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<div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">palmoil320</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">JH 2012 hist and #</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://files.harmonywithnatureun.org/uploads/upload1012.pdf">http://files.harmonywithnatureun.org/uploads/upload1012.pdf</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7320919/">https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7320919/</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx grafs</font></div><div>Heliyon. 2020 Jun; 6(6): e04213.</div><div>Published online 2020 Jun 28. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e04213</div><div>PMCID: PMC7320919</div><div>PMID: 32632381</div><div>Energy Return on Investment (EROI) and Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) of biofuels in Ecuador</div><div>Gonzalo Chiriboga,* Andrés De La Rosa, Camila Molina, Stefany Velarde, and Ghem Carvajal C</div><div>Author information Article notes Copyright and License information Disclaimer</div><div>Go to:</div><div>Abstract</div><div>In Ecuador, the net energy contribution of biofuels is unknown or unnoticed. To address this issue, we determined the Energy Return on Investment (EROI) for bioethanol and biodiesel.</div><div>
</div><div>The selection of raw materials relied on their productive capacity, export and import records, and historical yields. Consequently, the scope included three raw materials for ethanol (sugar cane, corn, and forest residues) and four for biodiesel (African palm, pinion, bovine fat, and swine fat).</div><div>
</div><div>Using a method based on the Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) of each biofuel, we assessed the entire production chain through statistical processing of primary and secondary information. Then we calculated the calorific values in the laboratory, compared energy inputs/outputs, and finally obtained the energetic returns.</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">EROIs for bioethanol were: 1.797 for sugarcane, 1.040 for corn, and 0.739 for wood. The results for biodiesel were: 3.052 for African palm, 2.743 for pinion, 2.187 for bovine fat, and 2.891 for swine fat. These values suggest feasibility only for sugarcane in the case of ethanol. In contrast, biodiesel has better prospects because all the feedstocks analyzed had EROIs higher than two. Nevertheless, biodiesel is not available for trading in Ecuador because energy policy has overlooked systems based on higher energy return. <b>Future studies should consider more comprehensive variables such as climate change, land use, and water management</b>.</span></div><div>
</div><div>Keywords: Energy, Environmental chemical engineering, Biofuel, Energy economics, Energy sustainability, Energy return of investment, Life cycle analysis, Transport sector, Ecuador</div><div>
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</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">1. Introduction</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Globally, the use of biofuels in the transport sector increased 7% in 2018 (International Energy Agency, 2019). However, this growth was insufficient to achieve the international objectives set in the Sustainable Development Scenarios for 2030 (United Nations, 2015), since this commitment would require tripling bioethanol and biodiesel content in final blends, involving around 10% of global transport (Sawin et al., 2018). Several issues have slowed the incorporation of biofuels into worldwide transportation, for example, competition with the food sector for the use of feedstocks </span>(Ho et al., 2014), the decrease in the calorific value due to the presence of oxygen (Oh et al., 2018), stillage handling and disposal (Silva et al., 2011), and the Energy Return on Investment (EROI) (Lambert et al., 2013a, Lambert et al., 2013b).</div><div>
</div><div>The EROI is directly or indirectly linked to the achievement of well-being, energy quality, and energy sovereignty (Lambert et al., 2013a, Lambert et al., 2013b). It describes the amount of energy a source requires to deliver a unit of energy to society, and considers the energy flows involved in all stages of the production process (Hall et al., 2009). Several methods for calculating the EROI have been published that contain points of agreement, but also methodological differences. The main disagreements relate to the way energy flows (Moeller and Murphy, 2019), system boundaries, and residual energy embedded in co-products are identified and quantified (Capellán-pérez, Castro, Javier and González, 2019).</div><div>
</div><div><b>The Ecuadorean government has sought alternatives for reducing oil derivative imports to meet the local demand.</b> These endeavors have intensified since last year, and in April 2019, the Ministry of Agriculture announced the Agrofuels Plan, which would replace 30,000 ha of rice with sugar cane to produce bioethanol (El Universo, 2019). The program would also incorporate 140 million liters of African palm oil per year to begin producing 15% v/v biodiesel (B15) (Ministry of Agriculture., 2019) (ASTM Specification D6751, 2010). R<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 51);">educing imports would have a significant effect on Ecuador's economy because, since the 70s, the country has maintained a subsidy on gasoline, diesel, and liquified petroleum gas (Rivadeneira, 2019). </span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 51);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 51);">This public expenditure is increasingly unsustainable with demand increasing at around 2.5% annually, fuel migrating to other consumer sectors, and the volatility of international derivative prices (Espinoza and Guayanlema, 2017). In this context, Ecuador has partially promoted the incorporation of biofuels into the energy supply</span> (Consejo Nacional de Planificación, 2017) (Ministerio de Electricidad y Energía Renovable, 2017b) (Presidencia del Ecuador, 2012). For example, since 2012, a mixture of gasoline and anhydrous ethanol (5% v/v), has been available for trading in the local market (Castro, 2012). Concerning biodiesel, the blends B5, B10, B15, and B20 have been mentioned officially (Agencia de Regulación de Hidrocarburos, 2013), but none have a real share in the transport sector. Currently, the only energy use of vegetable oils is project "Zero Fossil Fuels in Galapagos" (Programa de las Naciones Unidas para el Desarrollo, 2016) (Ministerio de Electricidad y Energía Renovable, 2017a). This initiative generates electricity through direct combustion of oil without previous transesterification.</div><div>
</div><div>Ecuador produces 225 million BOE (barrels of oil equivalent) of primary energy; it exports 65%, and about 23% is retained as feedstock for refineries (Ministerio Coordinador de Sectores Estratégicos, 2016). This production is insufficient to cover domestic demand. Thus, in 2018, about 40% of the local consumption of diesel, gasoline and liquefied petroleum gas was imported (Cámara de Comercio de Quito, 2018) and from January to August 2019, these imports increased 16.8% compared to the same period of the previous year (Banco Central del Ecuador, 2018) (Planificaci et al., 2019). Consequently, the government has encouraged researchers and industrialists to design alternative fuels using economically viable and environmentally friendly feedstocks, as mentioned in the Agrofuels Plan (Banerjee et al., 2019) (Eduardo Rosero, 2011).</div><div><b>
</b></div><div><b>The share of biomass in the energy matrix is less than 3%, and it is used mainly for cooking food and generating electricity (</b>Ministerio Coordinador de Sectores Estratégicos, 2016). In second place is the production of anhydrous ethanol for the "Gasolina Ecopaís" project (about 100 million liters) (Petroecuador, 2018). The production per inhabitant is comparable with countries of the region such as Colombia (Unidad de Planeación Minero Energética, 2018) or Uruguay (Ministerio de Industria Energía y Minería, 2017). However, comparison with world leaders such as Brazil (Energy Research Office, 2018) reveals a big gap of almost 12 to 1.</div><div>
</div><div>It is essential for Ecuador to evaluate the actual energy contribution of biofuels and the degree of flexibility of their net output in relation to changes in production process and technology. EROI is a proper tool to carry out this evaluation since it considers the entire production cycle from planting until it is ready for blending (Murphy and Hall, 2010). First, the study developed an extensive survey of the different raw materials with energetic potential (Instituto Nacional de Preinversión, 2014), namely agricultural and forestry crops with higher production records and yields, such as sugar cane, corn, wood, African palm (Figueroa de la Vega, 2008), and pinion (Instituto Interamericano de Cooperación para la Agricultura, 2016). For livestock, the analysis included resources such as cattle, pigs, goats, and sheep, and focused on their transesterifiable fat content. Then we determined the energy expenditure index (Murphy et al., 2011) using the Life Cycle Analysis (LCA). This method permitted us to break down existing biodiesel and bioethanol production processes (Tomi and Schneider, 2017). The analysis included the collection and statistical treatment of secondary information about industrial plants in operation in Ecuador and other countries. The third part consisted of determining the lower calorific value and an elemental analysis by applying standardized methods for quantifying energy availability. Finally, the relationship between the amount of energy produced and consumed was estimated using the EROI concept (Lambert et al., 2013a, Lambert et al., 2013b).</div><div>
</div><div>Few studies encompass the energy return of biofuels from different origins at the same time. Furthermore, we included agricultural products with few records in the literature, such as animal fat, pinion oil, and forest residues. The objective was to group the most compelling possibilities and present their energy advantages in terms of EROI. This information is essential for allocating resources to programs that have the best energetic benefits. The presence of economic externalities does not influence EROI; instead, it relies on the concept that humans use the best resources first (Hall, 2017). The research includes biofuels that are being or could be used in Ecuador, based on the characteristics of local industry. It incorporates the data treatment of the agricultural product to be analyzed, such as cultivation, consumption, import, and export, as well as the different levels of raw material allocation for biofuel production. The results permit us to see in a glance the effectiveness of policies implemented to meet energy requirements, given that sectors with more significant demands should be addressed first with higher EROI biofuels. This method is easy to replicate and allows the particularities of each country to be considered.</div><div>
</div><div><b>2. The situation of biofuels in Ecuador</b></div><div>2.1. A regional analysis of biofuel production</div><div>The successful implementation of a biofuel program depends on technology, economics, environmental sustainability, and public policy support (Saravanan et al., 2018). Governments of the region regulate their specifications by enacting minimum levels of ethanol or biodiesel content in blends (Vázquez et al., 2016) (see Table 1)....</div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/08/can-ecuador-do-palm-oil-right-a-jurisdictional-rspo-commitment-is-stirring-hope/">https://news.mongabay.com/<b>2018/</b>08/can-ecuador-do-palm-oil-right-a-jurisdictional-rspo-commitment-is-stirring-hope/</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></div><div><div class="bulletpoints" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; margin: 0px 0px 2em; padding-right: 5em;"><ul style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 1rem; padding-left: 1em;"><li style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; margin-bottom: 0.5em;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><b style="">Ecuador is the sixth largest palm oil producing country in the world and the second largest in Latin America</b>. While most of its oil palm plantations have been developed on degraded land, an estimated 6 percent of cultivated area has come at the expense of natural forest. Conservationists worry this will increase as the country’s palm oil sector continues to grow.</font></span></li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; margin-bottom: 0.5em;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="">In attempts to reign in harmful palm oil industry practices, Ecuador’s Ministry of Agriculture reactivated its Jurisdictional RSPO Certification plan in March 2018. The RSPO stands for Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil and is the world’s leading palm oil certification body.</font></span></li><li style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; margin-bottom: 0.5em;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Ecuador’s jurisdictional plan aims to certify entire provinces rather than focus certification efforts on individual companies and plantations, which has tended to be the norm in other parts of the world. Jurisdictional RSPO is also seen as a way to help the country’s palm oil sector gain better access to world markets, which are increasingly requiring sustainability certification for their products.</font></span></li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; margin-bottom: 0.5em;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">plan has been lauded by organizations such as the United Nations REDD program</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">. But some worry it may not be applicable in some parts of Ecuador, such as its Amazonian region, and that a large-scale jurisdictional approach may be vulnerable to political turnover.</span></font></span></li></ul></div><p style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; margin: 0px 5em 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Ecuador’s oil palm industry has taken what many see as another step forward by <a href="http://www.fedapal.org/web2017/index.php/noticias/75-ministro-de-agricultura-anuncia-reactivacion-del-plan-de-mejora-competitiva-de-la-cadena-de-la-palma-aceitera" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-decoration-line: none; background-color: transparent; touch-action: manipulation;">committing</a> to a jurisdictional RSPO system as a way to transform the entire sector by making it cleaner and more sustainable. But some wonder if a commitment to RSPO is enough, considering the industry’s questionable reputation in some parts of the country and its encroachment on new areas in the Amazon rainforest.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; margin: 0px 5em 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Oil palm is considered an important crop worldwide, as its fruit produces palm oil, one of the most ubiquitous oils on the market. It’s used in everything from margarine, ice cream, makeup, certain lubricants and fabrics, and is a popular biodiesel. At the same time, it has drawn international ire for its association with <a href="https://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/40703/1/40703%20Pardo%20Vargas%20et%20al%202015.pdf" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-decoration-line: none; background-color: transparent; touch-action: manipulation;">mass deforestation</a>, <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2017/08/philippine-palm-oil-plan-equals-corruption-and-land-grabbing-critics-say/" data-wpel-link="internal" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-decoration-line: none; background-color: transparent; touch-action: manipulation;">land grabs and labor abuses</a> on large plantations.