EarthAction Email Archive

Protect the Ancient Rainforests of Cameroon

Protect the Ancient Rainforests of Cameroon posted: 13 November, 2012 Cameroon Rainforest to be Destroyed  Herakles Farms, a New York-based agribusiness corporation, is preparing to destroy 75,000 hectares (over 185,000 acres) of tropical rainforest in the Southwest Region of Cameroon. Once the rainforest is gone, Herakles plans to plant a massive palm oil plantation and build a palm oil refinery in its place.   This Cameroonian rainforest is known for its rich biodiversity and ecological importance. The proposed plantation is situated between five protected areas, including world-renowned Korup National Park. It provides a key wildlife corridor between the various preserves. Cutting down the trees and replacing them with a sea of monocropped oil palm will rip the heart out of the forest. Many animal species will be pushed to the brink of extinction.   Death to Endangered Species  Herakles Farms, and its Cameroon based subsidiary SG Sustainable Oils Cameroon (SGSOC), falsely tout the project as environmentally sustainable. They claim it will “safeguard" the incredible biodiversity of this part of the world. This is a lie.   The region is home to some of the most threatened primate species in the world, such as the endangered chimpanzee, drill monkey, and the critically endangered Preuss’s monkey and the Preuss’s red colobus monkey. Destroying these primates' essential habitat will not safeguard their continued existence, but rather ensure their demise.   Forest elephants also make extensive use of the area to move between Korup National Park and the Rumpi Hills Forest Reserve. If the oil palm plantation proceeds as planned, the two refuges will be almost completely isolated from each other and the impact on elephants will be severe.    Bad for Climate  Herakles claims that this oil palm plantation will decrease CO2 emissions. This is another lie. Scientists report that oil palm plantations store less than one tenth of the carbon stored by an intact rainforest. Replacing a rainforest with a oil palm plantation is not conservation. It is exploitation masquerading as conversation.    Bad for Humans  The “incredible biodiversity” of the area is not limited to wildlife: approximately 45,000 indigenous people from 88 small, rural villages will also be impacted by oil palm development. Most of these villagers rely on small-scale farming and forest resources to survive. If the land is swallowed by the planned plantation, the villagers’ source of food will disappear as well. The influx of new workers into the region will add additional pressure on limited food supplies.    Many rainforests in Southeast Asia have already been destroyed by oil palm plantations. Studies of them have shown that these plantations do little to alleviate poverty. In fact, workers’ living conditions are often poor, and wages are exploitatively low. Herakles Farms has provided no reason to believe that the same degradation of life will not be true in Africa.    Indigenous Rights vs. Corporations  Local villagers facing the loss of their hereditary forests, villages, and food, understand the risks this plantation poses. Over the last several years they have organized to stop the logging and preserve their land — but the villagers are pitted against a powerful corporation intent on exploiting their land and resources.   EarthAction has joined with several international organizations to help protect this forest and the rights of these indigenous peoples. The UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, a UN treaty that Cameroon has ratified, ensures that Cameroon’s local indigenous people have “free, prior, and informed consent” regarding development projects in their homelands. As a party to this treaty, the government of Cameroon must be held responsible to its legal commitment.    Take Action: #StopHerakles   Highest Priority:   1. Send a personal message by email, or post, to Bruce Wrobel, the CEO of Herakles Farms. Ask him to take all necessary measures to stop their destruction of this tropical rainforest in the southwest region of Cameroon. Email [email protected] now.   Click here to read a sample letter and find out how you can make a bigger impact.   2. Contact President Paul Biya of Cameroon, by email or post, and ask him to listen to the voices of the Cameroonian people and immediately stop Herakles Farms’ project for this palm oil plantation.  http://www.prc.cm/index_en.php?link=messenger/write_pr   Do ​more:   1. Support our efforts by donating to help save this forest. We'll make sure your contribution goes toward protecting the rights of indigenous peoples and endangered wildlife in Cameroon.   2. Spread the word by sharing this campaign with your networks. Tweet #StopHerakles or Share on Facebook. The louder our message, the better.   2. Let us know you took part in this crucial global campaign to Stop Herakles Farms by replying to this email or emailing [email protected]. We will let you know what happens as a result of our combined actions.   More Resources   EarthAction Cameroon Campaign Home Page http://www.earthaction.org/stop-herakles-protect-the-ancient-rainforests-of-cameroon.html   September 12, 2011: Yale e360 - Huge Oil Palm Plantation Puts African Rainforest at Risk http://e360.yale.edu/feature/huge_oil_palm_plantation_puts_africa_rainforest_at_risk/2441/   September 13, 2011: Expanded Yale article: Palm oil, poverty, and conservation collide in Cameroon http://news.mongabay.com/2011/0914-hance-butler_herakles_cameroon.html   September 5 2012: Herakles Farm leaves RSPO http://news.mongabay.com/2012/0905-herakles-leaves-rspo.htmlwith U s     Forward this email to a friend!  Donate to EarthAction     EarthAction, launched in 1992 at the Earth Summit, is a global network of thousands of groups and individuals in over 165 countries working together for a more just, peaceful and sustainable world.   www.EarthAction.org     Send your ideas for Action Alerts to: [email protected]

