Toronto, Ontario -- (ReleaseWire) -- 07/04/2012 -- An international coalition of non profit groups and online activists Forest Activists United issued a rebuttal to a press release from Herakles Farms today. The original press release issued by Herakles Farms , a US company that owns SG Sustainable Oils Cameroon ( SGSOC ) spoke in glowing terms of its proposed palm oil plantation in Cameroon.

The NGOs including the Rainforests Resource Development Centre( RRDC ), Green Concern for Development( Greencode ) in Nigeria, the Struggle to Economize Future Environment ( SEFE )were led by Save Wildlife Conservation Fund( German based )

In 2009, SGSOC signed a 99-year contract with Cameroon's government for approximately 70,000 hectares. The company planned to develop a large industrial palm oil plantation and refinery on the concession, and produce palm oil and other products that is supposed to create jobs for local workers, as well as generate revenues for Cameroon's government.

The issue according to a statement from SEFE Director, Nasako Besingi was that the contract did not specify that the plantations would be established in one of the last remaining rainforests in Cameroon. Herakles in its press release calls it a "region that had been logged and farmed repeatedly." This statement suggests a degraded forest or barren landscape that cannot be farmed by small scale farmers but according to SEFE " The land within these protected areas are significant nationally and internationally in terms of biodiversity, ecology, hydrology and climate change. The establishment of this plantation will not only cause problems to communities that live in the proposed concession areas but also those that live on coastal fringes in other areas of Cameroon, including those in Cross river State in Nigeria." Satellite imagery from Save Wildlife supports SEFE's claim that huge portions of the concession lands are as heavily forested as those in Korup National Park.

While Herakles Farms CEO Bruce Wrobel speaks in terms like "We are focused on balancing our commitments to the Government regarding job creation and economic development with the specific and important interests of the local communities, as well as NGOs and other stakeholders." Local communities that have been affected by this plantation have a much different story to tell. A good portion of the local communities claim to have received no consultations nor did they give their consent to have their lands included in the palm oil plantation. According to SEFE, even those villages that did agree to the plantation are becoming increasingly disillusioned with the plantation as the promises of good jobs have not materialised. Their greatest fear now is that their decision to continue their traditional livelihoods will not be an option if their lands are swallowed up by Herakles.

In a direct contradiction of its own environmental policies to not plant on High Value Conservation forests, Herakles choice of location is considered by scientists worldwide to be a biodiversity hotspot. The buffer zones between Korup national park and the Rumpi Hills Forest Reserve in Toko and Mundemba subdivisions in Ndain Division and the protected areas of Bakossi National Park and Bayang-mbo Wildlife Sanctuary in Nguti subdivision of Kupe-Muanenguba Division are home to some of the most critically endangered primates in the world including the Preuss's Red Colobus monkey and the Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee. This would clearly define the area as a High Value Conservation Forest ( HVCF ) as defined by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm oil, of which Herakles Farms is listed as a member. RSPO policies are quite simply that its members do not create plantations in these areas. Formal complaints to the RSPO against Herakles have been filed by 10 individual groups including Save Wildlife with a resolution deadline set for July 8 2012 to the complaints.

The pressure from a large scale plantation is expected to affect the wildlife and the environment in an area that is made up of a series of national parks shared by both Nigerian and Cameroon. Scientists familiar with this region have also issued an urgent call for support to protect this biodiversity hotspot and issued a public statement asking the RSPO to remove Herakles Farms and its Cameroonian subsidiary from its membership.

Forest Activists United, an online group made up of forest activists with a global membership is hoping that their involvement will being a greater awareness to the massive threats facing forests in Cameroon. The country has so far signed agreements with various palm oil producers to allow for an additional 800,000 hectares of industrial palm plantations

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/forest-activists-united-and-ngos-refute-herakles-farms-claims-on-its-oilpalm-plantation-in-cameroon-151389.htm

Can facebook save a forest in Africa?

Toronto, Ontario -- (ReleaseWire) -- 06/29/2012 -- A West African non-profit group today turned to netizens to try and save a forest in Nigeria from plantation development plans. Rainforest Resource Development Centre ( RRDC ) had been trying to persuade the governor of Cross River State in Nigeria, Governor Liyel Imoke, to cancel plans to allow a cocoa plantation of 7241.160 hectares to be planted in the Cross River South Forest Reserve and the Support Zone of the Cross River National Park.

According to the director of RRDC, Odey Oyama, the Cross River National Park is considered a hotspot for biodiversity and home to many endemic species of plants and animals. He further added that "The parcel of forestland which is being acquired by Southgate Cocoa Produce Ltd. is located in the Cross River South Forest Reserve and the support zone of the Oban Division of the Cross River National Park (CRNP). The indications are that Southgate already has contacts with large global interest groups. One of such groups is Armajaro Trading, a subsidiary of Armajaro Holdings based in the UK. RRDC further advised Armajaro that if they support this project, they would be violating their own corporate and social responsibility policies on social and environmental issues.

The cocoa project clearly violates the Cross River State of Nigeria Forest Laws and Regulations CAP 55, that prohibits farming activies in forest reserves and the National Park Service Act No. 46, which protects the National Park and prohibits forest-based commercial activities within the delineated National Park support zones as well as the buffer zones. It is also contrary to the interests of the indigenous communities and inimical to the peaceful co-existence of the members of the neighbouring communities; and completely in conflict with the contemporary global initiatives on Climate Change.

Forest law violations aside, Odey is hoping that a world wide appeal to the governor of Cross River State, His Excellency Liyel Imoke, will result in the cancellation of the plans for the development of the cocoa plantation in this ecologically sensitive location.

This is where netizens Robert Hii and Bob Timmons of Toronto Canada come into play. As online activists working under the Forest Activists United group on facebook, the duo had previously campaigned against a dam in the Xingu river of Brazils Amazon forests.

According to Robert Hii, owner of the eco-brand Eco Gear, " calling the Cross River National Park a biodiversity hotspot is almost an understatement. There are so many plant and animal species that are endemic to this region its unbelievable. The area is home to subspecies of primates including the Nigerian-Cameroon chimpanzee, the Drill, a cousin of the Mandrill, the Preuss' Red Colobus monkey, not to mention possibility of the Cross River Gorilla. All these animals are considered critically endangered by the IUCN and any sort of industrial plantation activity is going to speed up their extinction by that much."

Animal rights activist Bob Timmons meanwhile was thrilled to be a part of extinction prevention. A seasoned online campaigner for endangered animals, he was surprised that the Western African NGOs did not take advantage of the borderless activism available online. "The web is a very powerful tool which I use to activate caring citizens worldwide. There are no borders, no restrictions when we are trying to protect the health of our planet earth. In the same way, there are no borders for climate change and animal extinctions. We all have to do whatever we can to slow the extinctions down or stop them. I encourage everyone who reads this today to step up and help out by signing our petition or sending a polite note to Governor Liyel Imoke, the Governor of Cross River State of Nigeria."

The petition to the Governor of Cross River State can be accessed here http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/Save_the_Cross_River_National_Park_in_Nigeria/?fhyvFab&pv=4

Background information:

The Rainforest Resource Development Centre is a registered non-profit based in Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria. In its 15 years of social and environmental work, it has stopped the creation of multiple industrial plantations that had been seen as bearing a negative impact on the impacted land owners or environment. It is also actively involved in the promotion of creating sustainable incomes and produce through the careful management of forest resources in the state.

For more information on this press release visit: http://www.releasewire.com/press-releases/african-ngo-turns-to-netizens-to-save-a-forest-150724.htm