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"Greenpeace Africa Urges Halcyon Agri to Stop the Destruction of Community Livelihoods and Biodiversity in Cameroon" The NGO said in a statement sent to AFP.
According to Greenpeace Africa's report, Sudcam, a local subsidiary of the Singapore-based global rubber giant, "is responsible for the most devastating new series of land clearing in industrial agriculture in the Pacific Basin. Congo ".
The company has cleared some 10,000 hectares of tropical forest between 2011 and 2018 to plant heveas.
The NGO mentions a threat to the environment because "Sudcam's concessions are located in the periphery of the Dja fauna reserve, a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1987 because of its Outstanding Universal Value in Plant and Wildlife Biodiversity "
Destroyed villages
Unesco had already pointed to Sudcam " as a new serious threat to the Dja Wildlife Reserve "[19459007reminiscentofGreenpeaceaccordingtowhichthereserveisnolongerseparatedfromtherubberplantationsonlyby100to200meters
"The forest of the Congo Basin, considered the second lung of the planet after the Amazon, is also the refuge and habitat of several pygmy ethnic groups, including the Bakas of Cameroon" wrote there is a year Geopolis.
In June 2017, these same Bakas, who are ostracized and abused populations, told Greenpeace the nature of their prejudices: their villages were " completely destroyed and the villagers were forced to leave without they are not offered a resettlement plan or compensation ".
Facts that violate Article 10 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, according to the NGO.
In response, Halcyon Agri stated in April 2018 that the compensation was "calculated on the basis of an assessment grid established by the government and paid directly to the beneficiaries after approval" Locusts.
Forest in Cameroon © Michael Runkel / Robert Harding Premium / robertharding
Shadow areas
In Cameroon, where the agricultural sector accounts for some 15% of GDP, the legislation "does not require compensation for all losses resulting from land dispossession. The texts only provide for the protection and compensation of private ownership of land, a rare situation among rural populations " warns Greenpeace Africa.
As early as 2011, the Sudcam company had been granted by the Cameroonian government numerous advantages to develop their large-scale rubber production project.
But the agreement between the parties, which runs for a period of 50 years renewable for every 25 years, has, according to Greenpeace, gray areas. Thus, "an influential member of the Cameroonian political elite owns 20% of Sudcam and the company is close to the house of Cameroon's president Paul Biya". The latter himself would have interests in this company, according to statements of local NGOs, reported by AFP.
Since summer 2017, deforestation has accelerated in this area to reach a rate of nearly 10 football fields per day. If Sudcam continues its beating activities, an additional 20,000 hectares of forest will disappear in the coming years, warns Greenpeace Africa in its report.
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