ConocoPhillips is studying the biodiversity issue and plans to develop a strategy for providing a consistent way to protect and conserve biodiversity. One example can be found in the partnerships with diverse organizations the company is forming to protect the biodiversity of eastern Venezuela’s Gulf of Paria. In developing pre-production environmental baseline studies, the company included the input of representatives from Audubon Venezuela, the Smithsonian Institution, Fundación la Salle, Conservation International, Ecology & Environment, and Venezuelan academic institutions.
ConocoPhillips’ Venezuela business unit works with the United Nations Development Program and the Venezuelan Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, participating in a global environmental facility program for the conservation and sustainable use of the biological diversity of the biosphere reserve of the Orinoco Delta. In addition, the company has funded and is participating with Fundación Tierra Viva and other Venezuelan organizations on the development of illustrations, compact discs and tapes to broadcast bilingual (Spanish and Warao – the indigenous language) radio messages about the environment, culture and health in the Orinoco River Delta.
ConocoPhillips has signed a Memorandum of Agreement with Conservation International to develop a biodiversity action plan. The first product of that partnership was the development of the bulletin titled “Rapid Assessment of the Biodiversity and Social Aspects of the Aquatic Ecosystems of the Orinoco Delta and the Gulf of Paria, Venezuela.” In 2004, ConocoPhillips and its co-venturers Eni Venezuela, Overseas Private Investment Corporation and Petróleos de Venezuela- Corporacíon Venezolana del Petróleo (PDVSACVP) hosted a symposium to share the information from environmental and biodiversity studies conducted in the Gulf of Paria and the Orinoco Delta in eastern Venezuela. The event drew representatives from the Venezuelan scientific community, federal and state governments, the oil industry, nongovernmental organizations, and the local fishermen and indigenous communities.
Some of the new discoveries presented included: the number of bird species registered in the Pedernales region has increased approximately 40 percent; 108 plant communities have been defined, including some new to the delta; and the mangrove thickets can reach a height of 40 meters (131 feet).