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Palm oil plantations in Indonesia: On the (down) wood path

2019-09-02T03:19:40.404Z


Indonesia is the largest palm oil producer in the world. A satellite image shows how rainforest is being cleared for large-scale cultivation. The forecasts are bleak.



It is quite possible that this morning you had a bit of rainforest on the breakfast plate - at least figuratively. Because palm oil is the most commonly used vegetable oil in the world and is used in spreads, frozen pizza and chocolate.

In order to cultivate the oil palms, valuable rainforest has been cleared in Indonesia for years. Not only is the unique ecosystem of the Amazon, where heavy fires have raged for weeks, at risk from the depletion, but also the ancient trees of the largest island nation on earth.

The Earth Observation Satellite "Sentinel-2" from the Copernicus Program of the European Union documented palm oil plantations in the east of the Indonesian island of Borneo in February 2019. The recording has now been published by the European Space Agency Esa.

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Satellite image of the week: snapshots from space

You can see various stages of the clearing process in the rainforest. The green plots show established palm oil farms, the light brown areas mark recently from rainforest-derived agricultural area. All around, the dense forest appears dark green.

Indonesia is the largest palm oil producer in the world

The fruits of the oil palm can be harvested all year round. The plants produce more than eight times more oil per surface than other well-known crops such as soy. These are actually good qualities when it comes to keeping the environmental impact of cultivation as low as possible. But the demand for edible oil is huge and so, despite the efficiency of the plants, new areas are being cleared for cultivation.

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According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), world production increased from 5 million tonnes a year to 55 million tonnes between 1980 and 2013, and is projected to continue to grow.

Indonesia has also significantly increased its cultivation over time, replacing Malaysia in 2006 as the country with the highest palm oil production. Today, nearly 30 million tons of oil are produced there every year. Together, both countries produce about 85 percent of the world's palm oil (see graph below).

With the loss of the Indonesian rainforest, the habitat for unique species is disappearing. The best known example is the orangutans on Borneo. The World Conservation Union lists them as endangered for years. It estimates the size of the population at about 100,000 animals, but it could also be significantly less. In addition, harmful climate gases are released when clearing.

Environmentally friendly alternatives to palm oil are rare

Environmental and climate protectors try in large-scale campaigns again and again to convince consumers of palm oil waiver. The problem: the alternatives are often even more harmful. For coconut, soybean and rapeseed oil, according to a WWF study from 2016, much larger cultivated areas are needed than for oil palms. A change could harm nature a lot.

By comparison, oil palm averages 3.3 tonnes of oil per hectare, rapeseed, coconut and sunflowers are just 0.7 tonnes, and soybean plants only 0.4 tonnes. Since soybeans and cocos are also grown in the tropics, more rainforest would have to be cleared for their encapsulation, even with stable demand, than for palm oil.

This leads to an unpleasant truth: The rainforest can only be protected if consumers worldwide change their eating habits. With regard to palm oil, this means above all: fewer ready meals such as frozen pizza, spreads, ice cream and snacks.

Source: spiegel

All tech articles on 2019-09-02

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