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; margin: 0px 5em 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This has also been true in some parts of Ecuador, where the industry has been accused of <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/08/community-vs-company-a-tiny-town-in-ecuador-battles-a-palm-oil-giant/" data-wpel-link="internal" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-decoration-line: none; background-color: transparent; touch-action: manipulation;">displacing communities</a> and contributing to the <a href="http://wwf.panda.org/knowledge_hub/teacher_resources/best_place_species/current_top_10/chocoan_rainforests.cfm" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-decoration-line: none; background-color: transparent; touch-action: manipulation;">destruction of rainforests.</a></font></p><figure id="attachment_209240" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; margin: 1.6em 0px; clear: both; width: 796.656px; position: relative; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/08/10150932/MG_65801.jpg" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-decoration-line: none; background-color: transparent; touch-action: manipulation;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><img class="size-full wp-image-209240" src="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/08/10150932/MG_65801.jpg" alt="" width="1200" height="800" srcset="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/08/10150932/MG_65801.jpg 1200w, https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/08/10150932/MG_65801-768x512.jpg 768w, https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2018/08/10150932/MG_65801-610x407.jpg 610w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; max-width: 98.5%; vertical-align: middle; height: auto; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; width: auto;" /></font></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; line-height: 17px; text-align: center; max-width: 95%;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="">Land recently cleared for an oil palm plantation in Ecuador’s province of Esmeraldas. Photo by Jonatan Rosas</font></figcaption></figure><p style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; margin: 0px 5em 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In attempts to reign in these industry practices, Ecuador’s Ministry of Agriculture reactivated its Jurisdictional RSPO Certification plan in March 2018. The RSPO, which stands for Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, is the world’s leading palm oil certification body. It consists of a set of environmental and social criteria that aim to make oil palm plantations more sustainable, such as committing to zero deforestation in primary forest regions, reducing chemical inputslike pesticides and fertilizers, making industry practices more transparent, and ensuring that international labor laws are abided by.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; margin: 0px 5em 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Ecuador’s jurisdictional plan aims to certify entire provinces rather than focus certification efforts on individual companies and plantations, which has tended to be the norm in other parts of the world. The <a href="https://www.rspo.org/news-and-events/news/ecuador-chooses-jurisdictional-approach-for-rspo-certification" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-decoration-line: none; background-color: transparent; touch-action: manipulation;">motivation</a> behind a jurisdictional approach is that it would better allow regional governments to improve the welfare of small farmers who grow oil palm while tamping down environmental destruction and increasing the efficiency of palm oil fruit-to-product supply chains.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; margin: 0px 5em 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Ecuador’s plan has <a href="https://rspo.org/news-and-events/news/ecuador-takes-giant-step-towards-certified-sustainable-palm-oil-production" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-decoration-line: none; background-color: transparent; touch-action: manipulation;">been in the making for years</a> but was stalled in 2017 after the presidential election brought about changes to the government.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; margin: 0px 5em 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As part of the reactivation plan, Minister of Agriculture Ruben Flores also signed into creation the <a href="http://www.fedapal.org/web2017/index.php/noticias/75-ministro-de-agricultura-anuncia-reactivacion-del-plan-de-mejora-competitiva-de-la-cadena-de-la-palma-aceitera" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-decoration-line: none; background-color: transparent; touch-action: manipulation;">Inter-Institutional Committee for the Monitoring of Sustainable Palm</a> (CISPS) – a body that brings together all actors in the oil palm sector, including the private and public spheres as well as civil society, with the aim of creating and implementing sustainable growing models.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; margin: 0px 5em 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Various actors will participate in this <a href="https://rspo.org/news-and-events/news/ecuador-takes-giant-step-towards-certified-sustainable-palm-oil-production" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-decoration-line: none; background-color: transparent; touch-action: manipulation;">group</a>, such as key industry players like the National Association of Palm Oil Growers (ANCUPA) and the Foundation of Promotion of Oil Palm Exports (FEDAPAL), the Ministries of Agriculture and the Environment, environmental organizations like World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and Conservation International, and local governments and farming cooperatives. As the group is only a few months old, they have yet to lay out details about their strategies.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; margin: 0px 5em 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Ecuador is one of the first countries to develop jurisdictional RSPO certification approaches, and is being praised worldwide. The United Nations REDD program, which aims to curtail greenhouse gas emissions by reducing deforestation, has <a href="http://www.un-redd.org/single-post/2018/05/25/A-step-towards-sustainable-palm-oil-in-Ecuador" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-decoration-line: none; background-color: transparent; touch-action: manipulation;">commended</a> the creation of CISPS and “the motivation for the palm oil sector to rebrand, rethink, and reinvent itself.”</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; margin: 0px 5em 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“I think all countries are going a bit crazy in looking at what Ecuador is doing,” said Angela Alvarez, an oil palm specialist with the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock.</font></p><h3 style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; line-height: 1.1; margin-bottom: 0.5rem; margin-top: 1.5em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; font-weight: bolder;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Why jurisdictional RSPO?</font></span></h3><p style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; margin: 0px 5em 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">One of the main reasons to align with RSPO standards is for better access to world markets, which are increasingly requiring this certification for their products, according to Cesar Loaiza, Executive Director for FEDAPAL.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; margin: 0px 5em 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Having or not having the certification is the difference between being able to sell your product or not,” Loaiza told Mongabay at his office in Quito.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; margin: 0px 5em 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Ecuador’s palm oil sector has also been growing rapidly over the years, increasing by an average of 8 percent per year between 2010 and 2016. This prompted the Ministry of Foreign Trade to <a href="https://www.comercioexterior.gob.ec/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/informe-palma-espa%C3%B1ol-.pdf" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-decoration-line: none; background-color: transparent; touch-action: manipulation;">call oil palm</a> “one of the most dynamic non-oil and non-traditional industries in the country.”</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; margin: 0px 5em 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Although it’s a small country, Ecuador is the sixth largest oil palm producer in the world and the second largest in Latin America, according to the <a href="http://www.palmoilanalytics.com/files/epos-final-59.pdf" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-decoration-line: none; background-color: transparent; touch-action: manipulation;">latest numbers</a> from industry analysis organizations Oil World, Fedepalma and <a href="http://fedapal.org/web2017/index.php/10-avenue/25-interior-design" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-decoration-line: none; background-color: transparent; touch-action: manipulation;">FEDAPAL</a>.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; margin: 0px 5em 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">More than <a href="https://www.comercioexterior.gob.ec/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/informe-palma-espa%C3%B1ol-.pdf" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-decoration-line: none; background-color: transparent; touch-action: manipulation;">58 percent</a> of Ecuador’s palm oil is exported, the vast majority to Colombia and Venezuela. B<u style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;">ut Alvarez said that as those markets change due to Venezuela’s increasing political instability and the <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/05/how-colombia-became-latin-americas-palm-oil-powerhouse/" data-wpel-link="internal" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-decoration-line: none; background-color: transparent; touch-action: manipulation;">growth of Colombia’s domestic production</a>, Ecuador will need to look for new markets.</u></font></p><figure id="attachment_209239" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; margin: 1.6em 0px; clear: both; width: 796.656px; position: relative; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[pix]</font></figure><p style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; margin: 0px 5em 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Among these are the European Union (EU), one of the world’s largest consumers of palm oil and the <a href="https://www.comercioexterior.gob.ec/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/informe-palma-espa%C3%B1ol-.pdf" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-decoration-line: none; background-color: transparent; touch-action: manipulation;">third largest importer</a> of Ecuador’s supply. In 2017, the EU <a href="https://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+TA+P8-TA-2017-0098+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-decoration-line: none; background-color: transparent; touch-action: manipulation;">approved a policy</a> stating that all palm oil imports into the region will have to be RSPO certified by 2020, which includes committing to zero deforestation.</b></font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; margin: 0px 5em 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">According to WWF, one of the NGOs involved in monitoring and implementing jurisdictional RSPO certifications in Ecuador, ensuring zero deforestation is one of its main concerns.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; margin: 0px 5em 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>“The WWF does NOT support the expansion of oil palm in Ecuador,” </b>Jorge Rivas, the National Coordinator of the forests and fresh water program with WWF-Ecuador, told Mongabay via email. “We believe that the increase in production of palm oil should happen by increasing the yield of existing crops or in the realization of new crops in already-intervened areas like abandoned pastures and not in the expansion of the surface of new crops in tropical forest areas.”</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; margin: 0px 5em 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But Rivas did not provide details about how they plan to ensure this, particularly in the Amazon where production has been expanding into natural rainforest. According to the latest oil palm census released in 2018, the <a href="https://public.tableau.com/profile/mevh#!/vizhome/ResultadosCensoPalmero2017/CensoPalmero?publish=yes" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-decoration-line: none; background-color: transparent; touch-action: manipulation;">Ecuadorian Amazon saw the third largest</a> increase in production area in the country, compared to the previous census in 2005. In total, the area devoted to oil palm cultivation in the Amazonian provinces of Sucumbios and Orellana grew from 15,186 hectares to 33,802 hectares between 2005 and 2017.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; margin: 0px 5em 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Proponents say one of the benefits of the jurisdictional RSPO model, as opposed to individual certifications, is that it makes it easier for small producers to be certified, a process that can be quite long and costly when it comes to acquiring all the necessary permits.</b></font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; margin: 0px 5em 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">However, critics say jurisdictional conservation methods for any crop can be complicated, since political turnover means long-term commitment by the government is not ensured. Others say this method doesn’t uphold the highest standards, <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2017/04/jurisdictional-certification-approach-aims-to-strengthen-protections-against-deforestation" data-wpel-link="internal" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-decoration-line: none; touch-action: manipulation;">which are reduced</a> so that as many actors as possible can reach its baseline standards.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; margin: 0px 5em 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>More than <a href="http://fedapal.org/web2017/index.php/noticias/76-censo-nacional-palmero-fue-presentado-oficialmente-al-ministro-de-agricultura" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-decoration-line: none; background-color: transparent; touch-action: manipulation;">89 percent</a> of Ecuador’s oil palm farmers are small landholders with less than 50 hectares (however, this only represents 40 percent of total oil palm surface area).</b> According to the Ministry of Agriculture, both large companies and the government will offer financial and technical support to small farmers to make this transition.</font></p><h3 style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; line-height: 1.1; margin-bottom: 0.5rem; margin-top: 1.5em; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; font-weight: bolder;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Expansion in the Amazon</font></span></h3><p style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; margin: 0px 5em 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">While many in the conservation field are lauding Ecuador’s jurisdictional approach to RSPO certification, others express reservations. Luke Weiss, territory and cultural revival coordinator with the NGO Amazon Frontlines, said jurisdictional RSPO certification could be great. However, he’s skeptical about how it will be applied in the Amazon rainforest, where deforestation and contamination is normal practice.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; margin: 0px 5em 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The district of Shushufindi in Ecuador’s northern Amazonian province of Sucumbíos has seen some of the country’s largest expansions in oil palm cultivation over the last few years. According to the 2018 census, oil palm cropland here <a href="http://fedapal.org/web2017/index.php/noticias/76-censo-nacional-palmero-fue-presentado-oficialmente-al-ministro-de-agricultura" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-decoration-line: none; background-color: transparent; touch-action: manipulation;">has increased</a> by 8,094 hectares since 2005 for a total of more than 17,690 hectares, which is <a href="http://www.justintools.com/unit-conversion/area.php?k1=hectares&k2=soccer-fields&q=17690" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-decoration-line: none; background-color: transparent; touch-action: manipulation;">roughly the size</a> of 24,775 soccer fields. The region is considered the heart of the oil palm industry in Ecuador’s Amazon.