You're Invited!

Join us this Thursday for a special event at the United Nation's Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) in New York City:   The Impact of Doctrines of Domination on Indigenous Peoples in Cambodia   What Neoliberal Development is Doing to Indigenous Peoples in Cambodia, with Regards to their Basic Rights of Self-Determination and  Rights to their Traditional Lands, Territories and Resources.     A Special Side-Event Presentation by the Prey Lang Community Network, Indigenous Active Rights Members, Organization to Promote Kuy Culture, and NGO Forum Cambodia.   Dedicated to the memory of Chut Vutty, a founder of the Prey Lang Community Network and the Director of the Natural Resource Protection Group, who was killed by Cambodian military police on 26 April 2012.  THURSDAY, MAY 10th, from 1:15pm - 2:30pm.  UNITED NATIONS NORTH LAWN BUILDING. CONFERENCE ROOM B    In the last two decades, much of Asia has embraced the neoliberal paradigms of the West. In Cambodia, this has led to the new discovery of indigenous territories—including forests, lands, and waters—as vast resources that are targeted by the state and transnational corporations for rapid extraction through logging, mining, dams and industrial agriculture; that then converts into wealth for the few, and the dislocation of the many. In this discovery, Indigenous perspectives are regularly disregarded as backwards, unsustainable, and irrelevant. A greater irony is hard to imagine. The speed at which these “resources” are being sold off is a matter of grave international concern. This event will focus on how these processes are playing out in the upland regions in Cambodia such as Prey Lang, and will offer Indigenous critiques and constructive recommendations for a different kind of future.  Co-organized by EarthAction, Amnesty International, Cultural Survival, and the Southeast Asian Development Program.

