Several batches of palm kernel product imported for dairy farms contained certain chemicals above a safe limit – and there’s an ethical quandary in supporting an industry linked with deforestation.
Oil palm fruit in North Aceh, Indonesia.
Fachrul Reza / Barcroft Media via Getty Images
Palm oil is responsible for widespread deforestation and labor abuses, but it’s also cheap and incredibly useful. That’s why many advocates call for reforming the industry, not replacing it.
Penambahan caampuran solar dengan nabati ol.
ANTARA FOTO/Oky Lukmansyah/foc/16.
Forests provide an essential buffer between people and wildlife — and the viruses they carry. Global agriculture is destroying forests, harming biodiversity and may be putting human life at risk.
There are more than 3,600 territories in Brazil that are home to Quilombola, descendants of escaped slaves, but few hold titles to the land.
(Elielson Pereira da Silva)
Oil palm plantation on remote locations is not mutually exclusive with increase wealth and improve living standards at remote locations.
Land conflicts in Indonesia are commonly the result of a lack of prior consent from people who have lived in the area for generations.
Jonathan McIntosh/Wikimedia
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.
A balanced research program should focus on good and rational peat management efforts that minimise environmental impacts, and on water regulation that reduces the risk of fire.