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; margin: 0px 5em 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">However, it appears little of this expansion has come at the cost of natural forest so far. According to the same 2018 census, only <a href="http://fedapal.org/web2017/index.php/noticias/76-censo-nacional-palmero-fue-presentado-oficialmente-al-ministro-de-agricultura" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-decoration-line: none; background-color: transparent; touch-action: manipulation;">6 percent</a> of all the new oil palm cultivation area in the country had forest cover directly before planting. The remaining 94 percent was planted on land that had been previously degraded from agriculture or other human activity.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; margin: 0px 5em 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But Weiss warns that rainforest deforestation for palm oil has still happened in Ecuador. He points to a 10,000-hectare area of palm oil plantations near Shushufindi that he says was cut from natural forest some 30 years ago by the Palmeras de Ecuador, the largest palm oil company in the region.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; margin: 0px 5em 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><b style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Weiss says palm oil companies continue to try to convince local farmers and indigenous communities to cut down forest for oil palm plantations. He claims </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Palmeras de Ecuador </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">convinced the Siekopai (or Secoya) community of San Pablo in the district of Shushufindi to convert portions of their land to oil palm and even offered to back them in their efforts to get a loan. </span></b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">As a result, they received a loan from Corporacion Financiera Nacional (CFN) for over $240,000, and some 19 families allegedly </span><a href="https://www.eluniverso.com/2011/07/31/1/1447/multa-375000-secoyas-talar-bosque-palma.html)." data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-decoration-line: none; touch-action: manipulation;">cut down around 173 hectares</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> of primary forest in order to grow oil palm.</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; margin: 0px 5em 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">But in 2011, the Ministry of the Environment slapped the Siekopai community <a href="https://www.eluniverso.com/2011/07/31/1/1447/multa-375000-secoyas-talar-bosque-palma.html" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-decoration-line: none; background-color: transparent; touch-action: manipulation;">with a $375,000 fine</a> for cutting down trees without a permit, putting them permanently in debt.</b> <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Even though both Palmeras de Ecuador and CFN accompanied the community through the extensive loan process and crop creation, neither of them suggested that a permit was necessary, Weiss said, leading him to question their motives and business methods.</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; margin: 0px 5em 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Everyone knew they weren’t doing the permit process, but just let them [cut down the trees]; it seemed to be a big trap that they kind of fell into,” Weiss said.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; margin: 0px 5em 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Mongabay reached out to Palmeras de Ecuador for comment, but the company did not provide a response by press time.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; margin: 0px 5em 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The Ecuadorian Amazon is attractive to palm oil companies for two big reasons. For one, the region has the <a href="http://www.fao.org/docrep/006/t0309e/T0309E01.htm" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-decoration-line: none; touch-action: manipulation;">perfect climate</a> for cultivation, with lots of rain and consistent year-round temperatures between 25 and 28 degrees Celsius. The region has also, so far, escaped a deadly oil palm disease known as PC, or <em style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;">Pudricion del Cogollo</em> (Spanish for bud rot), which has <a href="http://www.elcomercio.com/actualidad/enfermedad-cultivos-palma-africana-esmeraldas.html" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-decoration-line: none; touch-action: manipulation;">wiped out over 20,000 hectares of oil palm</a> in other popular growing regions along the western coast. This has forced companies to look to other areas with similar environmental conditions away from already-contaminated regions.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; margin: 0px 5em 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But even though PC has yet to make an appearance in plantations in the Ecuadorian Amazon, fear of it is still prompting oil palm farmers in the region to continue to apply large amounts of pesticide to their crops. Manuel Bayon, a critical geographer and Amazon specialist, says that because of pesticide and fertilizer use, oil palm has long been contaminating local water sources, especially the Shushufindi River, where “for over 30 years … they have been draining agrochemical residue from some 10,000 hectares of Palmeras de Ecuador’s crop,” he wrote in <a href="http://www.nacionmulticultural.unam.mx/mezinal/docs/2735.pdf" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-decoration-line: none; background-color: transparent; touch-action: manipulation;">a 2012 study</a>.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; margin: 0px 5em 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This river also <a href="https://www.amazonfrontlines.org/maps/where/" data-wpel-link="external" target="blank" rel="external" style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-decoration-line: none; background-color: transparent; touch-action: manipulation;">runs through the western border</a> of Siekopai territory, and many people still rely on its fish for food.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; margin: 0px 5em 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">“What’s really common, a couple times each year you have massive fish deaths in that river, with the source being the African palm plantation,” Weiss said. “Palm has been known as being a lot heavier on fertilizers and chemicals and pesticides than anything else that’s grown large scale here.”</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; margin: 0px 5em 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In many ways, growing oil palm makes economic sense for the Siekopai community, Weiss said, since a family with 10 hectares can make up to $600 a month – almost double the minimum wage of $366 a month.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; margin: 0px 5em 1rem 0px; overflow-wrap: break-word; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Despite the challenges ahead, many are hopeful that jurisdictional RSPO certification could bring industry reform to the area and pave a more sustainable, equitable future for Ecuador’s palm oil sector.</font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">https://chainreactionresearch.com/the-chain-international-firms-exposed-to-ecuadors-palm-oil-related-deforestation-risks/</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">2019</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0133701&type=printable" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in 0s;">main drivers</a> of deforestation in Ecuador are similar to those in other countries in the region: The cattle industry; logging (both for fuel and for commercial purposes); plantations for oil palm, cacao, and coffee production; crude oil production; growing crops for bioethanol production; mining; and infrastructure development. With most agricultural commodity production done by smallholders and most domestic industry firms private, investor exposure to deforestation risk is limited in Ecuador. However, international players and their investors may have exposure to deforestation risks from Ecuador’s soft commodity markets. Specifically, international firms may be exposed to deforestation risks through Ecuador’s growing palm oil market and rising exports.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Ecuador’s deforestation levels peaked in 2012 and have <a href="https://www.globalforestwatch.org/dashboards/country/ECU?gladAlerts=eyJsYXRlc3REYXRlIjoiMjAxOS0wNy0xNSJ9&map=eyJkYXRhc2V0cyI6W3siZGF0YXNldCI6ImZkYzhkYzFiLTI3MjgtNGE3OS1iMjNmLWIwOTQ4NTA1MmI4ZCIsImxheWVycyI6WyI2ZjY3OThlNi0zOWVjLTQxNjMtOTc5ZS0xODJhNzRjYTY1ZWUiLCJjNWQxZTAxMC0zODNhLTQ3MTMtOWFhYS00NGY3MjhjMDU3MWMiXSwib3BhY2l0eSI6MSwidmlzaWJpbGl0eSI6dHJ1ZX0seyJkYXRhc2V0IjoiODk3ZWNjNzYtMjMwOC00YzUxLWFlYjMtNDk1ZGUwYmRjYTc5IiwibGF5ZXJzIjpbImMzMDc1YzVhLTU1NjctNGIwOS1iYzBkLTk2ZWQxNjczZjhiNiJdLCJvcGFjaXR5IjoxLCJ2aXNpYmlsaXR5Ijp0cnVlLCJ0aW1lbGluZVBhcmFtcyI6eyJzdGFydERhdGUiOiIyMDAxLTAxLTAxIiwiZW5kRGF0ZSI6IjIwMTgtMTItMzEiLCJ0cmltRW5kRGF0ZSI6IjIwMTgtMTItMzEifSwicGFyYW1zIjp7InRocmVzaCI6MzAsInZpc2liaWxpdHkiOnRydWV9fV0sImNlbnRlciI6eyJsYXQiOi0xLjc3NTk1NTc0ODA0NzQzNywibG5nIjotODMuNDIxNzMzODU1MDAwMDF9LCJiZWFyaW5nIjowLCJwaXRjaCI6MCwiem9vbSI6My45ODkzMTU5OTc2MDM2NiwiY2FuQm91bmQiOmZhbHNlLCJiYm94IjpbXX0%3D" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in 0s;">fluctuated</a> annually since then, declining to below 40,000 hectares last year. Other South American countries have <a href="http://www.fao.org/3/a-i2000e.pdf" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in 0s;">deforested</a> significantly more hectares overall. Since 2001, Ecuador has lost <a href="https://www.globalforestwatch.org/map/country/ECU?mainMap=eyJzaG93QW5hbHlzaXMiOnRydWV9&map=eyJjZW50ZXIiOnsibGF0IjotMS43NzU5NTU3NDgwNDc0Nzk3LCJsbmciOi04My40MjE3MzM4NTQ5OTk5Nn0sImJlYXJpbmciOjAsInBpdGNoIjowLCJ6b29tIjo1Ljc1MzkzNzkzNDY3MjczMiwiY2FuQm91bmQiOmZhbHNlLCJiYm94IjpbXX0%3D&mapPrompts=eyJvcGVuIjp0cnVlLCJzdGVwc0tleSI6InN1YnNjcmliZVRvQXJlYSIsInN0ZXBJbmRleCI6MH0%3D" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in 0s;">757,000 hectares</a>, compared to <a href="https://www.globalforestwatch.org/map/country/PER?mainMap=eyJzaG93QW5hbHlzaXMiOnRydWV9&map=eyJjZW50ZXIiOnsibGF0IjotOS4zMTQzODA4NDc0MDEwNTQsImxuZyI6LTc0Ljk5MTc0ODgwOTk5OTk5fSwiYmVhcmluZyI6MCwicGl0Y2giOjAsInpvb20iOjQuNjAyNzE3MDM3NjY3MTg3LCJjYW5Cb3VuZCI6ZmFsc2UsImJib3giOltdfQ%3D%3D&mapPrompts=eyJvcGVuIjp0cnVlLCJzdGVwc0tleSI6InN1YnNjcmliZVRvQXJlYSIsInN0ZXBJbmRleCI6MH0%3D" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in 0s;">2.9 million ha</a> in Peru, <a href="https://www.globalforestwatch.org/map/country/COL?mainMap=eyJzaG93QW5hbHlzaXMiOnRydWV9&map=eyJjZW50ZXIiOnsibGF0Ijo0LjE1OTExNzkzMTcyNTcxNywibG5nIjotNzIuOTQwNjUwOTQwMDAwMDF9LCJiZWFyaW5nIjowLCJwaXRjaCI6MCwiem9vbSI6NC43NTMyMzE0Mzc3NzAwNTcsImNhbkJvdW5kIjpmYWxzZSwiYmJveCI6W119&mapPrompts=eyJvcGVuIjp0cnVlLCJzdGVwc0tleSI6InN1YnNjcmliZVRvQXJlYSIsInN0ZXBJbmRleCI6MH0%3D" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in 0s;">4 million ha</a> in Colombia, and <a href="https://www.globalforestwatch.org/map/country/BRA?mainMap=eyJzaG93QW5hbHlzaXMiOnRydWV9&map=eyJjZW50ZXIiOnsibGF0IjotMTUuMTI4MzAwNjA4OTQyMDcsImxuZyI6LTU0LjM5MTN9LCJiZWFyaW5nIjowLCJwaXRjaCI6MCwiem9vbSI6My40NTk2MzE1MzAzNzIwMzIsImNhbkJvdW5kIjpmYWxzZSwiYmJveCI6W119&mapPrompts=eyJvcGVuIjp0cnVlLCJzdGVwc0tleSI6InN1YnNjcmliZVRvQXJlYSIsInN0ZXBJbmRleCI6MH0%3D" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in 0s;">54 million ha</a> in Brazil.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Growth in palm oil exports</font></strong></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Agriculture </span><a href="http://www.fao.org/3/a-a0262e.pdf" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in 0s;">has been</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> the primary driver historically in Ecuador, with coffee, cocoa, livestock, and palm oil currently the top </span><a href="http://www.greencommodities.org/content/gcp/en/home/media-centre/news-archive-2017/ecuador-steps-up-efforts-to-address-deforestation-from-agricultu.html" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in 0s;">triggers</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> of deforestation. The palm oil industry’s rapid expansion in recent years </span><a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0159668#pone-0159668-g004" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in 0s;">suggests that its role in deforestation could</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> increase, particularly in the </span><a href="https://maaproject.org/2018/synthesis3/" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in 0s;">Orellana province in the northern Amazon</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">. In 2018, the Ecuadorean palm oil production area totaled </span><a href="https://www.ecuadorencifras.gob.ec/documentos/web-inec/Estadisticas_agropecuarias/espac/espac-2018/Presentacion%20de%20principales%20resultados.pdf" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in 0s;">267,760 hectares</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> (ha), up from 207,285 ha in 2005, according to the national census. And between 2010 and 2016, the industry </span><a href="https://www.comercioexterior.gob.ec/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/informe-palma-espa%C3%B1ol-.pdf" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in 0s;">grew</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> by an average of eight percent per year. Exports, which account for almost </span><a href="https://www.comercioexterior.gob.ec/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/informe-palma-ingles-Sept.pdf" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in 0s;">60 percent</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> of the country’s crude palm oil production, have also risen sharply, </span><a href="https://www.indexmundi.com/agriculture/?country=ec&commodity=palm-oil&graph=exports" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in 0s;">increasing</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> from 115,000 tonnes in 2005 to 300,000 in 2019. Colombia is the </span><a href="https://oec.world/en/visualize/tree_map/hs92/export/ecu/show/1511/2017/" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in 0s;">largest buyer</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, purchasing 56 percent of total exports, with Venezuela and the Netherlands tied for second at 8.3 percent. EU countries and the United States make up about 25 percent</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">. Major international firms that purchase palm oil in or from Ecuador could be exposed to supply chain deforestation risks given the country’s unique market. These companies include <a href="https://www.cargill.com/page/cargill-mill-locations" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in 0s;">C<b>argill</b></a><b>,</b> <a href="http://europe.bungeloders.com/images/applications/BLC_MillList_2019Q1__BLC_Global.pdf" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in 0s;">Bunge Loders Croklaan</a>,<b> <a href="https://assets.adm.com/Sustainability/2018-Reports/ADM-Global-2018-H2.pdf" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in 0s;">ADM</a>, <a href="file:///Users/matt/Downloads/GeneralMills_Mill%20List_2018_June_2019%20(1).pdf" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in 0s;">General Mills</a>, <a href="file:///Users/matt/Downloads/Kellogg%20Supplier%20Mill%20List%20(1).pdf" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in 0s;">Kellogg’s</a>, </b><a href="https://www.mondelezinternational.com/impact/sustainable-resources-and-agriculture/agricultural-supply-chain/_{/media/mondelezcorporate/uploads/downloads/Mills_Data_2019.pdf?la=en}" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in 0s;">Mondelez</a>, <b><a href="https://www.unilever.com/Images/unilever-palm-oil-supplier-list_tcm244-515896_en.pdf" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in 0s;">Unilever</a>, and <a href="https://www.nestle.com/asset-library/documents/creating-shared-value/raw-materials/supply-chain-disclosure-palm-oil.pdf" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in 0s;">Nestle</a>.