Palm Oil Detectives

2025-12-20 14:49:00

Seeing Forest As Merely A Carbon “Commodity”: Dangerous Greenwashing

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The huge danger of commodifying forests and seeing them as merely an “investment” to be bought and sold as ‘carbon credits’ has many loopholes that deny indigenous sovereignty, social and economic outcomes of communities and pose grave extinction risks to wild animals and plants. Take action when you shop and #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife

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The huge danger of commodifying #forests 🌿 🔥 and seeing them as merely an “investment”, denies #indigenous sovereignty, social and economic outcomes of communities and #extinction risks. #humanrights 🌴⛔️ #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect wp.me/pcFhgU-92u

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‘Carbon credits’ turn #forest 🌳🔥 ecosystems into investments but deny #indigenous communities their rights and are often blatant #greenwashing. Use your wallet as a weapon and #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife #landrights @palmoildetect wp.me/pcFhgU-92u

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Written by Constance McDermott, Senior Fellow in Forest Governance and Leader of Ecosystems Governance Group, University of Oxford; Eric Kumeh Mensah, Postdoctoral research fellow, University of Oxford, and Mark Hirons, Environmental Social Science Research Fellow, University of Oxford. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Forests are great carbon sinks – they absorb more carbon from the atmosphere than they release. Globally, forests remove nearly all of the two billion tonnes of carbon dioxide that is currently being removed from the atmosphere every year.

These days, companies can buy “carbon credits” for the carbon that is stored in living forests and offset this against their own greenhouse gas emissions. International financiers estimate that by 2050, Africa could be selling US$1.5 trillion in carbon credits per year, mainly from its forests. Environmental social scientists Constance L. McDermott, Eric Mensah Kumeh and Mark Hirons are co-authors of a report on global forest governance for the International Union of Forest Research Organisations. They have found that buying and selling forest carbon as a commodity is dangerous if it is prioritised over the other environmental and social uses of forests. It could even result in environmental damage and the displacement of forest-dependent people.

What is a carbon sink?

All living things contain carbon, and are considered carbon sinks when they absorb more carbon from the atmosphere than they release. Many ecosystems serve as carbon sinks, but forests have a large biomass (wood and twigs and leaves on the forest floor). This makes them a very important sink from a climate perspective.

The carbon that trees capture is sequestered (stored) in their wood, leaves or needles, and roots. When forests are cut down or burned, their stored carbon is released into the atmosphere and becomes a source of carbon emissions rather than a sink. Forest carbon sinks can be conserved by leaving live trees standing, or created and enhanced by planting or natural regeneration of trees.

Why is it a problem for a forest to be seen only as a carbon sink?

Forests support and regulate soil, water and nutrient flows, and provide habitat for the majority of the world’s species that live on land. They provide people with food, fuel, fibre, medicine and other products.

They are important to the cultural survival and well-being of many communities. In Africa alone, an estimated 245 million people live within five kilometres of a forest, and many of these people rely directly on forests for their livelihoods.

Our research found that forests are increasingly being managed as carbon sinks, and the carbon they store treated as a commodity that can be internationally traded. Carbon markets allow businesses and governments to earn credits by paying for forests that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which is cheaper than reducing their own emissions. This is part of what we call the climatisation of forests.
Animal agriculture and meat, The contents of your fridge and dining table directly impacts the future of rare rainforest and ocean animals. That’s because industrial agriculture and aquaculture for commodities like meat, dairy, fish and palm oil is driving animals in the most biodiverse ecosystems on the planet closer towards extinction.
Governing forests only as carbon sinks can promote “green grabs” where non-forested land, such as grasslands, used by communities for farming and other activities, is taken from the community and used by wealthy companies or governments to plant large tracts of trees to store carbon. Sub-Saharan Africa, in particular, is being targeted as a readily available and inexpensive location for one million hectares of forest restoration and tree plantations.

This is especially threatening for people who do not have secure rights to the forests and land they depend on. These communities can even be restricted or banned from entering the forest. Research has found that forest-dependent communities are rarely given power to address their own priorities in forest carbon sink schemes. This can cause conflict locally and weaken local democracy.

Let’s take the example of the Mai-Ndombe forest in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which supports about 100,000 people in 23 villages. Activities in the Mai-Ndombe under the global Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) climate change mechanism have focused on changing the practices of local forest-dependent communities away from cutting trees for artisanal logging or firewood collection. These communities have also been told not to continue with traditional methods of shifting cultivation (where parts of a forest are temporarily cleared to grow food crops without deforesting the area permanently).

Yet in Mai-Ndombe and the Democratic Republic of Congo’s other forests, land is already allocated to companies for timber (mainly for the export market), for mining, and increasingly for forest carbon sequestration. The result is that large companies continue to extract major economic benefits from forests in ways that exclude local communities.

Ghana’s Cocoa Forest REDD+ Programme is another example. In a bid to reduce deforestation and increase forest carbon stocks, the government of Ghana pays farmers and local communities to not plant cocoa crops in forested areas and to grow shade trees on their cocoa farms.

These efforts to share benefits locally are very important. However, asking farmers to plant or conserve trees does not address the fact that farmers are not earning a living income from selling cocoa.

Ghana’s cocoa farmers receive less than 7.5% of the value of a chocolate bar sold in international markets, and they suffer from food insecurity and increasing crop failures due to climate change. They do not have legal rights to the native trees that regenerate naturally on their cocoa farms.

The focus of REDD+ on channelling large amounts of money into forests as carbon could mean that many farmers lose access to land for growing food and meeting other livelihood needs – unless this is balanced by major investments to address the core challenges the farmers are facing.

What are some solutions?

Forests can absorb large amounts of carbon dioxide and still support communities. A people-centred approach to forests is needed. This means giving local communities secure rights to their land and forest resources, and governing forests according to what best suits the local context, rather than making forest use fit the international market.

The important role of traditional authorities and local customs in managing land and resolving conflicts must be recognised. Many traditional practices have managed forests sustainably for thousands of years. The challenge is to value and support these alternative approaches.

Written by Constance McDermott, Senior Fellow in Forest Governance and Leader of Ecosystems Governance Group, University of Oxford; Eric Kumeh Mensah, Postdoctoral research fellow, University of Oxford, and Mark Hirons, Environmental Social Science Research Fellow, University of Oxford. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Read more about deforestation and ecocide in the palm oil industry

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World’s Wealthiest Drive Two Thirds of Global Warming Since 1990

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Jaguars and Pumas Eat More Monkeys in Damaged Forests

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Take Action in Five Ways

1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.

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2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.

Wildlife Artist Juanchi Pérez

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Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings

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Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao

Read more

Health Physician Dr Evan Allen

Read more

The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert

Read more

How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy

Read more

3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.

twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status…

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twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1…

4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.

5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here

Pledge your support

#Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #carbonCredits #corruption #deforestation #extinction #Forest #forests #greenwash #greenwashing #HumanRights #indigenous #landrights #PalmOil #palmOilBiofuel #palmOilDeforestation #plywood #supplyChain #supplychain #wood

How much CO2 is actually being removed from the air every year?

Forests are mostly to thank - with new tech only responsible for 0.1% of carbon dioxide removal so far, according to a new report.

