Oil Palms and the Destruction of a Biodiversity Hotspot
The rainforests of the Gulf of Guinea in Cameroon and Nigeria are a biodiversity hotspot. They are among the most biologically rich forests in the world and harbor many plant and animal species found nowhere else on this planet. They are also highly threatened.
In the middle of this network of forests a palm oil plantation is planned. Over 70,000 hectares (270 sq. miles) of land currently covered by a mosaic of mature, dense forest, agroforest, farmland, and human settlements will be transformed into a monoculture of oil palms.
This will be an environmental disaster for the rainforests in Cameroon; even worse than the planned highway trough the Serengeti. The oil palm plantation will further fragment this unique landscape, restricting the natural movements of many animal species.
In this landscape are several protected areas, including Korup National Park, Bakossi National Park, Banyang Mbo Wildlife Sanctuary, and Rumpi Hills Forest Reserve. These protected areas represent a stronghold for many endangered, unique species. If they are lost from these areas, they will likely be lost from this world forever. This oil palm plantation will further isolate these protected areas and increase bushmeat hunting pressure. Hunting for bushmeat, the meat of wild animals, is already driving large-bodied mammal species to extinction. This oil palm plantation will lead to increased bushmeat hunting and decimate forests and wildlife.
What is Palm Oil?
Palm oil is derived from the oil palm plant. It is a thick, orange oil that is commonly used for cooking and preparing other products (it's in almost everything we eat but also in soaps, cosmetics, and other commonly used products). Eighty percent of the world's palm oil comes from SE Asia, but increasingly it is being produced in sub-Saharan Africa. The oil palm plant requires a hot, humid, wet environment (like a rainforest). A palm oil plantation necessitates felling all of the vegetation and transforming the once forest area into an exclusive oil palm plantation (a monoculture). There is a relatively large scientific literature available on the negative social and environmental impacts of oil palm development, which is one of the leading causes of forest loss in the tropics. Increasingly, palm oil is being produced not just for cooking but as a biofuel (or agrofuel) and is being promoted as the "eco-friendly" alternative to fossil fuels. In fact, it is not.
Who is involved?
All of the companies and organizations behind this oil palm development are based in the United States.
In 2004, Bruce Wrobel founded Sithe Global Power. He is also the founder of Herakles Capital Corp. Mr. Wrobel is also the founder of All for Africa, All three companies – Sithe Global, Herakles, and All for Africa - share the same New York City address. In Cameroon SG Sustainable Oils develops the plantation - an affiliate of Herakles Farms.
The Blackstone Group, one of the world's largest private equity and investment firms, owns 99% of Sithe Global, a New York City-based energy company. Sithe Global partners with All for Africa. All for Africa promotes palm oil in Cameroon as social project. As you can see, the anatomy of this oil palm development is quite confusing (see Chart)
How Will This Plantation Affect the Environment?
SG Sustainable Oils (SGSO) is a member of the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), a global organization that sets guidelines for producing palm oil sustainable. As required by the RSPO, these companies are required to conduct a High Conservation Value Forest (HCVF) assessment. If that assessment identifies High Conservation Values (meaning, the area is biologically important), then according to the RSPO's Principles and Criteria for Sustainable Palm Oil Production, such values must be protected. The RSPO also requires that "new plantings since November 2005 must not replace primary forest or any area required to maintain or enhance one or more High Conservation Values".
Sithe Global and Herakles Farms approached the UK-based organization, Proforest, to conduct the HCVF assessment, but Proforest refused on the grounds that the proposed development is partially located in primary forest and in an area that is part of the wider forest landscape of Korup National Park. They also informed the Sithe Global and Herakles Farms that the oil palm development would not comply with several principals of the RSPO.
In fact, according to satellite imagery of the proposed plantation area the majority of the land in one of the sections (Ndian section) of the proposed plantation is dense forest and the remaining being a mosaic of forest, agroforest, farmland, and settlements. In addition, from forest and hunter surveys conducted by biologists, this area is home to the Endangered chimpanzee and drill monkey and may be home to the Endangered Preuss's monkey and the Critically Endangered Preuss's red colobus monkey. These monkey species are among the most threatened primates in all of Africa. This area might also be an important migration route for the forest elephant, which regularly uses Korup National Park and the Rumpi Hills Forest Reserve. Both these reserves will be almost completely isolated from each other if the oil palm plantation is developed.
The forests in South West Cameroon are one of the most biodiverse in the world and represent a stronghold for many kinds of endangered and endemic species. If this oil palm development is allowed to continue it will decimate forests outside of protected areas, further fragment the forest, and destroy key habitat for threatened species. It will also be catastrophic for the wildlife inside the protected areas, especially Korup National Park and Bakossi National Park. Bushmeat hunting will dramatically increase inside these protected areas. Workers will migrate into the area seeking jobs and they will demand bushmeat. Hunters will have even more incentive to violate Cameroon laws and harvest animals from inside the protected areas, where animal populations are still relatively abundant. The current conservation infrastructure will be ill-equipped to do anything about it.
