of the environment and development of ecotourism. 
End summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Loango National Park includes the section of 
Gabonese coastline where Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) 
biologist Mike Fay concluded his 1250-mile "Megatransect" 
walk through the forest of central Africa in December 2000. 
It is also the site of famous National Geographic photos 
showing surfing hippos and elephants on the beach.  According 
to WCS and WWF staff, efforts to protect the Park's 
biodiversity and develop tourism are threatened by the 
exploration activities of the Chinese oil company Sinopec. 
At the time of Chinese President Hu Jintao's State Visits to 
Gabon in February 2004, the GoG granted Sinopec exploration 
rights for a block that includes most of the Loango National 
Park.  Sinopec has built roads in the park and begun a 
program that will include detonation of 16,000 seismic 
explosions along almost 500 miles of seismic transepts.  WWF 
reports that a recent seismic underwater explosion almost 
capsized a boat carrying a group of tourists on the Park's 
Iguela Lagoon.  NGO staff in the park report some 400-450 
Sinopec employees are based at two camps, one just outside 
and one inside the Park's boundaries.  They also report 
observing illegal hunting, fishing and dumping of solid waste 
in Loango by Sinopec employees.  Although these violations 
have been demonstrated to GoG officials, no action has been 
taken to suspend Sinopec's activities. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Gabon's national park system is only four years old. 
 A definitive law regulating the parks is currently before 
the Gabonese Senate; its enactment is anticipated in the next 
few months.  Under current law, no economic activities (with 
the exception of tourism) are permitted within park 
boundaries.  The new law allows for mining and oil 
exploration if an economic impact assessment is approved; 
regulations dictate the content of an EIA and the process it 
should follow.  WWF experts consider the EIA drafted for 
Sinopec by a Gabonese consulting firm sorely inadequate, but 
note that Sinopec is not even executing the minimal 
mitigation measures recommended in the (unapproved) 
Assessment, such as limiting the width of seismic transepts 
and cutting no trees with diameters above 5 centimeters. 
 
¶4. (C) The situation in Loango is only one example of recent 
GoG failure to live up to natural resource commitments.  The 
donor community recently sent a joint letter to the Minister 
of Forestry, Waters and Fishing explaining that donor 
initiatives, including a Global Environmental Facility (GEF) 
grant and a World Bank budget support credit, are at risk. 
Among the problems identified, in addition to Sinopec's 
exploration in Loango, are: 
--Failure to withdraw logging permits from concession holders 
who don't pay required fees; 
--Plans to create a new Forestry Fund outside the normal 
budgetary context; 
--Lack of transparency and inefficiencies in the dissolution 
of the monopoly wood marketing parastatal; and 
--Failure to communicate with the donor community concerning 
new legislation and regulations governing forestry and 
fishing. 
 
¶5. (C) Comment:  Sinopec's immunity from normal regulatory 
controls strongly suggests that the company is operating with 
the approval of President Bongo.  Bongo's current affection 
for China reflects his disappointment that traditional 
international donors have not done more for Gabon (Ref A). 
Bongo also appears to be unhappy with the environmental 
community, perhaps because he was oversold on the promise of 
economic development through eco-tourism when he set aside 
 
ten percent of Gabon to create the national park system in 
¶2002.  Those who care about Gabon's natural heritage fear 
that Sinopec's disdain for environmental protection in Loango 
is just a preview of what can be expected when infrastructure 
is put in place for the development of iron deposits at 
Belinga by another Chinese firm (Ref B). 
DHANANI