^{Lottie Limb (euronews)}

Palm Oil Detectives

2024-07-16 16:02:00

Paraquat: Banned in EU, Destroying Lives of Palm Oil Workers in Indonesia

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The dangerous pesticide Paraquat is banned in the EU and strictly limited in the USA, however it continues to destroy the lives of palm oil workers in Indonesia. Paraquat has severe human health impacts including respiratory problems, severe burns and skin and eye irritation. America’s Centre for Disease Control links it to Parkinson’s disease and other life-threatening illnesses. Read this story below originally published in Geographical Magazine about the lives of vulnerable palm oil workers in Indonesia. Afterwards you can learn how to take action to resist the human rights abuses and ecocide of dangerous pesticide use in palm oil agriculture. #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife

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youtu.be/3pg3tqQBDtU

#Paraquat is a dangerous #pesticide 🤢 banned in #EU ⛔️and limited in #USA yet used widely in #Indonesia by #palmoil workers with grave #health impacts on (mainly) women 👩‍👧 and children workers #Boycottpalmoil 🌴🚫Story via @geographicalmag @palmoildetect wp.me/pcFhgU-8Bt

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#Paraquat #pesticide is deadly and causes respiratory illnesses, #Parkinsons #disease. It’s banned in the #EU yet used routinely in #Indonesian #palmoil. Palm oil workers are paying with their lives #Boycottpalmoil Story: @geographicalmag @palmoildetect wp.me/pcFhgU-8Bt

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This article was originally published as ‘Paraquat: banned in Europe, on sale in Indonesia in Geographical Magazine on the 28th of June 2024. Written by Daniela Sala, Adi Renaldi & Budi Baskoro. Photography by Daniela Sala. Republished with permission. Read original.

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A local farmer sprays the herbicide Roundup among the oil palms in the small plot of land she and her family owns. She also routinely sprays Gramoxone, without protection

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“I used to spray both the yellow and the green poison,” Herna says.

For nearly six years, from 2006 to 2011, Herna worked for the so-called ‘maintenance team’ on one of the oil palm plantations of Musim Mas, a Singapore-based multinational corporation, in Central Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of Borneo. The green poison she refers to is Gramoxone, the brand name for a highly toxic herbicide based on the organic compound paraquat. Sold by the Swiss, now Chinese-owned multinational Syngenta, paraquat has been banned in the European Union since 2007 due to concerns related to its effect on the health of workers and the environment.

‘I often had nausea, vomiting and dizziness after my work. I don’t know exactly why, but most of my colleagues experienced the same symptoms. I knew these were dangerous substances and I was always afraid to handle them,’ she says. Herna got an indication of how toxic paraquat is when one morning, while she was diluting it with water as instructed, a drop of the liquid splashed onto her hand, causing a burn that took weeks to heal.
Backpacks used for paraquat spraying
Sitting cross-legged on the floor of her home in Penyang, Herna looks tired. The humid heat gives no respite, the air is heavy and the fan Herna sits next to is of little use. It’s difficult to imagine how, in these conditions, Herna and her colleagues could work an entire eight-hour shift with a heavy container (weighing some 13 kilograms) on their backs, without ever removing their masks.

Herna grew up in a small cluster of houses surrounded by rainforest. Her family relied on hunting and farming; they had a small area of land where they harvested rice and fruit. It was a simple, quiet life. In the late 1990s, however, their economic situation rapidly deteriorated with the arrival of oil palm plantations. They lost not only their land, but also access to the forest. Herna, in her early 20s, had no choice but to accept a job on one of the plantations that had so drastically altered the way of life in her village. For five years, from 7am to 3pm, she sprayed highly toxic herbicides, which prevented weeds and other plants from proliferating and allowed oil palms to grow faster and taller.

Herna endured continuous discomfort for years, sometimes so intense that she had to stay in bed for days. The plantation doctor, whom she sometimes asked for help, always told her not to worry too much, prescribing at most paracetamol or an anti-emetic.
A fisher arrives at Bikal market with his meagre catch after a night’s fishing
Eventually, Herna began to suffer a pain in the pit of her stomach, ‘like a stab wound’. The doctor speculated that it might be a symptom of a lung problem. The cause was never clarified because Herna couldn’t take further tests as they were too expensive. She decided, however, that she couldn’t take it anymore and quit her job.

Paraquat’s known direct health effects include respiratory problems, severe burns and skin and eye irritation. In the USA, it has also been linked to Parkinson’s disease. In Indonesia, paraquat should only be used by properly trained workers with appropriate protections. However, a report by PANAP (Pesticide Action Network Asia Pacific) documented how these conditions are rarely met.

Herna, who is now 48 and has six children, did her best to find another job, ‘but since the plantations are here, there is no other job,’ she says.

As she goes silent, the background noise becomes more obvious: it’s the constant traffic along the Trans Kalimantan, the highway that cuts through southern Borneo, just a few dozen metres from Herna’s home. Trucks follow one another in a constant back-and-forth. In one direction, they transport oil palm fruits to the refineries. In the opposite direction, they transport the refined oil to ports for the export market.
Villagers in Tanjung Puting National Park only use river water to wash and rely on rainwater for cooking and drinking

Made in Europe

Indonesia is by far the world’s largest exporter of palm oil, accounting for nearly 50 per cent of global exports in 2022, closely followed by Malaysia, with 30 per cent. The industrial uses are countless, from food and cosmetics to the production of biofuels. About ten per cent of palm oil exports from Indonesia end up in Europe.

The oil palm, a plant native to West Africa, was first introduced to Indonesia during Dutch colonialism. Over a few decades, the expansion of monocultures in the archipelago triggered the destruction of large portions of Borneo’s rainforest. Despite intense environmental campaigns in recent years, the rate of deforestation due to plantation expansion only slowed; it started to rise again in 2023.

In Indonesia, intensive palm oil production and the heavy use of paraquat and other herbicides are inextricably linked. In total, Indonesia imported pesticides worth about half a million US dollars in 2020, a market that has steadily grown over the past decade.
Old man’s hand and palm oil. Image: Daniela Sala
In 2019, Indonesia imported from the UK 2,300 tons of paraquat, largely manufactured by Syngenta’s Huddersfield plant. Since 2017, with ChemChina’s acquisition of Syngenta, production and exports from China have also increased, making the paraquat supply chain increasingly difficult to track.

The countries that are responsible for most of the manufacturing and export (China, Switzerland and the UK) ban paraquat domestically, as has the EU. While the EU’s internal regulations are increasingly protective of the environment, it remains the largest pesticide exporter, with EU companies investing more and more in countries in the Global South.

Environmental Disaster

In Kalimantan, the effects of palm oil monocultures and the extensive use of pesticides are unspooling before the eyes of the local communities.

A short drive from Herna’s house, just on the other side of the Trans Kalimantan highway in the village of Bangkal, most residents still have first-hand memories of life before the plantations. The village is located on the shore of the biggest lake in the region, Sembuluh Lake. Its 4,000 residents, mostly Dayaks, the indigenous peoples of Borneo, relied on farming and fishing, and they drank water from the lake. Now, they have lost their land and, in one of the wettest areas in the world, they struggle to access clean water.

It all started with huge concessions to palm oil companies. ‘It happened suddenly, without any consultation with the community,’ says Sangkai Rewa, secretary of Bangkal and leader of AMAN, the association that represents the indigenous people of Central Kalimantan. Sangkai has been connected to Bangkal for generations. His wooden house, on stilts, like all the houses in the surrounding area, sits on the edge of the village. The residents did everything they could to resist the arrival of the plantations. In the late 1990s, they managed to force the Indonesian company Agro Indomas to back down. But in 2005, their fight against another conglomerate, PT Hamparan Masawit Bangun Persada, failed, due in part to support for the company from the then local governor, Darwan Ali, as revealed by a Gecko Project investigation.
Worker carries palm oil fruits. Image: Daniela Sala
‘The people of Bangkal were forced to give up their land by threats and deception. Around us it was all forest. Look around: what is left today?’ says Sangkai. The establishment of Hamparan plantation paved the way for the arrival of more companies. Bangkal is now surrounded by a dozen plantations and refineries.

‘We saw the colour of the water changing’, says Sangkai. ‘We can not even use the water for washing: it feels itchy and you get rashes. The water is polluted, and because of that, our entire ecosystem is under threat.’

