Demand for palm and other vegetable oils is rising sharply, raising questions about which ones will be produced, who will control their production and sale, and where they will be grown.
The impact of deforestation for oil palm plantations is well known – and now research has found the replanting process could be additional harm to biodiversity.
Oil palm fruits harvested in Malaysia.
Ahmad Yusni/EPA
Deforestation has wiped out most other predators, so the lizards have lots of food and little competition.
The complete ban on burning peatlands, while effective in reducing forest and land fires, may in the long run harm the local agriculture industry.
Reuters/Beawiharta
Dede Rohadi, Centre for International Forestry Research
Zero-burning policy could hurt small-holder farmers. The ban on the use of fire for land clearing has raised the costs to prepare their land for planting and to keep it pest-free.
Avoiding fires in Indonesia’s peatlands should be a common goal of everyone involved.
Antara Foto/Jessica Helena Wuysang/ via REUTERS
Indonesian peatlands are important to many people: farmers, bureaucrats, businesspeople, and conservationists. But preserving this value for everyone will mean listening to everyone’s concerns.
A farmer carries cocoa pods at a farm in Agboville, Cote d'Ivoire.
Luc Gnago/Reuters
There are rising concerns that rapid deforestation across the Amazon and Southeast Asia could spread to Africa. The continent hasn’t yet seen vast agricultural expansion but it could be on the way.
Forest of Gede Pangrango, Indonesia.
Ricky Martin,CIFOR/Flickr
The Leuser ecosystem in northern Sumatra is home to some of the world’s rarest and best-loved animals. Thanks to a new government moratorium on land clearing, conservationists have enjoyed a big win.
Honorary Fellow, Law School; Associate of the Sydney Democracy Network of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Sydney University, The University of Western Australia