</b></span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Ecuador’s domestic market</font></strong></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Approximately <a href="https://www.un-redd.org/single-post/2018/05/25/A-step-towards-sustainable-palm-oil-in-Ecuador" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in 0s;">90 percent</a> of Ecuador’s production takes place on smallholder farms, while most if not all of the country’s major palm oil mill owners, traders, and exporters are not publicly traded, making accountability and traceability challenging.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The table below shows the <a href="https://public.tableau.com/profile/mevh#!/vizhome/ResultadosCensoPalmero2017/CensoPalmero?publish=yes" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in 0s;">top ten</a> palm oil companies operating along the palm oil supply chain in Ecuador according to the 2017 National Palm Census (<em style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Censio Nacional Palmera</em>):</font></p><table style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><tbody style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><tr style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><td style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Rank</font></strong></td><td style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Company Name</font></strong></td></tr><tr style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><td style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">1</font></td><td style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Extractoras Grupo La Fabril</font></td></tr><tr style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><td style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">2</font></td><td style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Extractoras Grupo<b> Danec</b></font></td></tr><tr style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><td style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">3</font></td><td style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Extractoras Grupo Olena</font></td></tr><tr style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><td style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">4</font></td><td style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Oleorios S.A.</font></td></tr><tr style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><td style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">5</font></td><td style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Energy Palma</font></td></tr><tr style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><td style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">6</font></td><td style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Quevepalma S.A.</font></td></tr><tr style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><td style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">7</font></td><td style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Extractoras Grupo <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 51);">Ales</span></font></td></tr><tr style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><td style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">8</font></td><td style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Oleodavila</font></td></tr><tr style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><td style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">9</font></td><td style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">San Daniel</font></td></tr><tr style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><td style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">10</font></td><td style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Unipal S.A.</font></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Also </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">worth mentioning is Palmar del Rio, <a href="https://public.tableau.com/profile/mevh#!/vizhome/ResultadosCensoPalmero2017/CensoPalmero?publish=yes" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in 0s;">a major market player</a> in Orellana province, where 37.6 percent of the 12,618 hectares planted with oil palm used to be rainforest</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">.</span></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Both industry and government appear committed to working together to reduce deforestation in the country’s palm oil market going forward. Six of the ten companies above are <a href="https://www.rspo.org/members/page/?keywords=&member_type=&member_category=&member_country=Ecuador" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in 0s;">members</a> of the <b>Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO)</b>, but at present, the vast majority of Ecuadorian palm oil firms are not: According the <a href="https://public.tableau.com/profile/mevh#!/vizhome/ResultadosCensoPalmero2017/CensoPalmero?publish=yes" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in 0s;">National Census</a>, there are 6,658 palm oil companies in the country, but the RSPO lists only <a href="https://www.rspo.org/members/page/2?keywords=&member_type=&member_category=&member_country=Ecuador" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in 0s;">31 members</a> in Ecuador. This situation, however, could improve in the coming years. The government and the industry recently announced their intention to work together to reduce palm oil-related deforestation by implementing what is known as a “jurisdictional approach” for RSPO certification. Rather than certifying plantations one at a time, a jurisdictional approach aims to certify entire regions as sustainable, in order to bring in smallholders. The formal launch of the jurisdictional approach certification process will occur in September of this year, and the government plans to have the Ecuadorian Amazon certified by 2022. One major player assisting in the move toward sustainable palm oil is <a href="https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=https://ecuador.corresponsables.com/actualidad/presentan-proamazonia-bosques&prev=search" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in 0s;">PROAmazonía</a>, which is working with the RSPO, local governments, and farmers. One of its main goals is to help farmers raise productivity per hectare so they do not have to deforest areas to expand. <a href="https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=https://ecuador.corresponsables.com/actualidad/presentan-proamazonia-bosques&prev=search" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in 0s;">PROAmazonía</a> hopes to replicate its palm oil successes in other commodities, such as coffee, cocoa, and livestock.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This unorthodox approach to RSPO certification has distinct advantages for the palm oil industry. It can help players gain access to markets — such as <a href="http://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-8-2017-0098_EN.html?redirect" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in 0s;">the EU</a> — which have committed to importing sustainably produced palm oil. And because large companies and the government <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/08/can-ecuador-do-palm-oil-right-a-jurisdictional-rspo-commitment-is-stirring-hope/" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in 0s;">plan to offer</a> financial and technical support to small farmers to help transition to sustainable production, this approach eases the burden of certification for farmers. However, there are also risks to the jurisdictional approach. Involving the government makes the process more vulnerable to increased volatility as administrations eventually turn over. Moreover, the move to regional certification could lead to standards <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2018/08/can-ecuador-do-palm-oil-right-a-jurisdictional-rspo-commitment-is-stirring-hope/" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in 0s;">being lowered</a> so that all producers in a region can meet them. As a result, certification could carry less weight even as it becomes more common.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">With uncertainty about the results of the country’s efforts to transition to jurisdictional certification, Ecuador’s palm oil market may continue to be a driver of deforestation for the foreseeable future. Moreover, the country is seeking to double its production and triple its exports by 2025, according to <a href="https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=https://ecuador.corresponsables.com/actualidad/presentan-proamazonia-bosques&prev=search" style="box-sizing: border-box; border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: all 0.2s ease-in 0s;">PROAmazonía</a>, triggering challenges to reach its goal of being deforestation free in the Amazon region. As a result of growth in the palm oil industry, international firms buying Ecuadorean palm oil could continue to see deforestation risks.</font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">2019</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.amazonfrontlines.org/chronicles/from-big-oil-to-palm-oil/">
</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.amazonfrontlines.org/chronicles/from-big-oil-to-palm-oil/">https://www.amazonfrontlines.org/chronicles/from-big-oil-to-palm-oil/</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</div><div>From Big Oil to Palm Oil:</div><div>Transforming the Ecuadorian Amazon into Monocultures</div><div>June 7, 2019 | In Chronicles | By Nicolas Mainville</div><div>
</div><div>For decades, the Ecuadorian Amazon has been the epicenter of one of the most polluting oil operations of all times. <b>The oil boom initiated by Texaco in the 1970s is well known as the main driver of deforestation in this strikingly biodiverse forest, home to many indigenous nations. Once the roads have been built for pipelines, oil wells and oil pits, wave after wave of colonists come to clear the forest and establish pastures and agriculture. This drastic conversion has resulted in the loss of over 1 million acres of pristine rainforest since 1990.</b></div><div>
</div><div>However, over the past two decades, one “colonist” has been increasingly expanding in the Ecuadorian Amazon, and <b>without much attention from the public: the African palm oil industry. R</b>adically transforming extremely rich ecosystem into monocultures over large tracts of land, the palm oil industry now occupies over 160 000 acres in the Amazonian provinces of Sucumbíos and Orellana alone, and continues to encroach further and further into indigenous ancestral lands.</div><div>
</div><div>A risky, radical land change</div><div><b>Palm oil plantations have more than doubled in Latin America since 2001, and Ecuador is now amongst the top 10 producing countries in the world.</b> One needs to fly over Amazonian palm plantations in order to fully grasp the impact of such large operations. In the province of Sucumbíos, in the Northern Ecuadorian Amazon, blocks of forest covering more than 30 000 football pitches have been converted into palm monocultures.</div><div>
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</div><div>This satellite view of ancestral lands of the Siona and Secoya indigenous nations (on the right), close to the Aguarico and Shushufindi Rivers in the Ecuadorian Amazon, shows how drastic of a shift in land use the palm plantation industry is (on the left).</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In this area of the Amazon, two main players control the market: <b>Palmar del Rio, and Palmeras del Ecuador – a subsidiary of Danec S.A. </b>These Ecuadorian companies own over 50% of all palm plantations in the region and buy in bulk from the vast majority of the smaller producers. Interestingly, despite its constant growth, palm oil production in the Amazon is not very profitable, and thus depends on massive subsidies and large-scale operations in order to be successful.</span></div><div>
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</div><div>Over 160 000 acres of the Ecuadorian Amazonian rainforest have now been converted into African Palm plantations</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">One of the main challenges for the palm oil producers is the need for large amounts of fertilizers and pesticides in order to improve their crop yield, to compensate for the nutrient loss resulting from deforestation, and to control insect and fungus infestations</span>.<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> Companies also have to invest massively in the development of new hybrid trees that can resist infestations. These three necessities – pesticides, fertilizers and research and development – require the investment of millions of dollars each year. According to data (2013) from the Ecuadorian government, a palm plantation owner spends on average seven times more money on fertilization and insect and disease control (702$/hectare) than on the actual harvest (100$/hectare) in the first year of harvest.</span></div><div>
</div><div><b>The fact is, replacing one of the richest and most complex forests in the world with a single-plant system involves high risks for insect and fungus outbreaks, a reality which the Ecuadorian company Palmar del Rio, like many others, learned the hard way</b>. Back in 1998, after clearing nearly 25 000 acres of Amazonian rainforest for its plantation near the town of Coca, this agribusiness<b> lost every single palm tree due to a bud rot infestation</b>, a widespread disease which has affected, and still threatens, hundreds of thousands of acres of palm plantations in Latin America.</div><div>
</div><div>Living downstream</div><div>
</div><div>The Shushufindi River, surrounded by the biggest African Palm plantations in the Ecuadorian Amazon, is also the main source of fish for the indigenous Secoya community of Bella Vista. Concerned by the chemicals used by the palm oil industry, the community is working with Amazon Frontlines and their indigenous partners of the Ceibo Alliance to measure the amounts of pesticides found in common fish eaten on a daily basis.</div><div>
</div><div>Despite these high risks, the loss of primary forests to palm oil production is increasing in the Amazon, and the consequences go far beyond deforestation, biodiversity loss and carbon emissions. Almost all Amazonian palm plantations in Ecuador are located upstream from ancestral Secoya and Siona lands. Streams and rivers crossing entire plantations and accumulating herbicides, insecticides, fungicides and fertilizers also pass through communities, contaminating essential drinking and bathing water, as well as the fish they eat and the soils they use. When you depend upon the forest and river for survival, a 50 000-acre palm plantation is not a good neighbour to have.</div><div>
</div><div>Facing these threats to their health and safety, many Siona and Secoya communities have decided to work with Amazon Frontlines and the Ceibo Alliance to monitor contamination levels in the fish they catch. In mid-2018, our teams initiated a pilot project<b> measuring pesticides, heavy metals and hydrocarbon levels </b>in small local fish and secondary catchments from the Shushufindi River. Through our monitoring program, we hope to empower communities by allowing them to gain vital information about the changes and threats to their surroundings, and gather robust evidence which they can use in order to advocate for their rights for greater territorial protection.</div><div>
</div><div>Transforming the most biodiverse forest on Earth with a single-tree plantation has profound consequences on biodiversity and climate, but also on indigenous people’s health. Stay tuned for our second blog on palm plantation and indigenous health.</div><div>
