Camvert: the arsonist of Cameroonian biodiversity
Yaoundé: February 22nd, 2022 The agricultural corporation Camvert made the emptiest of gestures earlier this month, when it donated biodiversity protection equipment to a national park while continuing a massive programme of deforestation in FMU 09 025 in order to create an oil palm plantation. Greenpeace Africa dismissed the PR stunt as an attempt to distract from Camvert’s deliberate and long-term environmental destruction in the district of Campo.
On Friday, February 10, 2023, Camvert delivered support equipment to Campo-Ma’an National Park. However, to date, 6,000 ha of forest have been destroyed for the purpose of timber sales, mostly illegal. 40,000 ha were allocated to Camvert in the provisional concession signed by the President of the Republic in 2022.
Ranece Jovial Ndjeudja, Head of the Forest Campaign at Greenpeace Africa, dismissed Camvert’s gesture as an attempt to mask the crimes it commits on the ground, and their disastrous impact on local communities. “Camvert is destroying the forest and then presenting itself as a saviour of biodiversity in that forest,” he said. “Everyone can see they are hypocrites.”
As early as December 2022, communities in some villages of the Campo district were rudely awakened several times by the cries of women whose plantations had been devastated by elephants. The phenomenon is becoming more and more common. Moreover, in January 2023, the same scene occurred in the area where Camvert’s project is located. “Elephants destroyed everything, right behind my father’s house,” said a resident of Campo. Conflicts between humans and wildlife have increased with the arrival of Camvert in the area. This situation is becoming increasingly difficult for communities to speak about publically, because they risk being threatened from all sides. “FMU 09025 is a corridor for the fauna of Campo Ma’an National Park. By destroying this forest to plant oil palm, Camvert is disturbing and threatening its biodiversity. We will lose it all if the Camvert project is not stopped. And before they flee, these animals will continue to terrorize the local populations who also have the right to a peaceful life,” laments Ranece Jovial Ndjeudja.
Support the people of Campo and Niete in their fight to protect their forests.
Luchelle Feukeng
Communications Officer, Greenpeace Africa
Email: [email protected]
Phone: +237 656 46 35 45 (WhatsApp)
Ranece Jovial Ndjeudja
Congo Basin Forest Campaigner, Greenpeace Africa
Email: [email protected]
Phone: +237 699901742