Sithe Global and Herakles have recently conducted a HCVF assessment (despite the above facts) and, as required by Cameroonian law, a social and environmental impact assessment (SEIA). However, to date, they have refused to make these documents public. In fact, they recently convened a meeting in Limbe, Cameroon to present the outcome of the social and environmental impact assessment. However, very few data were actually presented, there appeared to be a lack of understanding regarding RSPO procedures and principles, company representatives were unclear about the actual location and extent of the oil palm plantation, they failed to show evidence that the forests are not of high conservation value, and they did not effectively analyze the potential social and economic impacts of this development on local communities.
Destruction of a Biodiversity Hotspot - Masked as Development Aid?
Most of the 45,000 people from 38 small villages that will be affected by this oil palm development rely heavily on farming to feed their families and earn an income. They also rely heavily on the non-timber forest products surrounding the village. The deforestation caused by the oil palm development would dramatically alter their livelihoods and negatively affect their cultural activities.
Most surprising is the fact that this development is being sold as a sustainable development project that aims to alleviate poverty in an environmentally responsible way. The non-profit, New York City-based organization All for Africa markets the planned palm oil plantation as part of its "palm out poverty campaign" (see www.allforafrica.org ) - claiming to alleviate poverty in Africa by taking donations from donors to plant oil palms. Do not be fooled! In no way is this development environmentally sustainable or socially responsible.
The All for Africa website claims that, "oil palm trees are effective in harmful greenhouse gas absorption." But, would not the destruction of over 270 square miles of forest emit vast amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and would not these forests that will be cut down (with their greater plant biomass than an oil palm plantation) be more effective in, "harmful greenhouse gas absorption"?
According to the SGSO website, "the management team at SGSO is committed to upholding the highest standards in terms of social and environmental sustainability" and "SGSO has adopted a sustainable approach to palm oil". But, how is this oil palm development environmentally sustainable and socially responsible when they will be removing high conservation value forest that protects and provides support for the surrounding protected areas and disrupting the lives of thousands of Cameroonians?
Very little is known about the social impact of oil palm plantations in Africa. But we can look at the oil palm experience in Southeast Asia for what to expect. Companies tend to target the dense, high canopy, mature forests for their plantations because they can first remove the valuable timber and make a profit by selling it.
Once the forest is removed, oil palm nurseries are planted and over time, these develop into mature oil palm trees that produce fruit that are processed to extract palm oil. Often, oil palm workers are brought in from outside the general plantation area, resulting in a massive influx of people into the area – people who demand food and land to maintain their livelihoods. Wages are often exploitatively low and living conditions not much better. Several investigative reports by various conservation and human rights organizations have shown that, in fact, oil palm development does not necessarily lead to poverty alleviation and is not environmentally responsible.
The Bulldozers Have Already Arrived
The residents living in and around the proposed oil palm development area fight against the planned plantation.
Even though the HCVF assessment and SEIA have not yet been made public and approved, SGSO continues to move forward with this development. In fact, bulldozers from their company have already started disrupting farms and planting oil palm nurseries in several villages. This has led villagers to protest these activities. For example, in the village of Fabe, after SGSO trucks entered the village, many of the youths prevented them from creating the nursery. Villagers have already written letters to Cameroonian government officials describing meetings that SGSO has had with tribal elites of the affected villages to secure their support. However, this was accomplished without consent from anyone else in the villages. Many people in these villages are against this development because it would mean losing their forests, and either being surrounded by oil palms or being forced to relocate. Most of these villagers rely heavily on farming to feed their families and earn an income. They also rely heavily on the non-timber forest products surrounding the village. How long can they hold off such enormous, international corporations? Their voices are hardly ever heard – but, you can change that.
Our Demands:
SAVE and its and constituents demand the immediate stop to this deforestation. This unique ecosystem must not be disrupted and the livelihoods of human beings must not be robbed.
We demand that the companies involved make public the HCVF and SEIA that have already been conducted and that legitimate social and biological scientists be given the opportunity to accurately assess the social and environmental impact of the proposed oil palm plantation.
We demand that all affected villages be informed of the real and potential environmental, social, and economic impact of this development and be given a voice in the decision-making regarding the future of their forests.
We demand that any oil palm plantation be developed in close coordination with conservation, development, and human rights organizations operating in the region to insure that any such development is, in fact, socially and environmentally responsible.
Additionally, if this development were to eventually proceed, albeit significantly altered to take into account the results of various assessments, we demand that the companies and organizations responsible for this development include a significant conservation investment in the affected region (including an investment in the protected areas) to offset the environmental damage of the oil palm plantation. All costs related to assessments, education and awareness, and conservation offsets should be borne by these companies and organizations.
We urge you to read the information on this webpage and sign our petition to save the Cameroonian forests, wildlife, and people from destruction. We ask you to call the companies involved and demand answers. Call the conservation organizations working in Cameroon – organizations like the World Wildlife Fund – and ask what they are doing to stop this development.
A campain of the SAVE Wildlife Conservation Fund and its constituents.