</div><div>Nicolas Mainville</div><div>
</div><div>Nicolas MainvilleMonitoring Lead, Land Protectors</div><div>
</div><div>As a biologist, Nicolas carried out his Graduate studies in Environmental Sciences in the tropics, looking at the impacts of deforestation and oil extraction on mercury contamination and the health of Indigenous communities in the Andean Amazon. For more than 15 years, Nicolas has been engaged in working with indigenous communities on territorial defense, health and environmental issues, both in Ecuador, Peru and Canada. From 2005 to 2016, Nicolas worked extensively in the Canadian Boreal Forest, helping Cree, Innu, Atikamekw and Algonquin Nations protect their lands. Bringing the expertise built in Canadian and International NGOs to his initial field of research in the Amazon, Nicolas joined Amazon Frontlines as Environmental Monitoring Program Coordinator in 2016 and lives in the Ecuadorian Amazon with his wife and three kids.</div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">fair trade organic? bought by corp</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">wiki</font></div><div><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The SWR broadcast Report Mainz criticized the company in 2010 for using organic palm oil, which was obtained on plantations in Colombia, because the local population was being forcibly relocated and forests were being cleared. The credibility of the SWR report was later questioned. In October 2010, the which has been criticized Daabon Group, whose client was also Rapunzel Naturkost, withdrew from the affected area. As a consequence, Rapunzel Naturkost only processes fair trade organic palm oil. At the palm oil check of the WWFIn 2017, Rapunzel Naturkost took second place out of 255 companies surveyed.</font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The subsidiary Zwergenwiese received the golden cream puff in 2019 for a children's tomato sauce with an increased sugar content.</font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In 2020, the company came under brief criticism during the COVID-19 pandemic. Among other things, the vegan chef Attila Hildmann held onto for a long time, during which he often made a name for himself as a conspiracy theorist in the media. This statement was corrected by the company: The collaboration was limited to 5 years and ended in 2015.</font></p><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Even Joseph Wilhelm, the company's founder and CEO, has been criticized for its regularly published on the company's weekly reports. He described the prescribed mouth and nose protectionin numerous public areas as "muzzles". This was followed by statements that death would occur one way or another in people and that many older people, who were particularly at risk in the pandemic, would "expect and sometimes even long for the transition to the spiritual world as something completely natural". Others should respect this decision and younger ones should not patronize the elderly. Wilhelm also claimed that a healthy lifestyle and diet was the best protection against infectious diseases. A few days later, these statements were offline.</font></p></div><div><ul style="list-style-image: url(" w="w" skins="skins" vector="Vector" resources="resources" common="common" images="images" bullet-icon.svg="bullet-icon.svg" d4515="d4515" margin="margin" em="em" px="px" padding="padding" color="color" rgb="rgb" font-size="font-size" background-color="background-color"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">2017 Takeover of Zwergenwiese Naturkost GmbH, Silberstedt / Schleswig-Holstein</font></li><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></li></ul></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">https://www.rapunzel.de/en/faires-bio-palmoel-ecuador-reisebericht.html</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">404 b--></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20200222110038/http://suia.ambiente.gob.ec/documents/10179/242256/03+PLAN+DE+MANEJO+CAYAPAS+MATAJE.pdf/300e86f9-31ef-492a-8b3f-da397583949c">https://web.archive.org/web/20200222110038/http://suia.ambiente.gob.ec/documents/10179/242256/03+PLAN+DE+MANEJO+CAYAPAS+MATAJE.pdf/300e86f9-31ef-492a-8b3f-da397583949c</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">2008 </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://intercontinentalcry.org/court-issues-ruling-worlds-first-rights-nature-lawsuit/">https://intercontinentalcry.org/court-issues-ruling-worlds-first-rights-nature-lawsuit/</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx pix</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><div>COURT ISSUES RULING IN WORLD’S FIRST “RIGHTS OF NATURE” LAWSUIT</div><div>
</div><div><b>Julianne A. Hazlewood</b>, Ph.D. and The Communities of La Chiquita and Guadualito</div><div><b>February 16, 2017</b></div><div> </div><div>format_textdirection_l_to_r</div><div>
</div><div>After six and a half years of combined suspense and patience, finally on January 11 2017, Ecuador’s Esmeraldas Provincial Court handed down its decision on the world’s first constitutionally-based Rights of Nature lawsuit.</div><div>
</div><div>This demand for justice—which simultaneously begs for a shift in merely human rights-based paradigms—was made by people who literally and figuratively live in the margins of Ecuador: The Canton of San Lorenzo.</div><div>
</div><div>This once-rainforested Chocó ecoregion—part of the T<b>umbes-Chocó-Magdalena Biodiversity Hotspo</b>t—is located along Ecuador’s northwest Colombian border in the coastal province of Esmeraldas, which is the only province in the country where almost half the population is Afro-ecuadorian. Even many Ecuadorians themselves are not aware of the presence of Indigenous nationalities and territories in Esmeraldas, where—not by coincidence—you can find the majority of the remaining (less than 3%) Ecuadorian coastal lowland rainforests.</div><div>
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</div><div>A view into the canopy of an oil palm monoculture, where the companies plant highly invasive kudzu (genus Pueraria) vines to control for other weeds and for fixing nitrogen. (Photographed by Hazlewood on Nov 21, 2007).</div><div>
</div><div>The plaintiffs—the Afro-descendant community of La Chiquita and the Awá community of Guadualito—filed the landmark intercultural constitutional court case against <b>Los Andes and Palesema Oil Palm (i.e. African oil palm, Elaeis guineensis) Companies, on July 23, 2010, a little over two years after Ecuador recognized the Rights of Nature in its 2008 constitution.</b></div><div>
</div><div>Requesting repairs in relation to the Rights of Nature, Living Well (Sumak Kawsay in Kichwa, El Buen Vivir in Spanish), and pluricultural self-determination over territory, the plaintiffs contended that both Los Andes and Palesema Oil Palm Companies were responsible for massive deforestation, widespread biodiversity loss, excessive river pollution, and the subsequent deterioration of health and food sovereignty of the two communities. With the plantations surrounding their ancestral territories—and Chiquita River’s headwaters falling within the limits of the plantations—the communities asked the court to suspend any and all harmful plantation activities. They also asked for the companies to repair the damages.</div><div>
</div><div>For more information about the case see <a href="http://www.ienearth.org/support-la-chiquita-and-guadualito-ancestral-communities-and-nature/">http://www.ienearth.org/support-la-chiquita-and-guadualito-ancestral-communities-and-nature/</a></div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Though acknowledging that reparations were necessary, Judge Juan Francisco Gabriel Morales Suarez only “partially” accepted the communities’ claims, demonstrating that the judge agrees with the evidence provided by the plaintiffs while also evading a determination that the oil palm companies are guilty as charged. As one La Chiquita resident stated, “The sentence does not have either heads or tails.”</span></div><div>
</div><div>For example, Judge Suarez ordered the Ecuadorian State to restrict future expansion of the agricultural frontier with oil palm in San Lorenzo canton, and this is indubitably a victory for La Chiquita and Guadualito!</div><div>
</div><div>Paradoxically however, of the seventeen criteria established by the sentence for reparations of the social and environmental damages, the Los Andes and Palesema Oil Palm Companies were charged with just three responsibilities:</div><div>
</div><div>To adhere to the environmental law that requires an eight-meter buffer zone, the two oil palm companies must plant bamboo (instead of oil palm) by the river sides in the plantations;</div><div>They must pay for employees to take a required history course that includes the cultural and “incarnate” (e.g. about the forest spirits—seemingly a mockery) histories, myths and traditions of the Indigenous and ancestral peoples of Esmeraldas; and</div><div>The oil companies must uphold cordial and respectful relationships and solidarity with the earth and with the plaintiffs and their families.</div><div>In reaction to these three criteria, the community’s current lawyer stated, “It is absurd and ridiculous to make a sentence that determines that damages could be remediated through a history course for oil palm workers—not even if the world’s greatest experts were the participating professors.”</div><div>
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</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">A mass of dead fish on the Surface of the Chiquita River resulting from Los Andes Palm Oil Extractor throwing its residual, boiling waste waters into the river, which they continue to do—the last time was Feb 12, 2017 (Photographed by Hazlewood on Nov 21, 2008).</span></div><div>
</div><div>It should also be noted that, despite the recognition of the need for reparations, Judge Suárez distributes most responsibilities to remedy damages in the communities between twelve state and provincial institutions. The sentence thus limits a comprehensive approach and the clarity and effectiveness necessary for following up with the execution of the actions.</div><div>
</div><div>It is very surprising that most the responsibilities for remediating damages were assigned to the state and not oil palm companies. The responsibility of the Ecuadorian State, both historically and present-day, in the neglect towards and socio-economic marginalization of the region of Esmeraldas is undeniable; its absence has incubated the pillage of its resources and subjugated the environment and the people living there to oppressive conditions.</div><div>
</div><div>Nevertheless, it is not clear why the judgement generates a transfer of responsibilities from the Los Andes and Palesema Oil Palm Companies to the state, when the claim was made against the latter. The two oil palm companies have been effectively freed from their economic, moral, social and cultural responsibilities towards the two communities. Instead, the sentence declares that it is now that the state must finally assume its responsibilities to the canton of San Lorenzo and accept the primary role in repairing the oil palm companies’ damages!</div><div>
</div><div>And so far, the situation isn’t getting any better for either community. A month after the judge has made his sentence public—as of Feb. 12, 2017—Los Andes Oil palm company continues to dump chemicals and boiling waste water into the river and extract palm oil from plantation fruit.</div><div>
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</div><div>La Chiquita and Guadualito members meet to strategize next moves in their struggle in defense of their own and Nature’s rights. Decades of legal processes have required a great deal of traveling back and forth between the two communities, which are located about 45 minutes apart (Photographed by Hazlewood on Oct 30, 2016)</div><div>
</div><div>The two communities of La Chiquita and Guadualito make the following declaration in relation to the sentence:</div><div>
</div><div>After waiting so many years, we feel a humiliation and deception by the Court. Even if the sentence is partially in favor of our communities, the judgement does not recognize any aspect of the Los Andes and Palesema Oil Palm Companies paying us for the repairs and damages caused to our environment, damages that have directly and negatively affected us.</div><div>
</div><div>In this way, the sentence minimizes and excludes all we have suffered and how our own and Nature’s rights have been systematically violated. Therefore, we, the residents of Guadualito and La Chiquita, declare our disagreement with the judge’s decision.</div><div>
</div><div><b>Although we have been politically united because our territories are close to one another’s and have been negatively affected by the oil palm companies, we have consistently maintained that we are two distinct ancestral communities.</b> Yet, the sentence does not address this difference between us and, therefore, infringes upon our rights of pluriculturality to self-determination.</div><div>
</div><div>For example, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health are tasked with building a millennium school and a health center at a center point between the two communities. This implies that these developments take place on land that does not belong to either of the two communities. In fact, this land is owned by the oil palm plantations! We want to be clear that it does not make sense that the judge treats us as just one community.</div><div>
</div><div>This is the first lawsuit of this magnitude that is based in the 2008 Ecuadorian Constitution in respect to the Rights of Nature, to Living Well, and to pluricultural self-determination and intercultural organization in defense of ancestral territories. We have lost our flora and fauna, our rivers are dead, and, we—humans, animals and fish—have all suffered damages and we are adversely affected.</div><div>
</div><div>We continue onward. Until now, we have submitted a document requesting the extension and clarification of the judgment in relation to the points described above. Based on the response we receive we will decide if we will appeal.</div><div>
</div><div>We have taken this opportunity to change who will legally represent us because we have decided to stand even stronger in defense of our rights and those of nature. For fear of being criminalized by the state or upsetting the judge’s decision, we cannot go out and publically and peacefully protest in defense of ours and Nature’s rights.</div><div>
</div><div>What we can and will do, however, is disseminate internationally the outcomes of our struggles. We will make our make our demands for justice known to the world through the media and social networks. We will see to it that more and more allies accompany us until our claims are adequately addressed. We know that with support of the international society we will be able to claim our rights to living well.</div><div>
</div><div>Our communities have been trampled down and had our rights violated by the oil palm companies, who enjoy great economic and political power. The world has not seen or heard of what we have had to go through so far. This is going to change from now on! We want the world to know that our communities exist. We want all humanity to know about our long struggle to ensure that our rights are respected.</div><div>
</div><div>Ecuador and the world can unite with and assist us with further ideas and information, with economic and moral support, and to spread through the media and social networks our emblematic case and other cases in which environmental and human rights have been violated by the oil palm industrial complex.</div><div>
</div><div>The Ecuadorian authorities must acknowledge the social, cultural, and environmental damage caused by sowing monocultures of African oil palms, by the palm oil extraction processes, and by the immediate and residual negative impacts of the oil palm industry assumed by local communities.</div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">520</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">We’re one step closer to saving the last orangutans from palm oil destruction, and that’s thanks to you.

