Authors
Erik Verheyen, R Abila, P Akoll, C Albertson, D Antunes, T Banda, R Bills, A Bulirani, A Chocha Manda, AS Cohen, F Cunha-Saraiva, S Derycke, Ian Donohue, M Du, AM Dudu, B Egger, K Fritzsche, JG Frommen, HF Gante, MJ Genner, A Härer, H Hata, K Irvine, P Isumbisho Mwapu, L Janssens de Bisthoven, A Jungwirth, P Kaleme, C Katongo, L Kéver, Stephan Koblmüller, A Konings, A Lamboj, F Lemmel-Schaedelin, G Machado Schiaffino, K Martens, P Masilya Mulungula, A Meyer, HL More, Z Musilova, F Muterezi Bukinga, R Muzumani, G Ntakimazi, W Okello, H Phiri, Lubomír Pialek, PD Plisnier, JAM Raeymaekers, J Rajkov, O Rican, R Roberts, W Salzburger, I Schoen, KM Sefc, P Singh, P Skelton, J Snoeks, K Schneider, C Sturmbauer, H Svardal, Ola Svensson, J Torres Dowdall, GF Turner, A Tyers, Jacobus Cornelis van Rijssel, Maarten Van Steenberge, MPM Vanhove, A-T Weber, O Weyl, A Ziegelbecker, H Zimmermann
Publication date
2016/11/4
Journal
Science
Volume
354
Issue
6312
Pages
561-562
Publisher
American Association for the Advancement of Science
Description
AS THE WORLD’S demands for hydrocarbons increase (1), remote areas previously made inaccessible by technological limitations are now being prospected for oil and gas deposits. Virtually unnoticed by the public, such activities are ongoing in the East African Great Lakes region, threatening these ecosystems famed for their hyper-diverse biota, including the unique adaptive radiations of cichlid fishes (2). Countries in the region see exploitation of hydrocarbon reserves as a vital economic opportunity. In the Lake Albert region of Uganda, for example, the government foresees a $3.6 billion oil profit per year starting in 2018—a sum almost as high as the country’s current annual budget (3). However, oil extraction in the East African Great Lakes region poses grave risks to the environment and local communities. The thousands of oil spills reported in Nigeria (4) demonstrate that the extraction and transport of oil are …
Scholar articles
E Verheyen, R Abila, P Akoll, C Albertson, D Antunes… - Science, 2016