Det amerikansk-ejede palmeolieselskab, SG Sustainable Oils Cameroon (SGSOC), hylder sig selv som bæredygtigt. Alligevel er det i færd med at rydde et artsrigt regnskovsområde i Cameroun i Vestafrika på størrelse med Falster og Møn tilsammen, skriver Greenpeace Africa tirsdag.
Kritikken afvises af Herakles Farms, der ejer SGSOC. Selskabet mener, at afskovningen er led i en kamp, der skal afhjælpe fattigdommen i området.
YAOUNDÉ, 20 November 2012 (Greenpeace): Aerial footage (luftfotos) by Greenpeace taken earlier this month shows how trees in the largely forested area have been cleared by SG Sustainable Oils Cameroon (SGSOC), a subsidiary of New York-based Herakles Farms.
The deforestation is taking place despite the fact SGSOC is operating via a 99-year land lease that has not yet been approved by Presidential Decree and is therefore questionable under Cameroonian Law.
Et område rigt på biodiversitet og større end Falster
If it is not stopped, the planned 730 km2 concession will eventually be 10 times the size of Manhattan. It would destroy a densely forested area in a biodiversity hotspot, resulting in severe consequences for the livelihoods of thousands of residents and for the global climate, states Greenpeace.
“Any large scale industrial projects in an area that is one of the most important watersheds in sub-Saharan Africa and located in one of Africa’s most important biodiversity hotspots are entirely unsuitable,” said Frédéric Amiel, a forest campaigner with Greenpeace International, adding:
“The Herakles Farms plantation must be stopped with no conditions.”
Arbejdere for SGSOC klager over dårlige løn- og arbejdsforhold
Despite claims from the company that the palm oil plantation would spur local economic growth and social development, local and international opposition continues to grow and the continued clearing risks heightening social conflict over the project.
Information received by Greenpeace International indicates that local farmers and villagers are opposed to the plans for their land, imposed without their consultation. People working for SGSOC, meanwhile, are dissatisfied with pay and working conditions.
Modstandere af afskovningen trues af myndighederne
Greenpeace International is also alarmed by indications that people who have objected to the project have been harassed at the hands of Cameroonian authorities.
On November 14, Nasako Besingi the director of the local NGO Struggle to Economize Future Environment (SEFE), an organisation campaigning peacefully against the Herakles Farms project, was arrested with three colleagues and detained without charge.
All four were later released following international and local pressure.
Greenpeace calls upon the Cameroonian government to halt the forest clearance, end the project and set up better standards for land allocation and palm oil development in Cameroon that will prevent social conflict, disruption of Cameroonian livelihoods and forest destruction.
Herakles Farms, der ejer SGSOC, skriver som svar på tiltale i et åbent brev:
“We believe that the Herakles oil palm project in Cameroon has the potential to transform a poor and underdeveloped region of the country and bring tremendous economic, social and environmental benefits to the people around it.”
Læs nyheden her: http://www.greenpeace.org/africa/en/News/news/Herakles-Farms-Continues-Forest-Clearing-in-Cameroon/
Læs Herakles Farms’ åbne brev her:
http://heraklesfarms.com/docs/916OpenLetterBWrobel.pdf
