Botswana Says No Licence Issued for Shale Gas Fracking in Kgalagadi Trans-Frontier Park

Botswana has denied issuing any fracking rights for exploration of shale gas in the Kgalagadi Trans-Frontier Park has been issued.

Country’s Ministry of Environment, Wildlife and Tourism in a statement published Friday said media reports which suggested that British company Karoo Energy, formerly known in Botswana as Nodding Donkey, had been issued with permits to explore for natural gas in the KTP were deliberately misleading, African News Agency (ANA) reported.

“The Ministry responsible for National Parks in Botswana would like to assure all stakeholders and concerned parties that there is no fracking in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. There are also no licenses for fracking in the KTP. This Ministry, which is responsible for Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA), has no intention to issue any approvals for fracking in the KTP or any other national park or national game reserve anywhere in Botswana,” the statement said.

According to ANA, in December 2015, several British media outlets reported that the government of Botswana had secretly awarded fracking rights for more than half of the surface area of the KTP to Karoo Energy in September 2014.