WRM | 4 December 2014
Scrutiny of Feronia’s oil palm project shows one more example of many that follow a wave of foreign investment in African farmland, leading to land grabs and conflicts. (Photo: Getty
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has the largest continuous rainforest area in Africa, which is one of the largest in the world. However, its high biological diversity, including humid, dry, wetlands, bamboo, mangrove and many other forests, which coexist for centuries with indigenous and forest dependent people, is under serious threat with the expansion of oil palm plantations and foreign investors in general. Moreover, climate policies related to forests in the DRC, such as REDD, pose further threats to forests and local communities by encouraging industrial oil palm cultivation.
Industrial oil palm expansion in DRC.