At dawn every day, a few narrowboats approach the small wooden dock next to the daily market in Bangkal. Nouredin, a 60-year-old fisherman from a nearby village, is busy untangling a few dozen small fish from his net. He spent the whole night fishing, but the catch was meagre. ‘It did not used to be like that,’ he explains while unloading his catch. ‘Fish were bigger and easier to catch. There are species that are slowly disappearing.’

Fish have become scarcer, while the fast-growing weed water hyacinth is invading the shore of Sembuluh, forcing fishermen to travel much further. Residents say that the overgrowth must be associated with fertilisers and chemicals dumped from the plantations.
The village of Bangkal on the shores of the now heavily polluted Lake Sembuluh
In 2018, the Central Kalimantan Environment Agency had the water in the lake tested. Nothing is wrong, they stated, dismissing the residents’ protests.

But not everybody agrees. ‘We openly challenged the agency’s findings,’ says Muhammad Habibi, director of the NGO Save Our Borneo. ‘We asked the agency to disclose the actual results, and to share all the relevant details: where the samples had been taken, how they had been treated, what residues they had been analysed for. But the agency simply refused to comply.’

Save Our Borneo and Ecoton, another environmental NGO, conducted some water testing in Sambas, Western Borneo, in an area geographically very similar to Lake Sembuluh and similarly affected by palm oil monoculture. The results were worrying, with levels of chloride and phosphates in the region’s river far higher than accepted norms. Habibi fears for the fate of Lake Sembuluh. ‘Our suspicion is that the local authorities have no interest in going against the palm oil industry. What if it becomes known that the ongoing ecological disaster in Lake Sembuluh is caused by the companies?’

Farmer Turned Protester

‘Palm oil means Gramoxone, Gramoxone means palm oil’, says James Watt, a farmer in Bangkal. Watt is among the few residents who still have a small piece of land left: he used to grow rubber plants, fruit and vegetables. He started life as a traditional farmer and had no interest in palm oil cultivation. But as the vast plantations came to dominate the region, he was forced to switch. Around the same time, in 2015, he was introduced to paraquat, under the label Gramoxone. ‘I needed a stronger herbicide, and I went to the shop in Sampit, the nearest city. I asked the shopkeeper for advice, and he gave me this,’ Watt says, holding out the five-litre plastic package of the substance. Paraquat became a familiar household item and can be found in most farmers’ houses in Bangkal. ‘When I have to spray it, I smoke a cigarette first, so I make sure of the wind direction,’ Watt says.

Watt has no love for palm oil. In addition to being a farmer, he’s an activist. At 54, he has spent nearly half his life fighting against the palm oil industry, trying to mediate between residents and companies, and paying the price himself.

In 2020, following a demonstration against the plantation, Watt was sentenced to ten months in prison on a charge of stealing oil palm fruit from the land that once belonged to Bangkal residents.
Bottles of paraquat and pesticide – Image: Daniela Sala
The last major protest against palm oil companies in Bangkla was in October 2023. Gijik, a 35-year-old man, was killed by a gunshot fired by police deployed to defend the plantation. Such cases, according to the Consortium for Agrarian Reform (KPA), an Indonesian association fighting against land grabbing, are far from isolated. Between 2015 and 2022, at least 69 people died as a result of clashes and protests against land grabbing. The clashes and deaths, again according to KPA, can’t be separated from the decision to deploy police forces always and exclusively in a repressive function, in defence of plantations.

‘I can’t understand what the government means when it says palm oil brings development and prosperity,’ says.Watt. He never asked his parents why they named him after the Scottish inventor, which is said to have started the industrial revolution. While he grasps the subtle irony, he’s proud of the name he bears.

‘For me, real prosperity was before. We were not dependent on anyone: we grew our own vegetables, rice. We went fishing and if we wanted meat, all we had to do was go hunting in the forest. Now all that is gone’.

This article was originally published as ‘Paraquat: banned in Europe, on sale in Indonesia in Geographical Magazine on the 28th of June 2024. Written by Daniela Sala, Adi Renaldi & Budi Baskoro. Photography by Daniela Sala. Republished with permission. Read original.

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Death by Pesticide on a Papuan Palm Oil Plantation

In the below 2021 report by respected non-profit Global Witness, there was a shocking revelation that a young child of a palm oil worker died as a result of consuming pesticide infused water on a “sustainable” palm oil plantation in Papua New Guinea. The firm sold to global giants like Nestle, Ferrero, Unilever, Mondelez and more, with products on the shelves and bought be consumers all over the world.

Global Witness October 2021 Report: Violence and death for palm oil connected to household supermarket brands (RSPO members)

“One palm oil firm, Rimbunan Hijau, [Papua New Guinea] negligently ignored repeated and avoidable worker deaths and injuries on palm oil plantations, with at least 11 workers and the child of one worker losing their lives over an eight-year period.

“Tainted palm oil from Papua New Guinea plantations was sold to household name brands, all of them RSPO members including Kellogg’s, Nestlé, Colgate, Danone, Hershey’s and PZ Cussons and Reckitt Benckiser”

The true price of palm oil: How global finance funds deforestation, violence and human rights abuses in Papua New Guinea – Global Witness, 2021

Read report

Read more about deforestation and ecocide in the palm oil industry

Mountain Tapir Tapirus pinchaque

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SOCFIN’s African Empire of Colonial Oppression: Billionaires Profit from Palm Oil and Rubber Exploitation

Investigation by Bloomberg exposes that despite being RSPO members, #SOCFIN plantations in #WestAfrica are the epicentre of #humanrights abuses, sexual coercion, environmental destruction, and #landgrabbing. Operating in #Liberia, #Ghana, #Nigeria, and beyond, SOCFIN’s…

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Palm Oil Threatens Ancient Noken Weaving in West Papua

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Family Ties Expose Deforestation and Rights Violations in Indonesian Palm Oil

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Take Action in Five Ways

1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.

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Join 3,174 other subscribers

2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.

Wildlife Artist Juanchi Pérez

Read more

Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings

Read more

Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao

Read more

Health Physician Dr Evan Allen

Read more

The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert

Read more

How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy

Read more

3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.

twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status…

twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status…

twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1…

4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.

5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here

Pledge your support

#BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #corruption #deforestation #disease #ecocide #EU #health #humanRights #Indonesia #Indonesian #MusimMas #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #Paraquat #Parkinsons #pesticide #pesticides #pollution #USA #waterPollution #womenSRights #workersRights #WorkersRights

Paraquat: Banned in EU, Destroying Lives of Palm Oil Workers in Indonesia

The dangerous #pesticide #Paraquat is banned in the EU and strictly limited in the USA, however it continues to destroy the lives of #palmoil workers in Indo...

^{Palm Oil Detectives (YouTube)}

Palm Oil Detectives

2025-11-29 13:21:00

Indigenous Peoples Fight Climate Change

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In the wake of the worst wildfires in living memory in Mexico and Central America in 2024, news outlets were looking for someone to blame. Howler monkeys and many species of parrots perished in the blazes. Slash and burn farming practices by Belize‘s indigenous communities were singled out as a primary cause. Yet this knee-jerk reaction is not evidence based and doesn’t take into account forces like corporate landgrabbing for mining and agribusinesses like meat, soy and palm oil.

Belize’s indigenous Maya communities are rebuilding stronger based on the collective notion of se’ komonil: reciprocity, solidarity, traditional knowledge, gender equity, togetherness and community.

