If the whole world is made aware of the detrimental effects of palm oil on the environment, the animals, and the people; the . Clear-cutting forests to establish palm oil plantations contributes to global warming by releasing excessive amounts of greenhouse gases into the air ( 6, 8 ).. Big swathes of these crops also act as barriers to the movement of species across the landscape. Fair use. If you wish to go palm oil free, and are in Australia, the UK, Spain, or Austria, you can choose products with the Palm Oil Free Certification Accreditation Programme (POFCAP) trademark. Yes, a couple of bright spots do exist in the industry. In short, if you choose to use palm oil, look for unrefined red palm oil. Problems With Palm Oil | Cost of Production. It commonly appears in cooking oils, shortening, and margarine. Mother and baby orangutan living semi-wild at the Semenggoh Wildlife Centre outside Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia. Untrained people should not try to capture any oiled bird or animal. For more information see our Privacy Policy. Find out how to slash your risk of Alzheimers, and accelerateyour mental clarity, in theBrainBreakthroughs Masterclass. Web Accessibility. When the food industry started using palm oil on a large scale in the 1990s, it was meant to be a healthy alternative to animal-derived fats like butter and tallow. The world's most popular vegetable oilpalm oilis produced in tropical rain forests everywhere. Crude palm oil, or "red palm oil," is high in beta-carotene. We have a series of guidance documents that describe the biology of and impacts of oil on sea turtles, mangroves, and coral reefs. In fact, both RSPO and POIG allow the clearing of forests as long as theyre not identified as areas with high conservation value or high carbon stock. Our work depends on it. The industry often compels children of palm workers to work, treat them poorly, and pay them dreadfully low wages (if they pay them at all). In 2016, Indonesia produced 36 million tonnes and Malaysia produced 21 million tonnes. Today, palm oil from many of the RSPO-certified companies is still causing the same problems as non-certified oils. The conversion to date, and future expansion, threatens biodiversity and increases greenhouse gas emissions. Image credit jbdodane, Flickr, CC BY-NC 2.0. These jungles are becoming more accessible which is an advantage . By maintaining a healthy balance of cholesterol (both . Oil palm trees are native to Africa and historically grew in countries to its west and south-west. Each one includes related planning and response considerations for oil spills which may affect these particularly sensitive organisms and habitats. . More than 85 per cent of the worlds palm oil is produced in Indonesia and Malaysia. However, while they are present, light oils present two significant hazards. In the U.S., imports rose 352% between 2002 and 2012. (On the other hand, palm kernel oil comes from the fruits seed.). Image credit Peter Nijenhuis, Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0, Panut Hadisiswoyo, who is the director of the Orangutan Information Centre, based in Medan, Sumatra, says that orangutans go to oil palm plantations in search of food. They regenerate land that is already degraded or convert existing palm farms to organic. As you can see, palm oil is an . Learn the truth about this ingredient. If you currently have, or are at risk of having high cholesterol, talk with your registered dietitian about . Deforestation due to palm oil has led to the near-extinction of many species, including the orangutan, a creature found nowhere else on Earth. Today palm oil production is the largest cause of deforestation in Indonesia and other equatorial countries with dwindling expanses of tropical rainforest. There are four types of Certified Sustainable Palm Oil: Identity Preserved (IP), Segregated, Mass Balance, and Book & Claim. If you are purchasing products that do contain palm oil, only buy from companies that use Certified Sustainable Palm Oil (CSPO). In a report published in the journal PLOS ONE in July last year, Varsha Vijay et al said that, despite having relatively small plantation areas, countries in Latin America and Africa experienced a greater percentage growth in palm oil cultivation between 2003 and 2013 than Indonesia or Malaysia. When trees are young, harvesting the fruit is manageable. It is very tragic, Hadisiswoyo says, to see orangutans in life-threatening situations because their homes have been replaced by oil palm plantations. Palm oil is likely healthier than butter, but you should not add palm oil on top of other types of oil. Under the Book & Claim system, manufacturers and retailers buy credits from RSPO-certified growers and crushers and independent smallholders. The requirement for palm oil has resulted in the deforestation of the timber, the loss of species, ecosystems, natural resources, gaseous mixtures, and the quality of water and land. The director of Eco Custodian Advocates in Papua New Guinea, David Mitchell, says we should not just be focusing on numbers. A worker at a Malaysian plantation displays some palm fruitsource of the world's most popular edible oil. Healthy, ethical, sustainable food for all. POFCAPs Palm Oil Free trademark. Whether you chose to minimize the threat that palm oil poses to the tiger through personal consumption choices or by supporting an organization, we can all play a role to help protect the future of this - and many other