Bazaruto, dugongs and peak oil September 14, 2007
Posted by Ralph Pina in : Conservation, ecotourism , trackback
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The Bazaruto archipelago, off the coast of Mozambique, is a tropical island paradise and a national park. Proclaimed in 1971 to protect, amongst other species, what is now the last viable dugong population in Africa, it is under threat from the desperate exploration for and extraction of oil and gas, as world demand for hydro-carbons starts to exceed a plateauing supply. The short-term profits to be made, at the expense of the long-term survival of our ecosystems, are enormous.
Bazaruto recently surfaced in the news again when the iconoclastic Noseweek magazine and the excellent 50-50 TV programme (the documentary was made by ecoeye.org) investigated the beaching and deaths of dolphins, allegedly as a result of seismic surveys by the South African coal-to-liquids energy giant, Sasol, in its search for offshore oil and gas. Seismic surveys involve the bombardment of the sea-bed with extremely loud (230 decibels) sonar-like “pings”. Marine biologists have long been concerned about the effects of the noise on the hearing of marine mammals, believing that it can adversely affect hunting and migration. Some believe that dugongs, listed by the IUCN as a species close to extinction, are especially vulnerable.
So I asked a fellow ecoAfrica director, Lynton Burger, who holds an M.Sc in ichthyology, for his opinion. Lynton wrote:
“I don’t share the concerns around offshore oil exploration impacts on dugongs. I stand corrected but I don’t believe dugongs would be very affected by offshore oil exploration activity (directly). Dugongs are found only inshore in shallow, sheltered areas (they feed on sea grass that grows in flat shallow sandy bay areas) and are very threatened because of direct human exploitation (they are easily caught in gill nets and are eaten illegally as a delicacy when caught) and inshore boat activity (being slow moving and often unseen just below the surface of low-visibility, nearshore waters – they are often hit by boats). They are slow moving, slow breeding and restricted geographically because of their inshore specialist diet (which in itself is being damaged by shore-based pollution, indiscriminate inshore trawling for prawns and to a lesser extent marina and other nearshore tourism development). Personally I have been fascinated by these creatures for years and in 1996 spent a week at the university research station on Inyaka Island off Maputo looking for one. This is meant to be the southern-most end of their distribution on the east coast of Africa but we saw none in this time - I chartered the research vessel “Dugongo” for the week and did “transects” through potential habitat areas every day for a week.
I do, however, share the concerns related to impacts of noise pollution on whales and dolphins.”
The questions raised by the Noseweek article and 50-50 documentary include:
- whether developing countries have the capacity - and the political will - to enforce things like buffer zones around the national park or the conditions of impact assessments. Mozambique’s government was unable to ensure that Sasol not ignore the condition that they not start surveying during the turtle breeding season.
- whether conservation NGOs and local lobby groups are able to withstand the financial and other pressures that are often inexorably exerted by large corporations. It seems that scientists who want to research the effects seismic surveys on marine mammals can only obtain financial assistance from companies like Sasol. Similarly, WWF Mozambique’s efforts in the archipelago are apparently financed in this way too. This and the fact that environmental impact assessments are paid for by the developer call ultimate objectivity into question.
- whether the interests of the (sustainable) tourism industry and local communities will trump those of Big Oil and its fellow travellers.
- If one thinks beyond the impacts of seismic surveys, what happens if gas or oil is indeed found in economic quantities? One can visualise gas platforms dotting these azure waters, the attendant pollution of drilling and pumping operations and continuous pressure to encroach upon the core national park itself. Not to mention the inevitable increase in local population, ensuing “development” and human pressure on resources. The dugong will definitely be adversely affected by such developments.
Will we ultimately sacrifice all on the altar of short-term profit and our fossil fuel habit?
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