Oil palm – Position paper

Apr 2008

Oil palm plantations have often imposed environmental and social costs due to indiscriminate forest clearing, habitat loss of threatened and endangered species, uncontrolled burning with related haze, and disregard for the rights and interests of local communities. In addition, forest conversion by plantation companies contributes to climate change, as 20 per cent of all human induced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are caused by deforestation. The industry practice of draining and converting peatland forests is especially damaging to climate mitigation efforts, as these “carbon sinks” store more carbon per unit area than any other ecosystem in the world.
WWF recognizes that palm oil is a basic foodstuff with high consumer demand. In addition, palm oil is increasingly used to replace fossil fuels in the transport and energy sectors of (mainly) developed countries. Taking into account the growing demand for palm oil for bioenergy as well as traditional uses, the FAO estimates that palm oil production will double between 1999/2001 and 2030.
WWF is concerned that the growing demand for palm oil could create incentives for oil palm plantations to expand into areas with high conservation values, also threatening freshwater ecosystems, livelihoods of forest dependant peoples, the habitats of endangered species such as elephants, rhinos, tigers and orang-utans, and the success of climate change mitigation on the global level. WWF also recognizes that an increase in palm oil production for energy use may have wider sustainability impacts, such as food shortages, food price increases, or displacement (bioenergy production displacing agricultural production and pushing it into other areas, causing a net expansion of the area under cultivation and associated forest loss).

By: WWF

 
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