The petitioners call on the government to protect the 100-square-kilometre public land assembly with a healthy and sustainable Rouge national park; ensure that the Rouge national park implements and strengthens the ecological visions and policies of previously approved Rouge park plans; conduct a rational, scientific and transparent public planning process to create Rouge national park's boundaries, legislation and strategic plan; and, include first nations and Friends of the Rouge Watershed on an advisory board.

5. Takes note of the agreement reached in June 2014 between SOCO International and the conservation group WWF, in relation to WWF’s complaint to the UK National Contact Point (NCP) on SOCO’s lack of compliance with the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, according to which the company commits not to undertake or commission any exploratory or other drilling within Virunga National Park unless UNESCO and the DRC Government agree that such activities are not incompatible with its World Heritage Status; notes that such conditi ...[+++]onal agreement offers no guarantees as to the cessation of any oil-related activity in the park; points out that the ambiguous position of SOCO International leaves the door open to the park being fully or partially declassified for oil drilling; observes that the concession that SOCO has been exploring is located in and around Lake Edward, an area which is home to dozens of iconic (and some endangered) species, including chimpanzees, elephants, crocodiles and lions; calls, therefore, on SOCO International plc and its DRC-registered company to stop all exploration and exploitation within Virunga permanently and to respect the park’s current boundaries; calls also on the DRC Government to cancel the oil exploration permits granted within the property of Virunga National Park, as requested by the World Heritage Committee;

14. Calls on the European External Action Service to coordinate a diplomatic response from the EU Member States and other potential donors active in the DRC, with a view to helping the DRC Government reject oil exploration and exploitation within the boundaries of the park, cancel the oil exploration permits granted within the property of the VNP, as requested by the World Heritage Committee, and in the other Congolese UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and to reject changes to, and the reduction of, the park’s boundaries;

4. Takes note of the agreement reached in June 2014 between SOCO International and the conservation group WWF, in relation to WWF’s complaint to the UK National Contact Point (NCP) on SOCO’s lack of compliance with the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, according to which the company commits not to undertake or commission any exploratory or other drilling within Virunga National Park unless UNESCO and the DRC Government agree that such activities are not incompatible with its World Heritage Status; notes that such conditi ...[+++]onal agreement offers no guarantees as to the cessation of any oil-related activity in the park; points out that the ambiguous position of SOCO International leaves the door open to the park being fully or partially declassified for oil drilling; observes that the concession that SOCO has been exploring is located in and around Lake Edward, an area which is home to dozens of iconic (and some endangered) species, including chimpanzees, elephants, crocodiles and lions; calls, therefore, on SOCO International plc and its DRC-registered company to stop all exploration and exploitation within Virunga permanently and to respect the park’s current boundaries; calls also on the DRC Government to cancel the oil exploration permits granted within the property of Virunga National Park, as requested by the World Heritage Committee;

3. Emphasises that irreversible damage to the VNP could occur as a result of the exploration and exploitation of oil or other illegal activities; deems it unacceptable that oil concessions in the VNP were granted in 2007 to the French oil company TOTAL and the British oil company SOCO International, in violation of the Paris Convention on the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage, the 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity, the Ramsar Convention and Congolese law, recalls that, while TOTAL agreed never to explore within the boundaries of the VNP (even if the Congolese Government decides to change the boundaries), SOCO Inter ...[+++]national has carried out oil exploration in the VNP and concluded a seismic survey in July 2014, the results of which were submitted to the Congolese Government and attest to the presence of oil; calls on the DRC Government not to award a licence to another operator;

5. Takes note of the agreement reached in June 2014 between SOCO International and the conservation group WWF, in relation to WWF’s complaint to the UK National Contact Point (NCP) on SOCO’s lack of compliance with the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, according to which the company commits not to undertake or commission any exploratory or other drilling within Virunga National Park unless UNESCO and the DRC Government agree that such activities are not incompatible with its World Heritage Status; notes that such conditi ...[+++]onal agreement offers no guarantees as to the cessation of any oil-related activity in the park; points out that the ambiguous position of SOCO International leaves the door open to the park being fully or partially declassified for oil drilling; observes that the concession that SOCO has been exploring is located in and around Lake Edward, an area which is home to dozens of iconic (and some endangered) species, including chimpanzees, elephants, crocodiles and lions; calls, therefore, on SOCO International plc and its DRC-registered company to stop all exploration and exploitation within Virunga permanently and to respect the park’s current boundaries; calls also on the DRC Government to cancel the oil exploration permits granted within the property of Virunga National Park, as requested by the World Heritage Committee;