Tre miljøorganisationer lancerer en ny rapport om palmeolieproduktionen i Gabon. Regeringen har nemlig planer om gøre Gabon til Afrikas største producent af palmeolie, men det risikerer at true landets tropiske regnskov og lokalbefolkningens vandforsyning, skriver miljøorganisationen FERN.
The NGO Brainforest, in collaboration with FERN and WRM, has conducted a study on the impacts of the expansion of oil palm and rubber tree plantations in Gabon. Tropical rainforests cover 85 per cent of the total land area in Gabon. They are home to an immense diversity of species, on which some 300,000 people depend for their survival, through hunting, gathering, fishing and small farming.
But the country’s government wants to turn Gabon into Africa’s largest producer of palm oil. Under the “Strategic Plan for an Emerging Gabon” (Plan Stratégique Gabon Emergent, PSGE) of the President, two companies will develop oil palm and rubber tree plantations: the Singapore-based Olam and the Belgium-owned SIAT Gabon.
The report highlights local communities concerns over access to water in the future. Although water is, in principle, a public good, growing private ownership of lands and forests, deforestation, and the expansion of rubber tree and oil palm plantations, will potentially have a negative impact on the water supply. Læs rapporten her: http://www.fern.org/node/5547