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In the wake of horrific #wildfires in #Belize and #Mexico caused by #climatechange, #indigenous #Maya are rebuilding using the notion of se’ komonil: reciprocity #community and solidarity. #indigenousrights #landrights #BoycottPalmOil @palmoildetect wp.me/pcFhgU-924

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Written by James Stinson, Senior Research Associate and Evaluation Specialist, Young Lives Research Lab, Faculty of Education, York University, Canada and Lee Mcloughlin, PhD student, Global Sociocultural Studies, Florida International University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Driven by extreme heat and drought, some of the worst wildfires in living memory raged across Mexico and Central America through April and May 2024.

News agencies reported howler monkeys dropping dead from trees, and parrots and other birds falling from the skies.

In Belize, a state of emergency was declared as wildfires burned tens of thousands of hectares of highly bio-diverse forest. Farmers suffered huge losses as fires destroyed crops and homes, and communities across the country suffered from hazardous air quality and hot, sleepless nights. Many risked their lives to fight off the approaching fires.

As the wildfire crisis subsided with rains in June, public attention shifted toward identifying the causes and allocating blame. Many singled out the “slash and burn” farming practices in Belize’s Indigenous communities as the primary cause. This simple knee-jerk reaction ignores the underlying causes of the climate crisis, are scientifically unfounded and stoke resentment of Indigenous Peoples.
Young Mayan women. Image source: Wikipedia

Fanning the flames

On June 5, one of Belize’s major news networks ran a story with the headline “Are Primitive Farming Techniques Responsible for Wildfires?” The story placed blame for Belize’s wildfires on “slash-and-burn farming”, arguing that “there has to be a shift away from this destructive means of agriculture.”

The story was followed by an op-ed published online asserting that “because of the increased amounts of escaped agricultural fires, aided by climate change, global warming and drought, slash and burn has become more of a problem than the solution it once was.” This sentiment was further reinforced by Belize’s prime minister, who declared that “slash аnd burn has to be something of the past.”

While some of the recent fires in Belize were connected to agricultural burning — and poorly managed fire-clearing practices can have negative air-quality impacts — blaming “slash and burn” for the wildfire crisis ignores the larger context and conditions that made it possible, namely global warming.

May 2024 was the hottest and driest month in Belize’s history. This extreme heat is part of a broader global trend, with June 2024 marking the 13th consecutive “hottest month on record” globally.

More fundamentally, these statements confuse other forms of slash-and-burn agriculture with the distinct “milpa” systems employed by Indigenous people in Belize.

Indigenous knowledge undermined

Throughout Belize, Indigenous Maya farmers commonly practise a form of agriculture referred to as milpa in which fire is used to clear fields and fertilize the soil. Within this system, small areas of forest are chopped down, burned, and planted with maize, beans, squash and other crops. After being cultivated for a year or two, the field is then left fallow and allowed to regenerate back to forest cover while the farmers move on to a new area within a cyclical pattern where areas are reused after a regenerative period.

youtu.be/ok787HRp_gA

Commonly derided as slash-and-burn farming, milpa has long been perceived as environmentally destructive. This perspective has been perpetuated by long-standing myths and misconceptions that portray the farming practices of non-Europeans, and specifically the use of fire, as wasteful and irrational.

In Belize, this negative view of slash and burn has driven many colonial and post-colonial interventions to modernize Maya farming practices.

Recent research, however, has shown that the lands of Indigenous Peoples around the world have reduced deforestation and degradation rates relative to non-protected areas. The southern Toledo district of Belize, where the majority of Maya communities are located, boasts a forest cover rate of 71 per cent, significantly higher than the national average of 63 per cent.

Further research has found that the species composition of contemporary Mesoamerican forests has been shaped by the agricultural practices of ancient Maya farmers.

In Belize, fire has been found to play a role in promoting ecosystem health and resilience and intermediate levels of forest disturbance caused by milpa can increase species diversity. Well-managed milpa farming can support soil fertility, result in long-term carbon sequestration and enriched woodland vegetation.

Research has also shown that previous studies of deforestation in southern Belize significantly overestimated the rate of deforestation due to milpa agriculture by not accounting for its rotational process.

Many researchers now believe that milpa is a more benign alternative, in terms of environmental effects, than most other permanent farming systems in the humid tropics. Indeed, findings such as these have led to a growing appreciation for the role of Indigenous Peoples in advancing nature-based and life-enhancing climate solutions.

Unfortunately, research in the region has also found that climate change is undermining the ecological sustainability of milpa farming by forcing farmers to abandon traditional practices and adopt counterproductive measures in their struggle to adapt. In some cases, this has resulted in a decrease in the biodiversity and ecological resilience of the milpa system. This issue is compounded by the decreasing participation of young people, resulting in a further generational loss of traditional ecological knowledge.

Together, these issues are serving to alter and undermine a livelihood strategy that has proven sustainable for thousands of years. However, rather than call for Maya farmers to abandon slash and burn, we encourage support for the self-determined efforts of Maya communities to adapt to this changing climate. youtube.com/embed/ok787HRp_gA?… A video documenting the Maya response to the 2024 wildfire crisis.

Planting seeds of collaboration

Since winning a groundbreaking land rights claim in 2015, Maya communities in southern Belize have been working to promote an Indigenous future based on principles of reciprocity, solidarity, traditional knowledge, gender equity and, most significantly, se’ komonil, the Maya notion of togetherness and community.

Led by a collaboration of Maya leaders and non-governmental organizations, work toward this has included efforts to revitalize traditional institutions and governance systems, as well as the development of an Indigenous Forest Caring Strategy and fire-permitting system. In an effort to encourage and support the participation of youth in this process, Maya leaders have collaborated with the Young Lives Research Lab at York University to develop the Partnership for Youth and Planetary Wellbeing.

Building on previous research with Maya youth, the project has produced innovative youth-led research and education on the impacts of climate change, the importance of food sovereignty, traditional ecological knowledge and the struggle to secure Indigenous land rights in Maya communities. This work has been shared with global policymakers at the United Nations and local audiences in Belize.

Rather than fanning the flames of climate blame, we must work together to revitalize Indigenous knowledge systems and plant seeds of climate collaboration and care.

Written by James Stinson, Senior Research Associate and Evaluation Specialist, Young Lives Research Lab, Faculty of Education, York University, Canada and Lee Mcloughlin, PhD student, Global Sociocultural Studies, Florida International University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Read more about human rights abuses and child slavery in the palm oil and gold mining industries

SOCFIN’s African Empire of Colonial Oppression: Billionaires Profit from Palm Oil and Rubber Exploitation

Investigation by Bloomberg exposes that despite being RSPO members, #SOCFIN plantations in #WestAfrica are the epicentre of #humanrights abuses, sexual coercion, environmental destruction, and #landgrabbing. Operating in #Liberia, #Ghana, #Nigeria, and beyond, SOCFIN’s…

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Palm Oil Threatens Ancient Noken Weaving in West Papua

Colonial palm oil and sugarcane causing the loss of West Papuans’ cultural identity. Land grabs force communities from forests, threatening Noken weaving

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Family Ties Expose Deforestation and Rights Violations in Indonesian Palm Oil

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West Papuan Indigenous Women Fight Land Seizures

Indigenous Melanesian women in West Papua fight land seizures for palm oil and sugar plantations, protecting their ancestral rights. Join #BoycottPalmOil

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Greasing the Wheels of Colonialism: Palm Oil Industry in West Papua

A landmark study published in Global Studies Quarterly in April 2025 has revealed that the rapid expansion of the #palmoil industry in #WestPapua is not only fuelling #deforestation, #ecocide and environmental destruction but…

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The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert

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How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy

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3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.

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4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.

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Planetary Health Film Lab 2023: Belize Edition for COP28

This compilation showcases six films made by youth from Belize. The films examine the impacts of climate change and other planetary health issues on these co...

