Elephants of Sumatra - The Palm Oil Problem

The Palm Oil Problem

Palm oil is the most widely used vegetable oil in the world. This demand for palm oil has fueled massive forest destruction throughout Sumatra and Kalimantan. This destruction of vital elephant habitat throughout Sumatra is causing the remaining wild elephants to come into conflict with local villages, which results in either death or capture being transferred to government run elephant camps. Half the packaged food (and other) products found on supermarket shelves now contain palm oil. Palm oil and palm kernel oil are found in all manner of baked goods, such as cookies, bread, and potato chips, as well as in chocolate and milk (where it adds Vitamin A). In Sumatra at least 10.8 million hectares have been opened up for palm oil plantations. The situation in Borneo is similar. Large scale conversion of tropical rain forests has had an absolutely devastating impact on biodiversity in both Borneo and Sumatra. In addition, deforestation may cause soil erosion and, because most forests have been cleared through the use of fire, massive air pollution from smoke. Much of the land on which palm oil plantations have been established consists of peat swamp forest. The draining, burning, and conversion of peat swamp forests to palm oil has been especially damaging to the world’s climate as it has led to Indonesia being the third largest contributor of carbon to the world’s atmosphere after China and the United States.