species. Over time, this results in cardiovascular conditions and can cause a stroke or heart attack. The industry refutes this by stating that they provide work for local people, which is true. (Ive even heard it called a superfood. By checking the Send me text message reminders and updates box you agree to receive important updates, reminders, and promotional messages about events and products from Food Revolution Network (FRN). Ancient cultures pressed the fruit to get the energy-rich oil. However, it's not so easy to say which kind is worst. The Orangutan Land Trust is a member of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), which has many critics who say that it is toothless and that its certification process is seriously flawed. Second, many light oils, such as gasoline and diesel, are also considered to be toxic. The programme audits and certifies products using strict international criteria and standards. Wildlife habitat is destroyed to make way for oil palms, and animals who stray onto plantations in search of food are shot or poisoned. Hadisiswoyo says that about 10,000 hectares of the Gunung Leuser National Park have been encroached upon for plantations. Researchers estimate that, on many days in September and October, the CO2emissions from the fires exceeded the average daily emissions from all economic activity in the United States. Oil can also smother some small species of fish or invertebrates and coat feathers and fur, reducing birds' and mammals' ability to maintain their body temperatures. And written records describing it date back to the 15th century. charlie's chapter, Whats the deal with palm oil? Theoretically, its possible to produce this oil without deforestation. A study published in Environmental Research Letters actually found no significant difference between certified and non-certified plantations for any of the sustainability outcomes they measured. The 12 companies are Colgate-Palmolive, L'Oreal, Hershey, Kellogg's, Kraft, Mars, Mondelez, General Mills, Heinz, Nestl, PepsiCo, Reckitt Benckiser and Unilever. And does sustainable palm oil exist? How does palm oil affect animals? If these key lowland rainforests continue to be destroyed, we will lose sufficient, viable habitat needed for the survival of this critically endangered species, RAN said. Palm oil is destroying rainforests. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Please donate today. Publication of content does not imply that Animal People, Inc. endorses the ideas expressed within. The critically endangeredspecies include the black-spotted cuscus and other marsupials, one echidna species, three bat species, and several species of rodents. The first thing you can do is to lessen the amount, or ideally stop, purchasing products that containpalm oil. Sumatran elephants. While these oils can be very persistent, they are generally significantly less acutely toxic than lighter oils. But its also in pizza, ice cream, breads, crackers,fast foods, cookies, donuts, peanut butter, chocolate, and hazelnut spread (i.e., Nutella), just to name a few. While palm oil can be defined as vegan because it contains no animal substances, the industry that produces it is by no means cruelty free. Oil palm plantations also use copious amounts of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. It is impossible to know how many orangutans became sick or died in the fires, but the toll on wildlife was clearly catastrophic. Palm oil and palm oil by-products play an important role in animal feed. Mother orangutans are also often killed by poachers and have . And it certainly isnt necessary in your diet. There is also an RSPO Trademark App, which consumers can use to access a list of RSPO-certified products and share product information. There are estimated to be between 2,400 and 2,800 of the animals remaining in the wild a 50 percent drop in numbers since 1985. Palm oil is the most widely traded vegetable oil globally, with demand projected to increase substantially in the future. You can easily limit your use of products containing palm oil by using simple substances like bicarb and vinegar for cleaning and handmade soap from small manufacturers, and by refraining from buying processed foods. Wildlife habitat is destroyed to make way for oil palms, and animals who stray onto plantations in search of food are shot or poisoned. (NOAA), Oiled Wildlife Care Network from the University of California at Davis, volunteering to wash birds affected by an oil spill, different types of oil behave differently, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Refugio State Beach Oil Spill Near Santa Barbara, California, Environmental Response Management Application (ERMA), How Oil Harms Animals and Plants in Marine Environments. You can volunteer, donate, or simply spread the word. Healthy, ethical, and sustainable food for all. Mitchell says that monoculture crops such as oil palm are poor in supporting species. But why is it bad? They are looking for the forests that used to be there., He says rescuers often have to cut bullets out of the orangutans. Also, if heavy oils get onto the feathers of birds, the birds may die of hypothermia (they lose the ability to keep themselves warm). The industry also violates the rights of indigenous peoples by seizing extensive tracts of their land. In 2015, massive fires devastated an area of Central Kalimantan that is home to the largest orangutan population in the world. Here are our full terms & conditions. Habitat