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Palm Oil Detectives

2025-09-09 16:31:00

West Papuan Indigenous Women Fight Land Seizures

In the colonised region of #WestPapua, Indigenous Melanesian women’s rights are being forgotten as companies and the Indonesian government seizes ancestral land for palm oil and sugar cane plantations — without owners’ consent. These women are fighting to protect customary lands for future generations. The following is a summarised version of a story published by Human Rights Watch, read the original ‘There will be nowhere left.’

#News: #Indigenous women’s #landrights trampled in #Papua as #palmoil giants seize forests and jostle for power —the women will not be silenced! 🚫🌴☠️ #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect via @[url=https://society.oftrolls.com/users/hrw]Marcin Juszkiewicz 🙃[/url] palmoildetectives.com/2025/09/…

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Human Rights Watch. (2025, August 20). “There Will be Nowhere Left: Government, Companies Take Indigenous Lands Without Women’s Consent in Indonesia’s South Papua. hrw.org/feature/2025/08/20/the…

“Tomorrow, when everyone has sold their dusun (customary land), where will our children and grandchildren find food? There will be nowhere left. They’ll have to go to someone else’s dusun and buy food. That’s why I said no. I won’t let the company into my dusun. Let it remain for my children and grandchildren.”

Imelda Maa via Human Rights Watch

Laurensia Yame is from the Indigenous community, the Awyu. She heard from women traders that workers were surveying the community’s forest for a company’s commercial use, including the hamlet where she farms.

“My brother decided alone to work with the company and allow them into our village lands. He never discussed it with me. Instead, he worked with my father’s nephew, the only boy. But my uncle’s children don’t have land there. That land is my father’s land; it belongs to me.”

Laurensia Yame via Human Rights Watch

Rikarda Maa, a Maa clan member, attended the only meeting held in Ampera village. She recalled a discussion after which several men – including her uncle and a male cousin – signed documents provided by the company. Neither the company nor village representatives read the document aloud to the meeting participants, so women who went to observe didn’t know what exactly their male relatives signed away.
She later found out that her relatives’ signatures were used by the company to represent the Maa clan’s release of its claims to the land—even though her clan never met and discussed the company’s plans.

Rikarda Maa via Human Rights Watch

A new investigation by Human Rights Watch finds that the world’s leading palm oil producer, Indonesia is rapidly expanding agricultural frontiers into Papua, especially the western New Guinea region. This aggressive and unrestrained expansion is driving mass deforestation and loss of Indigenous lands, as government and private companies move in—often without the consent of local women.

Customary lands known as dusun are central to the livelihoods and cultural identity of Indigenous Papuans. Women like Imelda Maa warn of the implications: “Tomorrow, when everyone has sold their dusun (customary land), where will our children and grandchildren find food? There will be nowhere left. They’ll have to go to someone else’s dusun and buy food. That’s why I said no. I won’t let the company into my dusun. Let it remain for my children and grandchildren.”

Despite Indonesian law requiring companies to obtain community consent—including through environmental and social impact assessments—the reality is different. Permits are granted after so-called consultations that routinely exclude women, even though under national law they possess equal land rights. As Laurensia Yame, from the Awyu community, explains: “My brother decided alone to work with the company and allow them into our village lands. He never discussed it with me. Instead, he worked with my father’s nephew, the only boy. But my uncle’s children don’t have land there. That land is my father’s land; it belongs to me.”

Corporate strategies to acquire land have included meetings involving only male representatives, leaving women’s voices ignored—even though both women and men inherit and use community lands. These decisions jeopardise food security, traditional livelihoods, and the ability of Indigenous families to sustain themselves.

While legally companies must engage with the whole affected community, testimonies highlight the persistent exclusion of women across South Papua. As the government authorises clearance of old-growth forests for palm oil, rice, and sugar cane, these vital lands are vanishing, sparking fears articulated by many Papuan women: there will be nowhere left for their descendants to survive.

The struggle continues as the Awyu and others campaign for the rights to their lands and forests—advocating for legal recognition and genuine, inclusive consultation, not just box-ticking exercises. The HRW report highlights the urgent need for indigenous-led land management and respect for women’s voices in decision-making.

Indonesia is the top producer of palm oil in the world, and Indonesian Papua – the western half of the island of New Guinea – is its final frontier for agriculture-driven deforestation.

Rather than preserve the old, undisturbed trees, the Indonesian government is authorising companies to clear millions of hectares of primary forests, primarily for oil palm, rice, and sugar cane plantations.

Via Human Rights Watch

To acquire land and establish a plantation, companies are required by Indonesian law to obtain certain permits from relevant local government authorities and conduct environment and social impact assessments, which involves engaging with the affected community.

Despite being half the community’s population and having equal land rights to men under national law, women’s voices were repeatedly ignored, including by the men in the Awyu community.

Via Human Rights Watch

Read more: “There Will be Nowhere Left: Government, Companies Take Indigenous Lands Without Women’s Consent in Indonesia’s South Papua,” by Human Rights Watch.

Original article was written by Juliana Nnoko, women’s rights senior researcher. Edited by a senior program editor, and Amy Braunschweiger, former communications associate director. James Ross, legal and policy director, and Joseph Saunders, deputy program director, provided legal and programmatic review, respectively.

Human Rights Watch. (2025, August 20). “There Will be Nowhere Left: Government, Companies Take Indigenous Lands Without Women’s Consent in Indonesia’s South Papua.” Human Rights Watch. hrw.org/feature/2025/08/20/the…

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Read more about human rights abuses and child slavery in the palm oil industry

Indigenous Peoples Fight Climate Change

After wildfires, Belize’s indigenous people rebuild stronger based on “se’ komonil”: reciprocity, solidarity, gender equity, togetherness and community.

Read more

SOCFIN’s African Empire of Colonial Oppression: Billionaires Profit from Palm Oil and Rubber Exploitation

Investigation by Bloomberg exposes that despite being RSPO members, #SOCFIN plantations in #WestAfrica are the epicentre of #humanrights abuses, sexual coercion, environmental destruction, and #landgrabbing. Operating in #Liberia, #Ghana, #Nigeria, and beyond, SOCFIN’s…

Read more

Palm Oil Threatens Ancient Noken Weaving in West Papua

Colonial palm oil and sugarcane causing the loss of West Papuans’ cultural identity. Land grabs force communities from forests, threatening Noken weaving

Read more

Family Ties Expose Deforestation and Rights Violations in Indonesian Palm Oil

An explosive report by the Environment Investigation Agency (EIA) details how Indonesia’s Fangiono family, through a wide corporate web, is linked to ongoing #deforestation, #corruption, and #indigenousrights abuses for #palmoil. Calls mount for…

Read more

Greasing the Wheels of Colonialism: Palm Oil Industry in West Papua

A landmark study published in Global Studies Quarterly in April 2025 has revealed that the rapid expansion of the #palmoil industry in #WestPapua is not only fuelling #deforestation, #ecocide and environmental destruction but…

Read more

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Take Action in Five Ways

1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.

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Join 3,174 other subscribers

2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.

Wildlife Artist Juanchi Pérez

Read more

Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings

Read more

Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao

Read more

Health Physician Dr Evan Allen

Read more

The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert

Read more

How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy

Read more

3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.

twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status…

twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status…

twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1…

4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.