</span><span style="" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">After more than 5 years of campaigning, PepsiCo has changed its palm oil sourcing policy, and agreed to use its influence with other companies to end rainforest destruction and human rights abuses.</span><br style="" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" /><br style="" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" /><span style="" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">This is a MASSIVE VICTORY. And Pat, it’s thanks to SumOfUs members like you.

</span><span style="" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">PepsiCo is the world’s second-largest food and beverage company. By moving this snack food giant, you moved an entire sector!</span><br style="" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" /><br style="" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" /><span style="" helvetica="Helvetica" neue="Neue" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">Last year, during the company’s shareholder meeting, we presented more than a million signatures gathered over 5 years asking PepsiCo to cut ties with conflict palm oil. In response to your efforts and continued pressure, this year PepsiCo announced an industry-leading policy and a series of actions to tackle rainforest destruction, worker abuse, and exploitation of communities for cheap palm oil.</span></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4"><font face="Times New Roman">9/20 srch </font><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-line: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); cursor: pointer;" /></font><h3 class="LC20lb DKV0Md" style="margin: 0px 0px 3px; padding: 4px 0px 0px; display: inline-block; line-height: 1.3;"><font size="4"><font size="4"><font size="4"><font size="4"><font size="4"><font size="4"><font size="4"><font size="4"><font size="4"><font size="4"><font size="4"><font size="4"><font size="4"><font size="4"><font size="4"><font size="4"><font size="4"><font size="4"><font size="4"><font size="4"><font size="4"><font size="4"><font size="4"><font size="4"><font size="4"><font size="4"><font size="4"><font size="4"><font size="4"><font size="4"><font size="4"><font size="4"><font size="4"><font size="4"><font size="4"><font size="4"><font size="4"><font size="4"><font size="4"><font size="4"><font size="4"><font size="4"><font size="4"><font size="4"><font size="4"><font size="4"><font face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-line: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); cursor: pointer;"><a href="https://wrm.org.uy/articles-from-the-wrm-bulletin/section1/palm-oil-concessions-for-logging-the-case-of-herakles-farms-in-cameroon/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://wrm.org.uy/articles-from-the-wrm-bulletin/section1/palm-oil-concessions-for-logging-the-case-of-herakles-farms-in-cameroon/&ved=2ahUKEwiD3pSDi_PrAhXSmq0KHSBrCeAQFjADegQIBBAB" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-line: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); cursor: pointer;">Herakles Farms</a></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></h3></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); cursor: pointer;">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herakles_Farms</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); cursor: pointer;">
</font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><font style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); cursor: pointer;">H</font><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">erakles Farms</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">, formerly known as SG Sustainable Oils,</span><sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herakles_Farms#cite_note-1" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[1]</a></sup><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">is an</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States" title="United States" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">American</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">company active in</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Oil_palm_plantation&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Oil palm plantation (page does not exist)" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">oil palm plantations</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">and timber business. Its headquarters are in</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City" title="New York City" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; text-decoration-line: none;">New York City</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">. According to its web site, it is committed to sustainability.</span></font></div><div id="mw-content-text" lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr" style="direction: ltr; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="mw-parser-output"><h2 style="margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px; overflow: hidden; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.3;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="Activity_in_Cameroon">Activity in Cameroon</span><span class="mw-editsection" style="user-select: none; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-right: 0.25em;">[</span></span></font></h2><p style="margin: 0.5em 0px;"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The presence of Herakles Farms in Cameroon started in 2009.<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herakles_Farms#cite_note-2" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[2]</a></sup> Sithe Global Sustainable Oils Cameroon (SGSOC) is a Cameroonian subsidiary of Herakles Farms, has received a concession of 73,000 hectares of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainforest" title="Rainforest" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">rainforest</a> to be replaced by oil palm plantations in 2009.<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herakles_Farms#cite_note-3" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[3]</a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herakles_Farms#cite_note-4" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[4]</a></sup> This was suspended by the government of Cameroon in May 2013. Herakles Farms claims to invest 300 billion francs CFA and improve the life of indigenous persons of the area.<sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herakles_Farms#cite_note-5" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[5]</a></sup> Far more locals are opposed to than in favor of this project.<sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herakles_Farms#cite_note-6" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[6]</a></sup> SCSOC has frequently used intimidation and corruption, especially against leaders and key decision makers in the community.<sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herakles_Farms#cite_note-7" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[7]</a></sup> A court in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limbe,Cameroon" title="Limbe, Cameroon" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Limbe, Cameroon</a> has condemned Herakles to a fine of 4.6 million for racist discrimination.<sup id="cite_ref-8" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herakles_Farms#cite_note-8" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[8]</a></sup> The rainforest mentioned is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habitat" title="Habitat" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">habitat</a> of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigeria-Cameroon_chimpanzee" title="Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee</a> and the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drill(animal)" title="Drill (animal)" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">drill</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-9" class="reference" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herakles_Farms#cite_note-9" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">[9]</a></sup></font></p><h2 style="margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; padding: 0px; overflow: hidden; border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(162, 169, 177); font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.3;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-headline" id="References">References</span><span class="mw-editsection" style="user-select: none; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; unicode-bidi: isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-right: 0.25em;">[</span></span></font></h2><div class="reflist columns references-column-width" style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.3em; column-width: 30em; list-style-type: decimal;"><ol class="references" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 3.2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none; counter-reset: mw-ref-extends-parent 0 list-item 0; list-style-type: inherit;"><li id="cite_note-1" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em; counter-increment: mw-ref-extends-parent 1; counter-reset: mw-ref-extends-child 0; break-inside: avoid-column;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-cite-backlink" style="user-select: none;"><b><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herakles_Farms#cite_ref-1" aria-label="Jump up" title="Jump up" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">^{</a></b></span> }<span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation web cs1" style="font-style: inherit; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapid=134540431" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: url(" w="w" skins="skins" vector="Vector" resources="resources" skins.vector.styles="skins.vector.styles" images="images" external-link-ltr-icon.svg="external-link-ltr-icon.svg" b4b84="b4b84" right="right" center="center" no-repeat="no-repeat" padding-right="padding-right" px="px">"Herakles Farms, LLC: Private Company Information - Bloomberg"</a>. <i>www.bloomberg.com</i><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap" style="white-space: nowrap;">2017-02-07</span></span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=www.bloomberg.com&rft.atitle=Herakles+Farms%2C+LLC%3A+Private+Company+Information+-+Bloomberg&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bloomberg.com%2Fresearch%2Fstocks%2Fprivate%2Fsnapshot.asp%3Fprivcapid%3D134540431&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AHerakles+Farms" class="Z3988" /></span></font></li><li id="cite_note-2" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em; counter-increment: mw-ref-extends-parent 1; counter-reset: mw-ref-extends-child 0; break-inside: avoid-column;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="mw-cite-backlink" style="user-select: none;"><b><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herakles_Farms#cite_ref-2" aria-label="Jump up" title="Jump up" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">^{</a></b></span> }<span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="http://www.camnews24.com/fr/component/content/article/22-flash-infos/37079-secteur-agricole-herakles-farms-suspend-ses-activites-au-cameroun" style="text-decoration-line: none; 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padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 1.6;">G</h3><ul style="list-style-image: url(" w="w" skins="skins" vector="Vector" resources="resources" skins.vector.styles="skins.vector.styles" images="images" bullet-icon.svg="bullet-icon.svg" d4515="d4515" margin="margin" em="em" px="px" padding="padding"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GreenPalm" title="GreenPalm" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">GreenPalm</a></li></ul><h3 style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 1.6;">H</h3><ul style="list-style-image: url(" w="w" skins="skins" vector="Vector" resources="resources" skins.vector.styles="skins.vector.styles" images="images" bullet-icon.svg="bullet-icon.svg" d4515="d4515" margin="margin" em="em" px="px" padding="padding"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herakles_Farms" title="Herakles Farms" style="text-decoration-line: none; background: none;">Herakles Farms</a></li></ul></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-line: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); cursor: pointer;">---</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">mongabay</font></div><div><div class="g" style="line-height: 1.2; width: 600px; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 28px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="rc" data-hveid="CAUQAA" data-ved="2ahUKEwiD3pSDi_PrAhXSmq0KHSBrCeAQFSgAMAB6BAgFEAA" style="position: relative;"><div class="s" style="max-width: 48em; line-height: 1.58;"><span class="st" style="line-height: 1.58; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="f" style="line-height: 1.58;">pr 7, 2016 - </span>In 2009, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Herakles</span> Farms was awarded 73,000 hectares of largely forested land in the southwest portion of the country to develop into <span style="font-weight: bold;">palm oil</span> ...</font></span></div></div></div><div class="g" style="line-height: 1.2; width: 600px; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 28px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="rc" data-hveid="CAEQAA" data-ved="2ahUKEwiD3pSDi_PrAhXSmq0KHSBrCeAQFSgAMAF6BAgBEAA" style="position: relative;"><div class="r" style="margin: 0px; line-height: 1.58;"><a href="https://www.oaklandinstitute.org/herakles-farms-destroying-rainforests-and-local-livelihoods-cameroon-palm-oil-plantations" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.oaklandinstitute.org/herakles-farms-destroying-rainforests-and-local-livelihoods-cameroon-palm-oil-plantations&ved=2ahUKEwiD3pSDi_PrAhXSmq0KHSBrCeAQFjABegQIARAB" style="text-decoration-line: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); cursor: pointer;"><font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000" size="4">
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Rainforests and Local Livelihoods in Cameroon for <span style="font-weight: bold;">Palm Oil</span> Plantations ... <span style="font-weight: bold;">Herakles</span> Farms, its local subsidiary SG Sustainable Oils Cameroon (SGSOC), and ...</font></span></a></div></div></div><div class="g" style="line-height: 1.2; width: 600px; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 28px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="rc" data-hveid="CAIQAA" data-ved="2ahUKEwiD3pSDi_PrAhXSmq0KHSBrCeAQFSgAMAJ6BAgCEAA" style="position: relative;"><div class="r" style="margin: 0px; line-height: 1.58;"><a href="https://wwf.panda.org/?209145/Cameroon-changes-mind-on-Herakles-palm-oil-project" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://wwf.panda.org/%3F209145/Cameroon-changes-mind-on-Herakles-palm-oil-project&ved=2ahUKEwiD3pSDi_PrAhXSmq0KHSBrCeAQFjACegQIAhAB" style="text-decoration-line: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); cursor: pointer;"><font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000" size="4">