destruction . How Does Palm Oil Negatively Impact the Environment? Government data has shown that over 50,000 orangutans have already died as a result of deforestation due to palm oil in the last two decades. See our Privacy Policy and Terms for more info. Biodiversity within oil palm plantations is potentially threatened by replanting. (Left alone, oil palm trees can live much longer than this, even up to 200 years.). After days or weeks, some heavy oils will harden, becoming very similar to an asphalt road surface. Currently, Indonesia and Malaysia are the leading producers of palm oil in the world. Featured image: mother and daughter orangutans Suci and Sri, rescued from hunters on land cleared for palm oil production. Revised: Nov 07, 2022 12:07pm | Site Map | Contact Us | Accessibility | Disclaimer As well as widespread habitat loss for endangered species like Asian rhinos, elephants, tigers and orangutans, this can lead to significant soil erosion. It's reddish in color, with a distinct odor and flavor. This is a result of unsustainable palm oil extractions and deforestations in their natural habitat. There are severe damages in all the areas in which there are palm oil extractions. According to the latest estimates, there were about 14,600 Sumatran orangutans left in the wild in 2015. For school were doing persuasive writing and mine is about palm oil. Up to 300 football fields of forest are cleared every hour to make room for palm plantations. But unfortunately, sustainable palm oil is just as controversial as the industry as a whole. The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) formed in 2004 as a way to support the growth of sustainable oil palms and for consumers to identify sustainable products. If People Could Just See This: Upcoming Film Documents Dog Pounds of Southern U.S. Exposing Wildlife Crime: An Interview With Karl Ammann, Minivan Carrying 61 Dogs to Illegal Slaughterhouse Intercepted in Cambodia, Monkey Exploiters Promote a Self-Serving Myth, State Animal Protection Laws Ranked: Maine is #1, New Mexico #50, Beyond Human: Animals, Aliens, and Artificial Intelligence, Col Ford and Natasha de Vere, Flickr, CC BY 2.0, Rainforest Action Network, Flickr, CC BY-NC 2.0, World Bank Photo Collection, Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. Support campaigns for the mandatory labelling of palm oil in food products. Baby elephant crosses a road in Borneo. It is found in products ranging from soap, cosmetics, and cleaning products to candles, chocolate, and ice cream, and it is also used to make biofuel. Based on a sample of 342,032 hectares of oil palm plantations across Latin America, the researchers found that 79 percent replaced previously intervened lands such as pastures and croplands and banana plantations, and primarily cattle pastures. When elephant habitat is lost through land clearing and deforestation, hungry elephants seek food in palm oil plantations or villages and fields. Squeezing the fleshy fruit will produce crude palm oil, while crushing the kernel (seed) of the fruit will produce palm kernel oil. Most oil produced via the Palm Done Right principles comes from small family farms in Ecuador. In May 2017, Widodo approved a two-year extension to a moratorium on the issuing of new licences for plantations on primary forest and peatland. People havevalued oil palms for thousands of years. 804 SE 1st Street, Suite A The industry will still sell to other consumers who do not care about sustainability.. Worldwide palm oil supply and distribution totalled about 58.8 million tonnes in 2015/2016, and looks set to reach more than 62 million tonnes this year. Mighty Earth, which, in 2016, produced a report entitled Palm Oils Black Box, agreed to suspend its campaign against Olams oil palm and rubber operations for a year. In April this year, a female elephant, aged about 12, was found dead on an oil palm plantation in North Sumatra, owned by the Indonesian company PT Perkebunan Inti Sawit Subur and adjacent to the Gunung Leuser National Park. Privacy Policy. Oil palms only grow in the tropics and need much water. Palm oil is a popular oil found in many foods. Deforestation defined as "the cutting down of trees in a large area, or the destruction of trees by people," is a huge problem and it is estimated that between 3 and 7 billion trees are cut down each year. Hadisiswoyo believes that consumers have the power to push the industry to stop expanding and to implement zero-deforestation practices. While it is imperative to protect and restore precious wildlife habitat and sanction oil palm growers who are clearing forests illegally, the argument for pressuring companies to produce palm oil more responsibly, rather than replacing oil palms with another crop, is very strong. And in India, consumption increased more than 230% since 2001. Palm oil is a tropical oil that originates from the fruit of palm trees. We observe this same effect if sea otters become oiled. They dont need to utilize or add as much chemical fertilizer (which is expensive) to forest land cleared by fire and fertilized from ash produced by the fire. POFCAP certifies individual products rather than brands, so companies that manufacture products containing palm oil along with products that are palm oil free can apply for certification for the palm oil free products within their range. Join FRN CEO, Ocean Robbins, and the fabulousTeam Sherzai, MD, for the Masterclass that puts brain health inYOUR hands. Ultimately, the