Conservationists argue against 'selective' targeting of palm oil

Jakarta (dpa) – Palm is the world's most widely used vegetable oil and likely the most versatile, featuring in anything from cosmetics to chocolate to fuel to margarine. Harvested from the oil palm tree, its yields per hectare exceed those of similar crops, meaning less land is needed to produce the same volume of oil.  But palm oil is sourced from environmentally damaging monocultures, says Janine Korduan from the German Federation for the Environment and Nature Conservation (BUND). The commodity has long been a target for activists seeking to curb the destruction of rainforest and orang-utan habitat in Indonesia and Malaysia, where around 80% of the world's supply is grown. Companies operating in the sector have been accused not only of razing jungle, but of intimidating residents, harassing critics and abusing workers: the US last week banned imports of palm oil from Malaysian company FGV Holdings, a Proctor & Gamble supplier, over allegations it uses forced labour. But proponents of palm say it has been targeted excessively compared to other oils, including scientists and conservationists writing in Cell Reports Sustainability, part of the Cell Press network of science publications. "Almost all oils are associated with biodiversity and human rights issues," the researchers said, including olive oil, the high demand for which has been tied to effects such as loss of habitat for nesting birds. While conceding that concerns about palm oil production are "justified," the team – whose research was funded by chocolate maker Ferrero Group and who are members of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Oil Crops Taskforce – said other crops "can cause just as much ecological damage." "Soybean production has driven massive deforestation in South America," the team point out, adding that "sesame production has been linked to human rights abuses in South Sudan and Ethiopia." Public debates about such crops are based more on myth than fact, the researchers say, calling for a rethink of what are deemed "good" and "bad" oils. "Crops don’t destroy forests and other biodiverse habitats; people do," says conservation scientist Erik Meijaard of the Brunei-based conservation group Borneo Futures and the University of Kent. The following information is not intended for publication dpa spr coh arw

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