Save Cambodia's Amazon

Campaign to Save Cambodia's Amazon   posted: 25 April, 2012   The Prey Lang forest is to Cambodia what the Amazon is to Brazil   But Prey Lang could be gone soon thanks to illegal logging and government granted land concessions to agro-industries and mining companies. Old-growth forests are being clear-cut and replaced with rubber tree and cassava plantations (the latter to provide ‘eco-friendly’ ethanol), or mined for iron and other ores.   We have recently learned from inside sources that the government has granted four new land concessions in the core of the Prey Lang area. If true, and these concessions are allowed to go ahead, we fear it is ‘game over’ for the forest and its communities. Your action now can help save Prey Lang.   The Prey Lang Community Network, mostly local villagers, is fighting to save Prey Lang. For years, members of the Network have petitioned the Cambodian government to cooperate and work together to protect and sustainably manage the forest. Now, despite government intimidation, threats of violence, and the presence of the police and the military, hundreds of local villagers are patrolling the forests—day and night—to stop the illegal logging. On March 26, 2012, the Phnom Penh Post reported that 500 villagers from the Prey Lang area were patrolling the forest on 250 motorbikes. The Post reported the villagers “have vowed to continue patrols in coming days and to block a road used by rubber company CRCK if authorities don’t take action.”   In the language of Cambodia’s Kuy people, Prey Lang means “Our Forest.” 200,000 people depend on the Prey Lang forest for their livelihoods, their culture, and their lives. Now, Prey Lang is in trouble—and it needs our help.   We are “Our Forest”   The Kuy people live in harmony with Prey Lang, but they believe the forest is for everyone. Their forest is our forest, too.   Police armed with AK47s have broken up Prey Lang Network meetings, and members are being threatened with physical harm and criminal charges.   The last hope for saving Prey Lang is if people and organizations from around the world send messages to the Cambodian Prime Minister letting him know the world is watching and urging him to protect Prey Lang.     How to Take Action Download our Tool Kit: Visit www.earthaction.org/ourforest.html#toolkit/ to download ready-to-use posters, fact sheets, and a Media Alert to launch your own outreach campaign. Spread the Word: Share the campaign on Facebook or Twitter. The more people that contact Prime Minister Hun Sen, the better. Go to EarthAction's Facebook Page or tweet @EarthAction. Send a message to the Cambodian Prime  Minister Hun Sen and urge him to: SUSPEND all logging and mining concessions in the greater Prey Lang area. CONFER Prey Lang with protected status and enforce its protection. COMMIT to sustainably managing the forest in cooperation with the Prey Lang Community Network and replant and rehabilitate all cear cut areas.   Where to send your message:      EMAIL [email protected]      FAX +1 212 755 4576      POSTAL MAIL      Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen      care of: H.E. Mr. Kosal Sea       Cambodian Ambassador       UN Cambodian Mission      327 East 58th Street      New York, NY 10022 USA      CC YOUR EMAIL  to [email protected] or mail us a      copy of your letter to PO Box 63, Amherst, MA 01004   We Want to Hear From YOU:  Click here to let us know how you're taking part in the Prey Lang Campaign or to add your name to our Prey Lang sign-on letter. To Join EarthAction or update your existing information, click here.   Donate to EarthAction: Help stop the attacks on the Prey Lang Forest - Donate Today   More Resources: EarthAction Prey Lang Campaign Page Prey Lang Community Network Website Cultural Survival Prey Lang Campaign Page   Connect with Us     Forward this email to a friend!  Donate to EarthAction     EarthAction, launched in 1992 at the Earth Summit, is a global network of thousands of groups and individuals in over 165 countries working together for a more just, peaceful and sustainable world.   www.EarthAction.org     Send your ideas for Action Alerts to: [email protected]