5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here

Pledge your support

#BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #childLabour #humanRights #indigenous #indigenousRights #landRights #landgrabbing #landrights #Melanesia #Melanesian #News #PalmOil #palmoil #Papua #slavery #WestPapua #womenSRights

Palm Oil Threatens Ancient Noken Weaving in West Papua

^{Palm Oil Detectives}

Palm Oil Detectives

2024-07-30 16:13:00

Unmasking Socfin’s Destructive Palm Oil Empire in Africa

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A six-month investigation reveals Socfin’s exploitation of rubber and palm oil in Ghana and Nigeria, leading to deforestation, landgrabbing and human rights abuses. SOCFIN is a palm oil company and member of the RSPO purportedly using “sustainable” palm oil. The company’s activities have caused significant environmental and social harm, including the destruction of vital rainforests and the displacement of indigenous communities. Despite its substantial profits, Socfin’s operations have left local communities impoverished and struggling financially for survival. Help them to survive each time you shop when you #Boycottpalmoil

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“Sustainable” #palmoil and rubber co. and #RSPO member SOCFIN is on a decades long rampage of violent #landgrabbing and #ecocide in #Ghana and Nigeria. Help local communities to fight back against #humanrights abuses when you #Boycottpalmoil @palmoildetect wp.me/pcFhgU-8H0

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Written by Gideon Sarpong, Elfredah Kevin-Alerechi and Audrey Travère. Writing and Editing by Gideon Sarpong. Article originally entitled ‘Socfin exploitation of rubber & palm oil linked to deforestation & human rights abuses in Ghana & Nigeria’ This report was supported by JournalismFund Europe. Originally published on IWatchAfrica. Read original.

In April 2025, Bloomberg conducted an investigation into SOCFIN’s rubber plantations. The investigation uncovered that SOCFIN’s rubber and palm oil companies continue and sustain colonial slavery in Africa in the modern day.

youtube.com/watch?v=8kb1lHJ1IQ…

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Okumu, Nigeria – Okumu Oil Palm Company, a subsidiary under the umbrella of the Socfin Group, possesses an extensive 7,335-hectare rubber plantation and a sprawling 19,062-hectare palm plantation, all nestled within the Ovia South-West local government area of Edo State.

The company’s presence in the Okumu community has become a contentious issue, notably for the indigenous people, including children who have endured displacement due to the company’s activities.

In 2021, the Socfin Group reported a remarkable profit of 80.4 million euros, its highest figure since at least 2014 due to increasing prices for palm oil and rubber. Yet, paradoxically, the Okumu community and other host communities throughout West Africa remain a stark contrast to the image of prosperity associated with Socfin’s substantial export earnings.
Okumu community in Nigeria, Credit: Elfredah Kevin-Alerechi, 2023

Human Rights Abuses

In a deeply distressing account of events, residents of Okumu have leveled accusations against the company for forcibly dismantling three villages within the district, namely—Lemon, Agbeda, and Oweike.

This action resulted in the displacement of hundreds of indigenous inhabitants and the grim aftermath of community farmland destruction, loss of life, and the disruption of children’s education.

For many of these people, their roots run deep within these villages, with no kin beyond the boundaries of their home. The repercussions of the company’s actions continue to haunt the affected communities, even decades after the devastation was wrought.

Today, Lemon, once a thriving community, has been reduced to a mere memory, while the residents of Oweike and Agbeda have been compelled to relocate to nearby communities, seeking refuge and new beginnings.

Upon closer examination, our investigation unveiled a disconcerting narrative: following the eviction of these three communities, the company proceeded to expand its palm and rubber plantations, acquiring a staggering 1,969 hectares of oil palm and 1,811 hectares of rubber in the process.

According to the company’s own website, these expansions represent only a fraction of their broader growth trajectory, with an astounding total of 33,112 hectares now under their purview.

The story of Austin Lemon, a mere 15 years old at the time Socfin’s presence descended upon his community, serves as a heart-wrenching testament to the trauma endured by these communities. As he watched the Luxembourger company, accompanied by security personnel, lay waste to his ancestral home, he also witnessed the pleas of his parents and fellow Lemon village residents in Okomu.

They implored the company to allow them to remain, as they had no alternative haven. Regrettably, their appeals fell on deaf ears, as Socfin’s relentless pursuit of rubber and palm resources took precedence.

His father, the founder of Lemon Village in 1969 and the namesake of the community, followed the age-old Nigerian customary law, which dictates that the first person to settle on a virgin land gains rightful ownership.

Lemon, who is now 33, recalls the profound “shock” that gripped his father, the respected leader of Lemon village within the Okumu community, upon learning that Socfin had acquired their ancestral home. In a desperate bid to secure some semblance of justice for his fellow villagers in the face of impending displacement, Lemon’s father implored the company to provide compensation for their relocation but that did not happen.

He ruefully reflects, “The Company planted their plantation without heeding to their pleas.” The consequences were catastrophic – every single house in Lemon village met its demise, and the once-thriving areas reserved for the cultivation of plantain, cassava, cocoa, and cocoyam were reduced to ruins.

Lemon’s personal account of these events is a poignant reminder of the human cost inflicted by the company’s actions. He reveals, “For a whole year, I couldn’t attend school because we were displaced and struggling to make ends meet.”

“It was the company’s actions that ultimately led to the death of my father, who had high blood pressure. He perished because the farms he once relied upon to feed his 32 children were also obliterated,” he revealed.

In a surprising turn of events, the company denied the findings presented to them.

According to Socfin’s communications team, they acquired their plantation following the de-reservation of a portion of Okomu Forest Reserve by Nigeria’s federal government, in compliance with the Edo Forestry Commission Law (1968) and its subsequent amendments, among other relevant legislation.

Nevertheless, Ajele Sunday, a spokesperson for the Okumu community, contradicts the company’s account. He asserts that the community “never received any compensation” when Socfin claimed to have procured the land from the government.

Multiple sources within the Okomu village have raised concerns, contending that the company conducted negotiations with the government without seeking or taking into consideration the community’s perspective.

This apparent lack of consultation with the community “directly contradicts the principles outlined in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, particularly the concept of Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC),” Ajele argued.

This breach raises critical concerns about the treatment of indigenous communities and their rights in the context of corporate activities, shedding light on the urgency of adhering to these vital principles.

According to FPIC, Indigenous Peoples possess the right to grant or withhold consent for projects that stand to impact them or their territories.

A Tragic Fight for Freedom in Okomu Village

In 2022, Socfin (Okumu Oil Palm Company) took a contentious step by excavating a large trench around its plantation, effectively barricading the community, leaving residents stranded with no access to the outside world. During the rainy season, the runoff from this trench, laden with fertilizers, contaminated the Okomu River, the sole source of drinking water, and proved fatal to fish in the water. Frustrated by this environmental degradation, the residents organized a peaceful protest at the company’s entrance, demanding the closure of the trench.

The protests had spanned two days, with the first day devoted to demonstrations within the community. On the second day, the residents decided to take their grievances to the company’s gate. En route, they were intercepted by security officers determined to quell the protest.

Among the protesters, Iyabo Batu, aged 56, found herself at the forefront. On May 3, 2022, while demonstrating against the company’s closure of the sole road leading to her village, Marhiaoba, she was struck by a bullet in the knee, believed to have been fired by a Socfin security personnel.

“It was very difficult for my grandchildren to go to school because the white man blocked the road,” Iyabo Batu explained, referring to the Socfin manager. She went on to describe how the road closure, a consequence of the trench excavated by the company, led to children in the village discontinuing their schooling. This was the sole route in and out of the community, now obstructed by the company’s actions.

The peaceful protest turned tragic when security personnel attached to the company targeted Iyabo Batu, shooting her in the knee. She was swiftly transported to a clinic before being transferred to the general hospital of Igbuobazua headquarters. Her hospitalization extended beyond a month following the surgery for her gunshot wound, but she expressed her deep sadness at the fact that the company had neither covered her medical expenses nor offered their sympathy.