effects of any oil depend on where it is spilled, where it goes, and what animals and plants, or people, it affects. The problem with palm oil is that vast areas of virgin tropical rain forest are clear cut to open up land for cultivation. In November last year, an infant elephant was severely injured in a snare on the PT Perkebunan Inti Sawit Subur plantation, and two other elephants were injured by snares earlier in the year. Consulting firm Prosympac conducts job training at an RSPO-certified palm oil plantation in Jambi, Sumatra. I produce a website, Changing Times, which is focused primarily on environmental issues and human rights. Competing crops against Palm Oil have a more significant impact on the environment and biodiversity. This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged. While the yield of alternative oils is much lower: 0.8 t / h for rapeseed oil, 0.7 t / h for sunflower oil, 0.5 t / h for soy oil (WWF 2016 data). How does palm oil affect the Amazon rainforest? Please let me know at ilonaabbott-newland@seatoun.school.nz. Not only is Palm Oil bad for the environment, and a major cause of climate change, but it is also the leading cause of orangutan extinction. After a meeting with the global environmental campaigning organisation Mighty Earth, Olam agreed in February this year to suspend forest clearing for oil palm and rubber plantations in Gabon for a year, and said that the suspension period could be extended. Mass Balance oil is from certified sources, but is mixed with ordinary palm oil in the supply chain. Other species, including the Sumatran tiger, elephants, rhinos, sun bears, slow lorises, pangolins, various species of monkey, and many birds, insects, and reptiles, are all also hugely impacted by the clearing of forest for oil palms. Boynton Beach, Fl 33435, Copyright 2022 Raider Rooter. Palm oil is hidden under many names, in many products, and it's used in many different ways. Click to see author's profile. Does nestle use palm oil that is not stainable? Desilets says that 10,000 orangutans are living in areas that have been identified for industrial oil palm cultivation in Borneo. There are a number of apps available that can assist you in eliminating conflict palm oil from your life, or enable you to reduce it as much as possible: You can also help on a larger scale to change the way palm oil is produced and ensure protection for forests and the animals who depend on them. This is an issue that has serious impacts for people and the environment. Palm oil is widely used around the world. The organization has developed a set of standards to produce palm oil organically, using the principles of regenerative agriculture. Most states have regulations about the specific procedures to follow. The loss of rainforests threatens the environment of the entire planet. Papua New Guinea, where there are reported to be at least two hundred species of mammals, including possums, wallabies, and the endangered tree kangaroo, and more than seven hundred bird species, is also considered to be ripe for further exploitation. Up to 300 football fields of forest are cleared every hour to make room for palm plantations.The power is in your palm. As a 501(c)3 charity, we specifically do not endorse political parties or candidates. But this process grows ever more strenuous as the trees grow larger. And if youre going to eat processed foods, look for those made without this controversial oil. 3 minute read July 16, 2014. A total of 1.7 million hectares of forests and plantations were razed by fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan in 2015, according to government data. The CEO of International Animal Rescue, Alan Knight,points to the complexity of the palm oil debate. Oil destroys the insulating ability of fur-bearing mammals, such as sea otters, and the water repellency of a bird's feathers, thus exposing these creatures to the harsh elements. First, some can ignite or explode. Natural forest gives way to monoculture in Peru. Read the full story of their rescue here. Palm oil monocultures are replacing forest ecosystems, and all those who depend on the forests orangutans, elephants, and also the indigenous Dayaksare less valuable than the land upon which. Website owner: Office of Response and Restoration | NOAA's Ocean ServiceNational Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | US Department of Commerce | USA.gov, An oiled seabird was found dead on the beach following the Kuroshima oil spill near Dutch Harbor, Alaska, in November 1997. Image credit Aul Rah, Flickr, CC BY 2.0. It is the production method of 83 percent of the industry that is questionable., Luff says that palm oil is a vegan ingredient in the sense that it is plant based and not of animal origin, but millions of animals and insects whole ecosystems, in fact are wiped out because of the production of conflict palm oil.. Much of the risk from palm oil is thought to . Our monthly e-newsletter 'Eyes on the Forest' gives you an up-close-and-personal look at Orangutan Foundation International's conservation work and alerts you to all the news, stories, events, and photos you won't want to miss. Help to raise awareness within your social circles about the deforestation caused by palm oil production and the destruction of wildlife habitat. There are estimated to be between 55,000 and 62,000 Bornean orangutans living in the wild, split into three distinct subspecies. Can Biologists Describe New Species Without Killing Them?