Please sign on to protect a forest and Indigenous rights in Cambodia

The Kuy people of Cambodia are calling for international support to protect their threatened Prey Lang forest from illegal logging, agro-industrial development, and mining.   Mao Chanthoeun and hundreds of other Kuy villagers call themselves Cambodia's "avatars." Like the Na'vi people in the "Avatar" film, the Kuy are defending their forest against mining and other destructive practices. Photo by Samrang Pring, Reuters.   posted: 27 January, 2012 In Cambodia, some 200,000 mostly Indigenous Kuy villagers are desperately trying to preventthe destruction of Prey Lang ("Our Forest"), the last large primary forest of its kind on the Indochina peninsula. Generations of Kuy people have protected the forest with its sacred areas, places for gathering fruits, medicinal plants, housing materials, and resin. Some 300 villages and family rice fields are scattered through a large buffer zone of secondary forest that surrounds Prey Lang. Their use of forest resources is sustainable, but now their livelihoods and the life of the forest are under attack.   The government has issued a dizzying patchwork of land concessions to road builders, mining companies, and agro-industries. Bulldozers are slicing huge swaths through the forest, clear-cutting enormous blocks of land for rubber and other plantations. Studies show that Indigenous forest-dwelling communities do the best job of protecting forests. Our best bet for saving Prey Lang is to support the Kuy people's rights and their management of the forest they know best.   Join us:   Global Response, the action program of Cultural Survival, and EarthAction, a global network of over 2,000 organizations, are working together in support of the Prey Lang Community Network to protect and save their forest. On our websites below you can find links to communicate with Cambodian officials to urge them to cancel existing land concessions and create a sustainable management program with the permanent participation of the Prey Lang peoples. We ask your organization to please share this information widely, with other organizations, with your members, and in your newsletters.   How You Can Help:   Below is a sign-on letter for organizations, available in PDF here.  Please add your organization, and help the Kuy people protect the unique and threatened Prey Lang forest. To sign on, please email [email protected] by February 5 and include the name of the signee, organization, and country you are based in.     For more information and online action pages, please see visit:  Cultural Survival, EarthAction, and Prey Lang Community Network.      Sincere thanks and good wishes to you in your important work for our planet and all its peoples.    Paula Palmer, Director                  Lois Barber, Director Global Response Program             EarthAction Network Cultural Survival, Inc.                    PO Box 63 PO Box 7490                                Amherst, MA 01004 Boulder CO 80306 USA                 Tel +413 549 8118 Tel +303/444-0306   _____________________________________________________________     Dear Ambassador Kosal Sea, Prime Minister Samech Hun Sen,      As international human rights and environmental organizations, we are deeply concerned that Cambodia has lost almost all of its primary forests.  According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, primary forests covered 70 percent of Cambodia's land mass just 40 years ago. Tragically, these magnificent forests have shrunk to only 3.1 percent of the nation's territory today. One of the remaining forests, Prey Lang, is in danger of being lost as more and more concessions are granted to agro-industries and mining companies.   Prey Lang's rich store of biological diversity, unique on the Indochina peninsula, is reason enough to protect it. But there are other reasons, as well.  Over 200,000 people depend on the forest as a source of fruits, nuts, medicinal plants, housing materials, clean drinking water, fish, and resin. Prey Lang provides ecological services that benefit millions of people, serving as a vital source of water for Cambodia's rice-growing region and for the Mekong Delta.   The people who live in villages surrounding Prey Lang have banded together to save the forest.  Many of these people are Indigenous Kuy, whose rights are specified in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.  As an endorser of the Declaration, Cambodia acknowledges Indigenous Peoples' right to free, prior, and informed consent for projects that affect their lands and livelihoods, yet the Kuy have not been consulted concerning land concessions in and surrounding Prey Lang. Indeed, they have clearly demonstrated their opposition to the land concessions through public protests and petitions.   As supporters of environmental protection and Indigenous Peoples' rights, the following organizations join the Prey Lang Network in urging you to cancel existing land concessions and other development projects in the greater Prey Lang area, ban new concessions, and create a sustainable management program with the permanent participation of the Prey Lang Network. Thank you for considering the views of the international community, recognizing our common commitment to environmental protection and human rights.   Respectfully,  (list of organizations) _____________________________________________________________   Does the Kuy people's situation sound familiar?   If your organization represents or partners with Indigenous communities that are struggling to prevent environmental destruction and defend their rights, learn how to request a Global Response Campaign here. Click here to receive our action alerts by email.   If you'd like more information about becoming a Partner Organization in the EarthAction Network and receiving action alerts on global environment, development, peace and human rights issues, click here to JOIN EarthAction.     Cultural Survival's Global Response Program organizes effective international letter-writing campaigns to protect the environment and the rights of indigenous peoples.  See action alerts for adults and youth at www.cs.org   EarthAction organizes effective letter-writing campaigns on critically important environment, peace, and human rights issues. Learn more at EarthAction.org  [facebooklike]   [twittertweet]   [googleplusone]   [lnkdinshare]   Forward this email to a friend!      EarthAction, launched in 1992 at the Earth Summit, is a global network of thousands of groups and individuals in over 165 countries working together for a more just, peaceful and sustainable world.   www.EarthAction.org   Send your ideas for Action Alerts to: [email protected]