Palm oil and its myths

By Julian Sudre

" Corporate greed and the lack of political will have embossed their mark of barbaric comportment on to virgin beauty spots"

Sometimes reacting in haste would not be a case of repenting at leisure. But when it comes to cracker-barrel philosophy, the inevitable is meant to be the canary in the coalmine of delusion.

These days, palm oil fetches its way in a myriad of food products and cosmetics and is at the core of rainforest losses, biodiversity destruction and its international trade is the key driver of human rights abuses on a massive scale. Palm oil which is high in vitamin A and magnesium has been difficult to trace from source to end use as it is concealed in the form of vegetable oil. The actual palm oil is not a bad thing but the way it has proliferated in terms of production is the main cause of man-made disasters.
Lands occupied by oil-palm have doubled in the last 10 years and orangutans and Sumatra tigers are being threatened according to scientists but also gibbons, tapirs, proboscis, monkeys, clouded leopards and more than 220 species of birds could go the same way. Corporate greed and the lack of political will have embossed their mark of barbaric comportment on to virgin beauty spots.
Malaysia and Indonesia together account for 84 per cent of the world production and it represents about 10 per cent of the gross domestic product of Malaysia. Such shocking figures express the cardinal importance of developing and adhering to strict regulations and frameworks.
Friends of the Earth reported that 80 per cent of companies could not tell where their palm oil came from and the development of oil palm plantations was responsible for an estimated 87 per cent deforestation in Malaysia between 1995 and 2000.
Large -scale tree plantations such as oil palm bring about a complete and permanent change to the local community's way of life, economy and culture. A monoculture export oriented crop is planted and a 100 per cent cash-based economy is installed.
Some serious questions need to asked about the policies of international institutions, national government and corporations in promoting the production of palm oil as an answer to the needs of the rural communities. Land rights and social conflicts need to be tackled with adequate measures so as to prevent atrocity such as torture and violence. Firstly, the Indonesian government should introduce a moratorium on clearing forest and peatland areas. Environmental pollution are permeating South-east Asia due to the fact of peatland fires and heavy sediments loading in rivers and streams and the excessive if not improper use of agro-chemicals. Waste management should be prioritised instead of giving way to the heavy weight of corporate avarice.
Secondly, international funds need to be made available so that tropical forest countries can reduce their greenhouse emissions from deforestation.

In essence, if companies enmeshed in the palm oil international trade, use their influence on how suppliers operate, and refuse to deal with those who decidedly destroy forest areas, they could change industry practices. Sadly green visionary fanfares won't trump the old business adage: "you get what you pay for" and the government has held on to it. Although it asked its consultants if a ban on importing environmentally destructive fuels would prevent further despoliation of forests, its consultants responded with consummate discipline that it would infringe on world trade rules. The easier option was to call for "some form of voluntary scheme instead."

Tajung Puting National Park on the island of Borneo is under threat today by the expansion of palm oil expansion. Wilmar, a Singapore-based company in which Archer Daniels Midlands (ADM) has a controlling share, continues to clear forests on all sides for palm oil plantations. Wilmar is the world's largest producer of palm oil with facilities in Indonesia, Malaysia and Uganda. To its west, The Gunung Palung National Park, another heaven for orangutans, is being encroached upon by Cargill-owned plantations. To the east, Borneo's largest national park - the Kayan Mentarang National Park - is being threatened by the proposed 850 kilometre Kalimantan Border Oil Palm Mega-Project. If developed, it would be the single largest palm oil plantation in the world, destroying intact tropical rainforests and the ancestral territory of up to a million Dayak people, according to the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Peoples Rights.
The rush of biofuels is expanding rapidly hence its demand will get out of proportion accordingly.
The biodiesel industry has accidentally invented the world's most carbon-intensive fuels and its consequences have dragged us into the dregs of human blinding Mammonism.