The company denied any involvement in the incident, insisting that no employee had shot Mrs. Batu. However, community spokesperson Sunday, among others, claimed that the company was attempting to distance itself from the actions.
Iyabo BATU at the Benin Teaching Hospital during her surgery in 2022
Iyabo Batu’s X-ray results unveiled multiple patella fractures, and she credited Environmental Rights Actions (ERA) for her survival. Rita Ukwa of ERA disclosed that they supported Batu, including arranging a city apartment for her for a year after her hospital discharge, as evidenced by her hospital discharge receipt, indicating a payment of 226,940 naira[$296] to the Benin Teaching Hospital.

The company, in responding to findings of this investigation, asserted that they were unable to comment on the allegations as no “formal complaint had been filed by the alleged complainant, either to the company or the Nigerian Police Force.” They also clarified that their security personnel “were not permitted to carry weapons, as per government regulations.”

However, multiple witnesses, both within and outside the company, contended that a company security officer was indeed responsible for the shooting of 59-year-old Iyabo Batu. A non-Okomu resident working for the company identified the officer in question as a government anti-terrorism officer. The source chose to remain anonymous out of fear, considering the potential repercussions from either the company or the police officers who delayed recording the community’s statement when Mrs. Batu was rushed to the police station.

Our investigations showed that the security apparatus for Okumu Oil Palm Company comprises police, private security, and military officers, even though they are compensated by the federal government. These officers are also subject to the directives of the company, raising questions about the dynamics of power and accountability in this complex relationship.

A spokesperson for Edo State Chris Osa Nehikhare said, “the government will also monitor what is happening in Okomu to ensure no one is exploited and to make life better for the community,”

Plantation Socfin Ghana and Deforestation

Meanwhile in Ghana, the operations of Plantation Socfinaf Ghana (PSG), a subsidiary of the Socfin Group which operates rubber and oil palm plantations in Manso and Daboase in the Western Region has led to the destruction of vital rainforests.

In 2017 and 2018, PSG contracted Proforest and HS+E respectively to conduct environmental assessments at its Subri site in Daboase ahead of the construction of a palm processing mill in 2019.

Findings from this assessment showed that any large-scale operations at the Subri site would result in the “loss of biodiversity, land degradation, increase in ambient noise levels, aerial emissions and the destruction of unique endangered ecosystems and species within the catchment areas.”

Notably, the Proforest assessment emphasized the substantial environmental value of the PSG Subri site. It was found to host a substantial “carbon stock of 981,080.74 metric tons” and served as a crucial “habitat for a vulnerable population of species” in need of conservation measures. Despite these findings, PSG proceeded with the construction of the palm processing mill in in 2020 costing US$20 million.

PSG also admitted that between 2012 and 2016, over 1 089 ha of natural forests were cleared to make way for its plantations failing to heed to concerns by environmental groups.

Despite mounting concerns and inquiries into PSG’s actions, the company has remained conspicuously silent, failing to respond to our requests for information regarding their mitigation plans and the repercussions of their operations on the communities around Daboase and the environment at large.

Data from Global Forest Watch paints a distressing picture of the situation. Between 2001 and 2022, Ghana’s Western Region witnessed the loss of a staggering 536,000 hectares of tree cover. This represents a 23% decline in tree cover since the turn of the millennium, accompanied by a grim emission of 297 million metric tons of CO₂ equivalent. It’s worth noting that this region, the wettest in Ghana, plays host to PSG’s extensive plantations.

The ramifications of this ecological decline extend beyond the boundaries of forests and into the lives of the local communities. Farmers like Godwin Ofori, a 35-year-old resident of Daboase in close proximity to PSG’s plantation, have borne the brunt of these changes.

Mr. Ofori expressed his frustration with the evolving rainfall patterns, stating, “One of the biggest challenges over the last decade has been unpredictable rainfall patterns. We cannot predict the rainfall pattern nowadays, and I believe that this is partly a destruction of our forests.”

Recent study by researchers at University of Leeds has shown that African tropical forests remain critical to the fight against the climate emergency, absorbing three times more carbon each year than the UK emitted in 2019.

The direct link between the decline in critical rainforests and these erratic weather patterns underlines the adverse impact on the livelihoods and food security of those living in the vicinity.

Startling findings from Global Witness showcase the unsettling consequence of industrial rubber plantations across the expanse of West and Central Africa, witnessing the loss of nearly 52,000 hectares of ecologically rainforest since the turn of the century—equivalent to an expanse 16 times the size of Brussels.

EU, Deforestation and Rubber companies

In June 2023, the EU introduced regulations on deforested products to address the challenge of rubber and oil plantation-driven deforestation. The EU remains the biggest export destination for palm oil and rubber cultivation from West Africa. Data from the Observatory of Economic Complexity shows that the EU imported over $500 million worth of natural rubber from West Africa in 2020 alone making natural rubber the EU’s most significant import from West Africa in terms of rainforest destruction.

The effect has been the loss of critical rainforests, with a damning impact on local communities, biodiversity, and the environment. This new law has the potential to put a check on Socfin’s operations across West Africa.

Colin Robertson, a Senior Forests Investigator at Global Witness lauded EU efforts describing it as a “very promising step towards reducing European consumers’ impact on the world’s forests.”

He however cautioned that “the inclusion of rubber should mean that European tire manufacturers will have to check that the rubber plantations they buy from are sticking firmly to zero deforestation pledges.”

Based on detailed export data examined, our investigation unearthed a direct link between Société des Matières Premières Tropicales PTE and the procurement of natural rubber from Okomu Oil Palm Company over the last two years.

Société des Matières Premières Tropicales PTE functions as the sole consolidated purchaser of natural rubber for tire manufacturing giant, the Michelin Group. This revelation gives rise to profound ethical concerns, casting a shadow on the European tire manufacturing industry’s dedication to fostering sustainability.

In response to our investigation, the Michelin Group acknowledged our findings and affirmed their awareness of “historical grievances expressed by local communities” against Okomu Oil Palm Company, insisting that they have closely monitored the situation since 2015.

“In collaboration with a civil society organization, we urged Socfin to enhance its sustainable development performance, which eventually led to Socfin’s adoption of “zero deforestation” and “non-exploitation” commitments,” Michelin wrote in their response.

However, our findings expose a crucial discrepancy: Socfin’s interpretation of “zero deforestation” does not align with the industry-recognized standard known as the High Carbon Stock Approach (HCSA). Neither Socfin nor its subsidiaries across West Africa are members of the HCSA. This incongruity highlights the urgent need for greater clarity and alignment within the industry.

Greenpeace has sounded a resounding alarm, cautioning that Socfin’s steadfast resistance to adopting the industry’s zero-deforestation standard poses a significant and looming threat to the forests of West Africa, where the company’s operations are concentrated.

The future of these critical ecosystems remains at a crossroads, demanding enhanced vigilance and rigorous commitment to sustainable practices.

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Written by Gideon Sarpong, Elfredah Kevin-Alerechi and Audrey Travère. Writing and Editing by Gideon Sarpong. Article originally entitled ‘Socfin exploitation of rubber & palm oil linked to deforestation & human rights abuses in Ghana & Nigeria’ This report was supported by JournalismFund Europe. Originally published on IWatchAfrica. Read original.

ENDS

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In September 2024 Socfin is removed from both the Norwegian Pension Fund and Luxembourg Stock Exchange

The Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global’s ethics committee has issued a damning report recommending the exclusion of Socfin’s main shareholder, the Bolloré group, due to evidence of systemic human rights abuses at Socfin’s plantations, particularly in Cameroon. The report outlines serious allegations, including violations of labour rights, widespread sexual violence, harassment of women by plantation supervisors, and deplorable working conditions where workers are often employed as day labourers without contracts, paid below the legal minimum wage, and subjected to arbitrary hiring and firing practices. The report also highlights unsanitary living conditions and a lack of social benefits for workers, painting a grim picture of exploitation and abuse across Socfin’s operations in Africa. These findings have intensified scrutiny on Socfin and the Bolloré group, pressuring them to address these human rights concerns. Read more at Delano

Read more about human rights abuses, deforestation and ecocide in the palm oil industry

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3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.