</font></a><h3 class="LC20lb DKV0Md" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 3px; padding: 4px 0px 0px; display: inline-block; line-height: 1.3;"><a href="https://wwf.panda.org/?209145/Cameroon-changes-mind-on-Herakles-palm-oil-project" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://wwf.panda.org/%3F209145/Cameroon-changes-mind-on-Herakles-palm-oil-project&ved=2ahUKEwiD3pSDi_PrAhXSmq0KHSBrCeAQFjACegQIAhAB" style="text-decoration-line: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); cursor: pointer;"><font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000" size="4">Cameroon changes mind on Herakles palm oil project | WWF</font></a></h3><div class="TbwUpd NJjxre" style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.58; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-top: 1px; text-size-adjust: none; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px;"><cite class="iUh30 gBIQub bc tjvcx" style="font-style: normal; padding-top: 1px; line-height: 1.3;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">wwf.panda.org<span class="eipWBe" style=""> › Cameroon-changes-mind-on-Herakles...</span></font></cite></div><div class="B6fmyf" style="position: absolute; 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</font></a><h3 class="LC20lb DKV0Md" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 3px; padding: 4px 0px 0px; display: inline-block; line-height: 1.3;"><a href="https://wrm.org.uy/articles-from-the-wrm-bulletin/section1/palm-oil-concessions-for-logging-the-case-of-herakles-farms-in-cameroon/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://wrm.org.uy/articles-from-the-wrm-bulletin/section1/palm-oil-concessions-for-logging-the-case-of-herakles-farms-in-cameroon/&ved=2ahUKEwiD3pSDi_PrAhXSmq0KHSBrCeAQFjADegQIBBAB" style="text-decoration-line: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); cursor: pointer;"><font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000" size="4">Palm oil concessions for logging: the case of Herakles Farms ...</font></a></h3><div class="TbwUpd NJjxre" style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.58; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-top: 1px; text-size-adjust: none; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px;"><cite class="iUh30 gBIQub bc tjvcx" style="font-style: normal; padding-top: 1px; line-height: 1.3;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">wrm.org.uy<span class="eipWBe" style=""> › articles-from-the-wrm-bulletin › section1</span></font></cite></div><div class="B6fmyf" style="position: absolute; top: 0px; height: 0px; visibility: hidden; white-space: nowrap;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><div class="TbwUpd" style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.58; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-top: 1px; text-size-adjust: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><cite class="iUh30 gBIQub bc tjvcx" style="font-style: normal; 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-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><span class="st" style="line-height: 1.58; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="f" style="line-height: 1.58;">Sep 15, 2015 - </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Oil palm</span> plantation companies are targeting forests also to generate profits from the timber they can sell to mills and to the pulp and paper industry ...</font></span></a></div></div></div><div class="g" style="line-height: 1.2; width: 600px; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 28px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="rc" data-hveid="CAYQAA" data-ved="2ahUKEwiD3pSDi_PrAhXSmq0KHSBrCeAQFSgAMAR6BAgGEAA" style="position: relative;"><div class="r" style="margin: 0px; line-height: 1.58;"><a href="https://www.greenpeace.org/africa/en/publications/418/herakles-farms-sgsoc-the-chaotic-history-of-destructive-palm-oil-project-in-cameroon/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.greenpeace.org/africa/en/publications/418/herakles-farms-sgsoc-the-chaotic-history-of-destructive-palm-oil-project-in-cameroon/&ved=2ahUKEwiD3pSDi_PrAhXSmq0KHSBrCeAQFjAEegQIBhAB" style="text-decoration-line: none; 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</font></a><h3 class="LC20lb DKV0Md" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 3px; padding: 4px 0px 0px; display: inline-block; line-height: 1.3;"><a href="https://www.greenpeace.org/africa/en/publications/418/herakles-farms-sgsoc-the-chaotic-history-of-destructive-palm-oil-project-in-cameroon/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.greenpeace.org/africa/en/publications/418/herakles-farms-sgsoc-the-chaotic-history-of-destructive-palm-oil-project-in-cameroon/&ved=2ahUKEwiD3pSDi_PrAhXSmq0KHSBrCeAQFjAEegQIBhAB" style="text-decoration-line: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); cursor: pointer;"><font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000" size="4">Herakles Farms/SGSOC: The chaotic history of destructive ...</font></a></h3><div class="TbwUpd NJjxre" style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.58; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-top: 1px; text-size-adjust: none; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px;"><cite class="iUh30 gBIQub bc tjvcx" style="font-style: normal; padding-top: 1px; line-height: 1.3;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">www.greenpeace.org<span class="eipWBe" style=""> › africa › publications › herakles-...</span></font></cite></div><div class="B6fmyf" style="position: absolute; top: 0px; height: 0px; visibility: hidden; white-space: nowrap;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><div class="TbwUpd" style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.58; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-top: 1px; text-size-adjust: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><cite class="iUh30 gBIQub bc tjvcx" style="font-style: normal; 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padding: 0px; list-style: none; cursor: pointer; user-select: none;"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:FAp4g_e3_D0J:https://www.greenpeace.org/africa/en/publications/418/herakles-farms-sgsoc-the-chaotic-history-of-destructive-palm-oil-project-in-cameroon/+&cd=5&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:FAp4g_e3_D0J:https://www.greenpeace.org/africa/en/publications/418/herakles-farms-sgsoc-the-chaotic-history-of-destructive-palm-oil-project-in-cameroon/%2B%26cd%3D5%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwiD3pSDi_PrAhXSmq0KHSBrCeAQIDAEegQIBhAG" style="text-decoration-line: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;" /></li></ol></div></div></div></div><div class="s" style="max-width: 48em; line-height: 1.58;"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:FAp4g_e3_D0J:https://www.greenpeace.org/africa/en/publications/418/herakles-farms-sgsoc-the-chaotic-history-of-destructive-palm-oil-project-in-cameroon/+&cd=5&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:FAp4g_e3_D0J:https://www.greenpeace.org/africa/en/publications/418/herakles-farms-sgsoc-the-chaotic-history-of-destructive-palm-oil-project-in-cameroon/%2B%26cd%3D5%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwiD3pSDi_PrAhXSmq0KHSBrCeAQIDAEegQIBhAG" style="text-decoration-line: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><span class="st" style="line-height: 1.58; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="f" style="line-height: 1.58;">Sep 6, 2016 - </span>Since 2010, <span style="font-weight: bold;">Herakles</span> Farms / SGSOC <span style="font-weight: bold;">palm oil</span> plantation in Cameroon's South-<wbr />West region, multiplied misdeed towards the people living ...</font></span></a></div></div></div><div class="g" style="line-height: 1.2; width: 600px; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 28px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="rc" data-hveid="CAgQAA" data-ved="2ahUKEwiD3pSDi_PrAhXSmq0KHSBrCeAQFSgAMAV6BAgIEAA" style="position: relative;"><div class="r" style="margin: 0px; line-height: 1.58;"><a href="https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/herakles-farms-palm-oil-project-rears-its-ugly-head-again/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/herakles-farms-palm-oil-project-rears-its-ugly-head-again/&ved=2ahUKEwiD3pSDi_PrAhXSmq0KHSBrCeAQFjAFegQICBAB" style="text-decoration-line: none; 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</font></a><h3 class="LC20lb DKV0Md" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 3px; padding: 4px 0px 0px; display: inline-block; line-height: 1.3;"><a href="https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/herakles-farms-palm-oil-project-rears-its-ugly-head-again/" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/herakles-farms-palm-oil-project-rears-its-ugly-head-again/&ved=2ahUKEwiD3pSDi_PrAhXSmq0KHSBrCeAQFjAFegQICBAB" style="text-decoration-line: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); cursor: pointer;"><font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000" size="4">Herakles Farms Palm Oil Project Rears Its Ugly Head — Again ...</font></a></h3><div class="TbwUpd NJjxre" style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.58; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-top: 1px; text-size-adjust: none; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px;"><cite class="iUh30 gBIQub bc tjvcx" style="font-style: normal; padding-top: 1px; line-height: 1.3;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">www.greenpeace.org<span class="eipWBe" style=""> › usa › herakles-farms-palm-oil-p...</span></font></cite></div><div class="B6fmyf" style="position: absolute; top: 0px; height: 0px; visibility: hidden; white-space: nowrap;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><div class="TbwUpd" style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.58; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-top: 1px; text-size-adjust: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><cite class="iUh30 gBIQub bc tjvcx" style="font-style: normal; padding-top: 1px; line-height: 1.3;"><span class="eipWBe" style="" /></cite></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><div class="eFM0qc" style="display: inline-block; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-top: 1px; padding-left: 2px; visibility: visible;"><div class="action-menu" style="display: inline; margin: 1px 3px 0px; position: relative; user-select: none; vertical-align: middle;"><a class="GHDvEf" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=palm+oil+herakles&oq=palm+oil+herakles&aqs=chrome..69i57.8439j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#" id="am-b5" aria-label="Result Options" aria-expanded="false" aria-haspopup="true" role="button" jsaction="m.tdd;keydown:m.hbke;keypress:m.mskpe" data-ved="2ahUKEwiD3pSDi_PrAhXSmq0KHSBrCeAQ7B0wBXoECAgQBA" style="text-decoration-line: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); display: inline-block; height: 12px; margin-top: 1px; user-select: none; width: 13px; cursor: pointer;"><span class="mn-dwn-arw" style="border-color: rgb(112, 117, 122) transparent; border-style: solid; border-width: 5px 4px 0px; width: 0px; height: 0px; margin-left: 3px; top: 7.5px; margin-top: -3px; position: absolute; left: 0px;" /></a><ol class="action-menu-panel" role="menu" tabindex="-1" jsaction="keydown:m.hdke;mouseover:m.hdhne;mouseout:m.hdhue" data-ved="2ahUKEwiD3pSDi_PrAhXSmq0KHSBrCeAQqR8wBXoECAgQBQ" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 12px; visibility: hidden; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; border: 1px solid rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); z-index: 3; transition: opacity 0.218s ease 0s; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 2px 4px;"><li class="action-menu-item" role="menuitem" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: none; cursor: pointer; user-select: none;"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:DyhVNXofSCAJ:https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/herakles-farms-palm-oil-project-rears-its-ugly-head-again/+&cd=6&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:DyhVNXofSCAJ:https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/herakles-farms-palm-oil-project-rears-its-ugly-head-again/%2B%26cd%3D6%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwiD3pSDi_PrAhXSmq0KHSBrCeAQIDAFegQICBAG" style="text-decoration-line: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;" /></li></ol></div></div></div></div><div class="s" style="max-width: 48em; line-height: 1.58;"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:DyhVNXofSCAJ:https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/herakles-farms-palm-oil-project-rears-its-ugly-head-again/+&cd=6&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:DyhVNXofSCAJ:https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/herakles-farms-palm-oil-project-rears-its-ugly-head-again/%2B%26cd%3D6%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwiD3pSDi_PrAhXSmq0KHSBrCeAQIDAFegQICBAG" style="text-decoration-line: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><span class="st" style="line-height: 1.58; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span class="f" style="line-height: 1.58;">Nov 19, 2015 - </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Herakles</span> Farms' proposed <span style="font-weight: bold;">palm oil</span> plantation has always been the wrong project in the wrong place. Now, the masterminds behind it are ...</font></span></a></div></div></div><div class="g" style="line-height: 1.2; width: 600px; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 28px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="rc" data-hveid="CAcQAA" data-ved="2ahUKEwiD3pSDi_PrAhXSmq0KHSBrCeAQFSgAMAZ6BAgHEAA" style="position: relative;"><div class="r" style="margin: 0px; line-height: 1.58;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herakles_Farms" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herakles_Farms&ved=2ahUKEwiD3pSDi_PrAhXSmq0KHSBrCeAQFjAGegQIBxAB" style="text-decoration-line: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); cursor: pointer;"><font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000" size="4">
