Deal #1159 Version #51566

The company claimed rights on 73,086ha since 2009 until the official lease was signed in 2013. A logging permit was issued to a company called Uniprovince (controlled by Herakles via SGSOC) for 2,500 ha of land within the Herakles concession in 2014. Uniprovince is alleged to have used this license as a cover to transport large volumes of timber that were felled illegally between 2010 and 2013 by SGSOC, prior to the company’s land lease being finalized.

The actual lease was only signed in 2013

Nursery set up and clearing of forest started. The operations have been suspended in 2013 after fierce criticism and protest from the local population and civil society. At the end of 2013 a short-term lease for 3 years was signed with the option to extend for 99 years depending on the level of investment the company can make in the first 3 years. The word on the ground points to a dire financial situation and an erosion of faith in Herakles Farms by investors and company’s own workers. Herakles Farms is attempting to rescue its dire financial situation by using its illegally obtained licence to export timber to China. Evidence of a whole range of breaches of regulations in the licensing and operation of the Herakles plantation has come to light. The company began to fell before receiving its EIA, in addition the company had to pay fines for felling outside of the scope of the EIA.

With the new lease signed, the lease fee went up from 250-500 francs CFA to 3,333 francs CFA. The only payment required under the oil palm concession agreement between Herakles and the Cameroonian government is an annual ‘area rent’, which will provide just US$66,000 a year to the government once all of the land is planted.