The East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), which stretches from oil fields in Uganda’s Lake Albert region to Tanzania’s port town of Tanga, is once again under scrutiny after a new report mapped out the biodiversity areas and wildlife habitats it runs through or passes by.
Drawing data from maps and economic value estimates, the report by U.S.-based NGO Earth Insight shows that the 1,443-kilometer (990-mile) pipeline is close to areas that are important for livelihoods and water security for millions of people and serve as migration corridors for animals. The report concludes that the construction of the pipeline has already disturbed communities and the environment and that oil transportation will bring further long-term risks.
EACOP is a joint project involving TotalEnergies (62% stake), the governments of Uganda (15%) and Tanzania (15%), and the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC, 8%). EACOP will carry oil extracted from two oilfields in the Lake Albert region: Kingfisher, owned by CNOOC, and Tilenga, owned by TotalEnergies.
According to Earth Insight, the project is nearing completion. Oil transportation through the pipeline is expected to start as early as October 2026.
“It crosses right through endangered species ranges, the most important and critical one being the black rhino habitat range,” Earth Insight’s Katie Boston, the study’s main researcher, told Mongabay on the phone. She added that the pipeline could cause habitat fragmentation in the Kibale/Bukoora River Crossing area, where construction has not yet been completed, affecting species including the black rhino (Diceros bicornis), two pangolin species, the African wild dog (Lycaon pictus) and several primates, including the eastern chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) and the ashy red colobus (Piliocolobus tephrosceles).
Communities and civil society organizations have criticized the project’s resettlement schemes, its potential adverse impacts on crops and agricultural lands and a carbon footprint of an average of 34.5 million metric tons of emissions per year over its 25-year lifespan, according to estimates released by the Climate Accountability Institute.
The Earth Insight report zooms in on several locations where the biodiversity impacts could be devastating. One such area is the Kibale/Bukoora River Crossing.
“It demonstrates how the impact of this pipeline can extend far beyond just the project area,” Boston said.
Since the site where the pipeline crosses the river is only 12 km (7.5 mi) away from the Sango Bay-Musambwa Island-Kagera Wetland System (SAMUKA), a transboundary wetland recognized under the Ramsar Convention, and 37 km (23 mi) from Lake Victoria, the world’s second-largest freshwater lake by surface area, an oil spill could have devastating consequences.
Apart from the geographic mapping of the oil pipeline in relation to biodiversity sites, the report also looked at the economic value of some of these sites. The Samuka Ramsar site provides an estimated $117 million worth of ecosystem services, Boston said. According to the Ramsar Sites Information Service, although the population density in the area is low, it serves communities in the region as a source of fish, medicinal plants and raw materials for building and crafts.
Diana Nabiruma from the Africa Institute for Energy Governance (AFIEGO), a Ugandan organization that has been working with local communities affected by TotalEnergies resettlement activities along the pipeline, told Mongabay that water sources had already been polluted and residents negatively affected.
AFIEGO has been advocating locally for fair resettlement schemes and the correct implementation of promised mitigation and adaptation measures aimed at protecting local communities, wetlands, forests and wildlife. The organization is finalizing two reports that will highlight EACOP’s impacts on biodiversity and the relocation schemes, which are expected to be published later this month.
“The wetlands affected by the EACOP are very biodiverse, and some are connected to Ramsar wetlands,” Nabiruma told Mongabay, adding that, against the promises made by the company, communities have reported that the pipeline construction has caused damage.
“Replacement wells are subpar. The project not only takes from the wetlands, it also draws community water,” she said.
Remnant soils from trenching activities were left within residences and near wetlands in districts such as Hoima in western Uganda, where the pipeline starts, and Kyotera in central Uganda, where the main downstream pump station is located before the pipeline crosses into Tanzania.
“These soils have flowed into wetlands, causing siltation,” said Nabiruma, adding that they have observed shortcomings in the delivery of actions committed to in the various assessments that the company has conducted.
A spokesperson from TotalEnergies, which had its annual general meeting end of May in Paris, responded to Mongabay in writing, referring to a large number of surveys that “have been carried out to examine the impacts of this project in a region recognized across the globe for its unique and rich biodiversity.”
He added that the route had been designed to minimize impacts on biodiversity and does not pass through any Ramsar or IUCN-protected areas. “Around 80% of the pipeline footprint will be returned to its natural state,” the spokesperson said, adding that TotalEnergies EP Uganda is committed to achieving a “positive net impact on biodiversity” through the Tilenga project.
Like EACOP, TotalEnergies’ Tilenga project has been met with fierce opposition from civil society in Uganda and around the world, which criticize the resettlement schemes as well as its contribution to climate change as a project centered around fossil fuel extraction.
A recent self-assessment commissioned by TotalEnergies concluded that the resettlement scheme for the oil project near Lake Albert has been completed successfully. However, organizations like AFIEGO challenged this, pointing out that the project has caused significant socioeconomic harm to communities, with affected families experiencing reduced land sizes, lower incomes and food insecurity.
