Source: Basta! and Les Amis de la Terre (France)
Palm oil is massively imported into Europe, to be used for food and biofuels. A new refinery might be established in Port la Nouvelle (Aude – South of France), supported by local authorities (or local governments) like the Languedoc Roussillon region.
In West Africa, where palm oil is produced, land grabbing by multinationals and the expropriation of people are skyrocketing. Basta! pursued the business of palm oil to Liberia.
The Malaysian transnational company Sime Darby has grabbed more than 300 000 hectares in Liberia to produce palm oil for European markets, engendering a quite strong social opposition there.
Sime Darby had planned to carry its production to a refinery project settled in South of France. This project has been abandoned due to a strong local mobilization. Sime Darby now plans to send its production to Rotterdam (Netherlands).
Click here to view a report by Basta! Magazine and Friends of the Earth France on the social and ecological devastation caused by oil palm plantations in Liberia.
Christy Rodgers
Global Justice Ecology Project
hallieb
Jeff Conant
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