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Sex-for-Work Allegations Hang Over Tycoons’ Rubber Plantations

A company majority-owned by billionaire Vincent Bolloré's Bolloré Group and Hubert Fabri is the subject of allegations of labor abuses at some of its African...

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Palm Oil Detectives

2025-12-20 14:49:00

Seeing Forest As Merely A Carbon “Commodity”: Dangerous Greenwashing

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The huge danger of commodifying forests and seeing them as merely an “investment” to be bought and sold as ‘carbon credits’ has many loopholes that deny indigenous sovereignty, social and economic outcomes of communities and pose grave extinction risks to wild animals and plants. Take action when you shop and #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife

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The huge danger of commodifying #forests 🌿 🔥 and seeing them as merely an “investment”, denies #indigenous sovereignty, social and economic outcomes of communities and #extinction risks. #humanrights 🌴⛔️ #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect wp.me/pcFhgU-92u

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‘Carbon credits’ turn #forest 🌳🔥 ecosystems into investments but deny #indigenous communities their rights and are often blatant #greenwashing. Use your wallet as a weapon and #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife #landrights @palmoildetect wp.me/pcFhgU-92u

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Written by Constance McDermott, Senior Fellow in Forest Governance and Leader of Ecosystems Governance Group, University of Oxford; Eric Kumeh Mensah, Postdoctoral research fellow, University of Oxford, and Mark Hirons, Environmental Social Science Research Fellow, University of Oxford. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Forests are great carbon sinks – they absorb more carbon from the atmosphere than they release. Globally, forests remove nearly all of the two billion tonnes of carbon dioxide that is currently being removed from the atmosphere every year.

These days, companies can buy “carbon credits” for the carbon that is stored in living forests and offset this against their own greenhouse gas emissions. International financiers estimate that by 2050, Africa could be selling US$1.5 trillion in carbon credits per year, mainly from its forests. Environmental social scientists Constance L. McDermott, Eric Mensah Kumeh and Mark Hirons are co-authors of a report on global forest governance for the International Union of Forest Research Organisations. They have found that buying and selling forest carbon as a commodity is dangerous if it is prioritised over the other environmental and social uses of forests. It could even result in environmental damage and the displacement of forest-dependent people.

What is a carbon sink?

All living things contain carbon, and are considered carbon sinks when they absorb more carbon from the atmosphere than they release. Many ecosystems serve as carbon sinks, but forests have a large biomass (wood and twigs and leaves on the forest floor). This makes them a very important sink from a climate perspective.

The carbon that trees capture is sequestered (stored) in their wood, leaves or needles, and roots. When forests are cut down or burned, their stored carbon is released into the atmosphere and becomes a source of carbon emissions rather than a sink. Forest carbon sinks can be conserved by leaving live trees standing, or created and enhanced by planting or natural regeneration of trees.

Why is it a problem for a forest to be seen only as a carbon sink?

Forests support and regulate soil, water and nutrient flows, and provide habitat for the majority of the world’s species that live on land. They provide people with food, fuel, fibre, medicine and other products.

They are important to the cultural survival and well-being of many communities. In Africa alone, an estimated 245 million people live within five kilometres of a forest, and many of these people rely directly on forests for their livelihoods.

Our research found that forests are increasingly being managed as carbon sinks, and the carbon they store treated as a commodity that can be internationally traded. Carbon markets allow businesses and governments to earn credits by paying for forests that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which is cheaper than reducing their own emissions. This is part of what we call the climatisation of forests.
Animal agriculture and meat, The contents of your fridge and dining table directly impacts the future of rare rainforest and ocean animals. That’s because industrial agriculture and aquaculture for commodities like meat, dairy, fish and palm oil is driving animals in the most biodiverse ecosystems on the planet closer towards extinction.
Governing forests only as carbon sinks can promote “green grabs” where non-forested land, such as grasslands, used by communities for farming and other activities, is taken from the community and used by wealthy companies or governments to plant large tracts of trees to store carbon. Sub-Saharan Africa, in particular, is being targeted as a readily available and inexpensive location for one million hectares of forest restoration and tree plantations.

This is especially threatening for people who do not have secure rights to the forests and land they depend on. These communities can even be restricted or banned from entering the forest. Research has found that forest-dependent communities are rarely given power to address their own priorities in forest carbon sink schemes. This can cause conflict locally and weaken local democracy.

Let’s take the example of the Mai-Ndombe forest in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which supports about 100,000 people in 23 villages. Activities in the Mai-Ndombe under the global Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) climate change mechanism have focused on changing the practices of local forest-dependent communities away from cutting trees for artisanal logging or firewood collection. These communities have also been told not to continue with traditional methods of shifting cultivation (where parts of a forest are temporarily cleared to grow food crops without deforesting the area permanently).

Yet in Mai-Ndombe and the Democratic Republic of Congo’s other forests, land is already allocated to companies for timber (mainly for the export market), for mining, and increasingly for forest carbon sequestration. The result is that large companies continue to extract major economic benefits from forests in ways that exclude local communities.

Ghana’s Cocoa Forest REDD+ Programme is another example. In a bid to reduce deforestation and increase forest carbon stocks, the government of Ghana pays farmers and local communities to not plant cocoa crops in forested areas and to grow shade trees on their cocoa farms.

These efforts to share benefits locally are very important. However, asking farmers to plant or conserve trees does not address the fact that farmers are not earning a living income from selling cocoa.

Ghana’s cocoa farmers receive less than 7.5% of the value of a chocolate bar sold in international markets, and they suffer from food insecurity and increasing crop failures due to climate change. They do not have legal rights to the native trees that regenerate naturally on their cocoa farms.

The focus of REDD+ on channelling large amounts of money into forests as carbon could mean that many farmers lose access to land for growing food and meeting other livelihood needs – unless this is balanced by major investments to address the core challenges the farmers are facing.

What are some solutions?

Forests can absorb large amounts of carbon dioxide and still support communities. A people-centred approach to forests is needed. This means giving local communities secure rights to their land and forest resources, and governing forests according to what best suits the local context, rather than making forest use fit the international market.

The important role of traditional authorities and local customs in managing land and resolving conflicts must be recognised. Many traditional practices have managed forests sustainably for thousands of years. The challenge is to value and support these alternative approaches.

Written by Constance McDermott, Senior Fellow in Forest Governance and Leader of Ecosystems Governance Group, University of Oxford; Eric Kumeh Mensah, Postdoctoral research fellow, University of Oxford, and Mark Hirons, Environmental Social Science Research Fellow, University of Oxford. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

ENDS

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Read more about deforestation and ecocide in the palm oil industry

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Take Action in Five Ways

1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.

• Twitter
• Facebook
• Instagram
• WordPress
• YouTube
• Mail
• Mastodon

Enter your email address

Sign Up

Join 3,174 other subscribers

2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.

Wildlife Artist Juanchi Pérez

Read more

Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings

Read more

Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao

Read more

Health Physician Dr Evan Allen

Read more

The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert

Read more

How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy

Read more

3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.

twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status…

twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status…

twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1…

4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.

5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here

Pledge your support

#Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #carbonCredits #corruption #deforestation #extinction #Forest #forests #greenwash #greenwashing #HumanRights #indigenous #landrights #PalmOil #palmOilBiofuel #palmOilDeforestation #plywood #supplyChain #supplychain #wood

How much CO2 is actually being removed from the air every year?

Forests are mostly to thank - with new tech only responsible for 0.1% of carbon dioxide removal so far, according to a new report.

^{Lottie Limb (euronews)}