Large-Scale Tree Plantations

  This year, 2014, seems to have reached a new ‘record’ of international declarations in which the signatories commit to drastically reducing, or even halting, deforestation. It is noteworthy that all of them are supported by large transnational corporations linked to the tree plantations for pulp and paper industry and the oil palm plantations industrial processing, as well as institutions linked to financial capital. Besides, some NGOs are also always involved.

 

Local communities affected by the oil palm plantations from the Société des Palmeraies du Cameroun (SOCAPALM) are waging an all-out battle to defend their rights, which are being trampled on with impunity. This giant agro-industrial palm oil production company, controlled by the Bolloré Group, has planted vast plantations in the coastal, central and southern regions of the country. Moreover, Bolloré also owns SOCFIN, the company responsible for destruction of villages and human rights violations in Nigeria.

Despite the fancy PR campaigns of Asia’s giant agribusiness group Wilmar praising itself for its “No Deforestation” policy, the company continues to purchase palm oil from suppliers that continue to clearcut vast forests and peatlands. Wilmar's business outside the PR department appears to be largely unaffected by its "No Deforestation" policy.

Joint IPs/Farmers Coalition Hits Oil Palm Expansion in Palawan A press release by the Coalition against Land Grabbing (CALG), 13 October, 2014

The 12th Conference of the Parties (COP 12) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is taking place in South Korea.

GE Trees: Another Form of Colonization 13 October 2014 – From the Indigenous Environmental Network and the Campaign to STOP GE Trees

Dismantle the power of transnational plantation corporations! There is no “smart monoculture”: Support the People’s Climate March!

Genetic engineering allows scientists to modify trees by inserting genetic material from another tree of the same species, from another tree species or from another species altogether. The attempts by research and plantation companies in the US, Brazil and other countries to commercialize engineered trees are posing an enormous risk to the world’s forests.

Producing cheap palm oil comes at a high price: destruction of rainforests, labour exploitation, and brutal land grabbing. With lands in Indonesia and Malaysia becoming more difficult for palm oil companies to acquire, attention is shifting to Africa as a new frontier for low cost palm oil production for export.