A study revealed that deforestation by oil palm plantations is on the rise worldwide. It is estimated that even sustainable plantations have caused damage to the ecosystems of countries like Indonesia. Africa would be threatened by the interest of several companies to mobilize their activities towards this continent.
By José Díaz
Servindi, August 15, 2018.- One of the most dramatic problems in the field of the fight against global warming is, without a doubt, deforestation. Precisely one of the main causes of deforestation at present is the increase of oil palm crops that in recent years have disappeared copious amounts of forests in Asia, Africa and Latin America.
A recent report by the scientific journal PNAS revealed the negative effects of oil palm plantations, even those that work with the sustainability certificate. Only in Indonesia, the country most affected by oil palm worldwide, this type of plantation has caused 33% of its total deforestation between 2001 and 2018.
This information includes those plantations that complete the sustainability parameters of the Round Table on Sustainable Palm Oil (RPSO), promoted by WWF in 2004. It is estimated that there are currently 3.57 million hectares of palm cultivation under the sustainability scheme. However, this would only represent 19% of palm oil production worldwide.
This last data would show that around the oil palm industry there is a fundamental problem of land grabbing. According to the PNAS publication, this is reflected in the disappearance of forests, forests and the loss of rights for indigenous peoples in those areas where these plantations exist.
Africa under threat
In recent months, oil palm extracting companies have suggested the possibility of moving their plantations to Africa. The reason would be in the potential offered by the West African territory for the cultivation of oil palm, something that according to Serge Wich, a researcher at John Moores University in Liverpool, would affect the lives of important animal species.
"Although palm oil cultivation is an important source of income for many tropical countries, its expansion is a key threat to tropical forests and biodiversity. We have shown that the large-scale development of palm oil production in Africa will have unavoidable negative consequences for primates in the region, "says the PNAS article.
The potential deforestation that would create the oil palm plantation in Africa would destroy the natural habitats of more than 193 primate species in that continent. This would aggravate the situation of hundreds of animal species that are currently under threat of extinction.
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