Gorilla Habitats Under Threat as DRC Expands Gas and Oil Tenders

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is opening crucial gorilla habitats and pristine forests to bids for oil and gas drilling, with plans to carve up more than half the country into fossil fuel blocks.

- Phoebe Weston

The blocks opened for auction cover 124m hectares (306m acres) of land and inland waters described by experts as the "world's worst place to prospect for oil" because they hold vast amounts of carbon and are home to some of the planet's most precious wildlife habitats, and endangered lowland gorillas and bonobos.

This year the government has launched a licensing round for 52 oil blocks; these are in addition to three blocks previously awarded. Of the total area, 64% is intact tropical forest, according to the spatial mapping and analysis in a report by Earth Insight.