Congo,
Republic: Thousands of hectares of land for eucalyptus, oil palm
and mining
Between 1991 and 2001, Shell Renewables
-a division of Shell Oil International- implemented a forestry
operation based on the planting and harvesting of fast-growing
cloned eucalyptus trees (see WRM Bulletin 46), with the aim of
establishing a high-yield source of biomass for future energy
generation.
Later on, Shell sold its plantations.
Very recently MagForestry -the forestry division of MagIndustries,
a Canadian company involved in industrial and energy projects
in Central-Africa (most notably the Republic of Congo and the
Democratic Republic of Congo)- took over control of the former
Shell’s 68,000 hectare eucalyptus plantation through the acquisition
of all the shares of Eucalyptus Fibre Congo S.A. (EFC), the lessee
of the industrial plantation.
EFC currently holds an exclusive 50
year forestry concession agreement with the Government of the
Republic of Congo, which is renewable by EFC for an additional
21 years. This enables MagForestry to appropriate thousands of
hectares of land to carry out not only a forestry activity that
produces very few jobs, but also to secure long term land rights
for its mining branches: MagMining's brine well mining field,
MagMinerals' potash plant and MagMetals' magnesium smelter.
The eucalyptus plantations lay near
the Congo’s Atlantic port city of Pointe-Noire, from where MagForestry
can send its shipments to the seaports of Antwerp in Belgium and
Rotterdam in the Netherlands, ready to be distributed all over
Europe or to be re-exported to anywhere in the world.
Another budding business adds to the
package. The biomass fuel boom prompted MagForestry to begin the
construction of a 500,000 tonne per year wood chipping plant on
those lands, aiming at becoming a major supplier for the rapidly
growing global biomass market.
At the same time, the Spanish company
Aurantia is investing in a cluster of palm plantations in the
Republic of Congo with the aim of producing biodiesel from the
oil. Feasibility studies are already underway to analyse the different
plantation and mill sites, and to assess the state of the existing
logistical infrastructure in the country.
The actual size of the investment has
not been disclosed and the company did not offer any insights
into how it sees itself within the context of sustainability and
of the fragility of Congo's environment, neither into how it would
guarantee its palm oil is produced in an environmentally friendly
manner.
Meanwhile, dangerous outcomes from a
study commissioned by the EU and carried out by the CIRAD, announce
that Congo “has around 12 million hectares of land suitable for
the establishment of woody energy crop plantations (such as eucalyptus
and acacia)”. This may entail that private groups take over those
12 million hectares of land to carry out their business.
Big business in the Congo’s lands… for
big companies.
Article based on: “500,000 tonne mill
for energy wood chips in the Republic of Congo”, Biopact, http://biopact.com/2006/11/500000-tonne-mill-for-energy-wood.html;
“Une société espagnole veut investir dans l'exploitation de l'huile
de palme au Congo”, Congoplus.info, http://www.congoplus.info/tout_larticle.php?id_article=2269;
“Spanish company Aurantia to invest in Congo's palm oil sector
for biodiesel”, Biopact, http://biopact.com/2007/03/spanish-company-aurantia-to-invest-in.html