</font></a><h3 class="LC20lb DKV0Md" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 3px; padding: 4px 0px 0px; display: inline-block; line-height: 1.3;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herakles_Farms" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herakles_Farms&ved=2ahUKEwiD3pSDi_PrAhXSmq0KHSBrCeAQFjAGegQIBxAB" style="text-decoration-line: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); cursor: pointer;"><font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000" size="4">Herakles Farms - Wikipedia</font></a></h3><div class="TbwUpd NJjxre" style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.58; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-top: 1px; text-size-adjust: none; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 0px;"><cite class="iUh30 gBIQub bc tjvcx" style="font-style: normal; padding-top: 1px; line-height: 1.3;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">en.wikipedia.org<span class="eipWBe" style=""> › wiki › Herakles_Farms</span></font></cite></div><div class="B6fmyf" style="position: absolute; top: 0px; height: 0px; visibility: hidden; white-space: nowrap;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /><div class="TbwUpd" style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.58; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-top: 1px; text-size-adjust: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><cite class="iUh30 gBIQub bc tjvcx" style="font-style: normal; padding-top: 1px; line-height: 1.3;"><span class="eipWBe" style="" /></cite></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><div class="eFM0qc" style="display: inline-block; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-top: 1px; padding-left: 2px; visibility: visible;"><div class="action-menu" style="display: inline; margin: 1px 3px 0px; position: relative; user-select: none; vertical-align: middle;"><a class="GHDvEf" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=palm+oil+herakles&oq=palm+oil+herakles&aqs=chrome..69i57.8439j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#" id="am-b6" aria-label="Result Options" aria-expanded="false" aria-haspopup="true" role="button" jsaction="m.tdd;keydown:m.hbke;keypress:m.mskpe" data-ved="2ahUKEwiD3pSDi_PrAhXSmq0KHSBrCeAQ7B0wBnoECAcQBA" style="text-decoration-line: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); display: inline-block; height: 12px; margin-top: 1px; user-select: none; width: 13px; cursor: pointer;"><span class="mn-dwn-arw" style="border-color: rgb(112, 117, 122) transparent; border-style: solid; border-width: 5px 4px 0px; width: 0px; height: 0px; margin-left: 3px; top: 7.5px; margin-top: -3px; position: absolute; left: 0px;" /></a><ol class="action-menu-panel" role="menu" tabindex="-1" jsaction="keydown:m.hdke;mouseover:m.hdhne;mouseout:m.hdhue" data-ved="2ahUKEwiD3pSDi_PrAhXSmq0KHSBrCeAQqR8wBnoECAcQBQ" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; left: 0px; top: 12px; visibility: hidden; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; border: 1px solid rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); z-index: 3; transition: opacity 0.218s ease 0s; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 2px 4px;"><li class="action-menu-item" role="menuitem" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: none; cursor: pointer; user-select: none;"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:vgzAluOq3XUJ:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herakles_Farms+&cd=7&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:vgzAluOq3XUJ:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herakles_Farms%2B%26cd%3D7%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwiD3pSDi_PrAhXSmq0KHSBrCeAQIDAGegQIBxAG" style="text-decoration-line: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;" /></li><li class="action-menu-item" role="menuitem" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: none; cursor: pointer; user-select: none;"><a class="fl" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=related:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herakles_Farms+palm+oil+herakles&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiD3pSDi_PrAhXSmq0KHSBrCeAQHzAGegQIBxAH" style="text-decoration-line: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;" /></li></ol></div></div></div></div><div class="s" style="max-width: 48em; line-height: 1.58;"><a class="fl" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=related:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herakles_Farms+palm+oil+herakles&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiD3pSDi_PrAhXSmq0KHSBrCeAQHzAGegQIBxAH" style="text-decoration-line: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><span class="st" style="line-height: 1.58; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Herakles</span> Farms, formerly known as SG Sustainable <span style="font-weight: bold;">Oils</span>, is an American company active in <span style="font-weight: bold;">oil palm</span> plantations and timber business. Its headquarters are in ...</font></span></a></div></div></div></div><div><a class="fl" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=related:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herakles_Farms+palm+oil+herakles&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiD3pSDi_PrAhXSmq0KHSBrCeAQHzAGegQIBxAH" style="text-decoration-line: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">=</font></a></div><div><a class="fl" href="https://www.google.com/search?q=related:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herakles_Farms+palm+oil+herakles&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiD3pSDi_PrAhXSmq0KHSBrCeAQHzAGegQIBxAH" style="text-decoration-line: none; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000" /></a><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/worlds-largest-palm-oil-plantation-2645576807.html">https://www.ecowatch.com/worlds-largest-palm-oil-plantation-2645576807.html</a></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">3.20</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>A new company has begun clearing rainforest in an area of Indonesia's easternmost Papua province earmarked to become the world's largest oil palm plantation, in a vast project that has been mired in allegations of lawbreaking.</b></font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">If seen through to completion, the Tanah Merah project will generate an estimated $6 billion in timber and create a plantation almost twice the size of London, at the heart of the largest tract of intact rainforest left in Asia. It will also release an immense amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, at a time when Indonesia has committed to reducing emissions from deforestation.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Since March of last year, the Digoel Agri Group, founded by a politically connected Jakarta family and now backed by an investor from New Zealand, has bulldozed 170 hectares (420 acres) of rainforest in a section of the project previously spared from land clearing, satellite imagery shows.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The clearance amounts to a fraction of the 280,000 hectares (692,000 acres) allocated for the project, now controlled by several different conglomerates. But it signals that deforestation could quickly accelerate after a decade of false starts by other investors.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A satellite view of Digoel Agri's forest clearance, seen in late November 2019.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Since it was first conceived in 2007, the rights to the project have changed hands several times, involving a string of investors who have deployed crude and complex corporate secrecy techniques to hide their identities.</b></font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The licensing process for the project has been plagued by irregularities. A cross-border investigation by The Gecko Project, Mongabay, Malaysiakini and Tempo, published in November 2018, revealed that key permits were signed by an elected official who was simultaneously serving a prison sentence for embezzling state funds.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A subsequent report found that officials believe other essential permits — for both the plantation and a giant sawmill to process the timber — were falsified.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Two companies, majority-owned by anonymous firms registered in the United Arab Emirates, began operating on the basis of these permits, to the north of the land now held by Digoel Agri. In response to written questions from The Gecko Project and Mongabay they have denied the allegation that the permits were falsified.</b></font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">On paper, Digoel Agri's involvement in the project represents a clean break from those allegations. The firm arrived on the scene after the suspect permits held by earlier investors were revoked and reassigned to it.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Jackson Iqbal de Hesselle, 32, a member of the Rumangkang family, which is behind Digoel Agri, said its operations were clean. "We're obeying the rules," he said in a recent interview at the firm's office in Jayapura, the capital of Papua province.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">However, while there are no apparent links between Digoel Agri and the previous investors, its ability to operate is partly predicated on the allegedly compromised licensing process that went before.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The legal basis of Digoel Agri's activities rests partly on decrees rezoning the land to allow development, issued by the Ministry of Forestry in 2012, following requests from earlier investors. The applications were based on the plantation permits that were allegedly falsified.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As of late last year, Indonesian authorities had yet to investigate the allegations, officials from several agencies said at the time.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">NGOs scrutinizing the project assert that officials rushed into reallocating the lands to new investors without properly considering the allegations of irregularities in the licensing process and the environmental and social impacts the project would have.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Arie Rompas, the head of forest campaigns at Greenpeace Indonesia, called the Tanah Merah project a "public scandal" and said the permits underlying it should be examined and revoked.</b></font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"There is still an opportunity to save this area," he said.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Enter the Rumangkangs</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Digoel Agri was set up by members of the Rumangkang family, according to the Indonesian government's corporate registry. The late family patriarch, Ventje Rumangkang, who died in February at the age of 74, was a founder of Indonesia's Democratic Party, the vehicle for Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's successful presidential run in 2004.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">At their office in Jayapura, Jackson and his brother Jones Rumangkang, 44, said they had decided to invest in the Tanah Merah project after being encouraged to do so by bureaucrats in Boven Digoel, the district in which the project is located. They then formed several companies under the Digoel Agri brand and set about acquiring the permits.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The brothers said they were helped along by Fabianus Senfahagi, the head of a local indigenous people's association. He had played a role shepherding through the project in its early stages, accompanying surveyors sent by other investors around 2012.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A paper trail of correspondence among Fabianus and government officials shows he subsequently agitated for the permits to be revoked and reassigned to the Digoel Agri Group.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">His letters to the district government in 2014 claimed the local Auyu people were anxiously waiting for the project to begin. By this time, the land concessions that would be transferred to the Rumangkangs were majority-owned by Tadmax Resources, a Malaysian logging and property conglomerate. Minority stakes were retained by the Menara Group, an enigmatic Jakarta firm that brought the project to life in 2010.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Over the next three years, the permits held by Tadmax and Menara were revoked by the district and provincial governments. The stated rationale for cancelling them was the companies' failure to begin operating. However, bureaucrats at the Papua investment agency had also raised concerns that some of the permits had been falsified.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Tadmax and Menara have not responded to repeated requests to comment on these allegations.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">By 2017, the concessions previously held by Tadmax and Menara had been reallocated to the Digoel Agri Group.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In early 2019, Tadmax and Menara challenged this decision. A letter to the central government from Dr. Sadino & Partners, a law firm representing the joint investors, accused officials of illegally revoking the permits. They also argued that anyone using the same land on the basis of new permits — like the ones underlying Digoel Agri's operations — was committing a crime.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Jones and Jackson insisted that Digoel Agri was in compliance with the law and had obtained the permits it needed to begin operating, from the district and provincial governments.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Ordinarily, to convert rainforest to a plantation, Digoel Agri would also have needed to apply to the forestry ministry in Jakarta to rezone the land for development. But by the time the Rumangkangs arrived in Papua, this process had already taken place.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Menara Group and its co-investors had obtained decrees rezoning the land from the then-minister in 2011. These decrees were issued on the basis of permits that provincial government officials have repeatedly reported were falsified.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In an interview last year, Sigit Hardwinarto, the ministry's director-general of forest planning, said the rezoning could be reviewed if the allegation that the permits had been falsified was reported to his department.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The rezoning of the land is a legacy of the administration of President Yudhoyono and then-Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan. During his tenure, Zulkifli reportedly rezoned 2.4 million hectares (5.9 million acres) of land for conversion to oil palm plantations.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Yudhoyono's successor, President Joko Widodo, and the new forestry minister, Siti Nurbaya Bakar, have sought to strike a different path. In 2018, Widodo signed a three-year moratorium on the issuance of new licenses for oil palm plantations.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The policy had been announced in the wake of Indonesia's 2015 fire and haze crisis, in which Indonesia's vast peat swamps burned as a result of agricultural fires from the oil palm and timber plantation industries. Toxic smoke from the fires drifted into neighboring countries, creating a public health crisis.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The moratorium explicitly barred the forestry ministry from rezoning land for oil palm development. It also instructed the cabinet to review all existing oil palm permits with an eye toward possibly revoking them. Several weeks after the president first declared he would sign the moratorium, in 2016, Siti singled out the Tanah Merah project as one that merited scrutiny.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In comments posted on her personal website, Siti referred disparagingly to the fact that the project appeared to have been established so the licenses could be "traded" to Malaysian investors, and said the president had instructed her to prioritize implementing the moratorium in Papua.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"We really have to safeguard [the forests of Papua] and must formulate and implement a development concept in Papua to the best of our ability," she quoted Widodo as telling her.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">However, neither these policies nor the allegations around the Tanah Merah project have stymied its progress under the direction of new investors. NGOs monitoring the implementation of the moratorium have noted limited progress in Papua.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"There has been no significant progress in how this policy is implemented," said Arie, the Greenpeace campaigner. "The Tanah Merah project should be a strong case to see how this [policy] can be carried out seriously and effectively."</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A road cuts through one of the Digoel Agri land concessions, seen in January. Pusaka</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Competing Interests</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Rumangkangs insist that the project will benefit the Auyu people. Jones said the ones he met were overjoyed about the prospect of a plantation on their land.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"They didn't just ask, they cried," he said. "The Auyu tribe is the poorest in Boven Digoel, even though they're so rich [in natural resources]."</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Rumangkangs have enlisted foreign investors to help them develop the plantation. Their chief partner is a New Zealand property developer named Neville Mahon. In 2018, Mahon became the majority shareholder of the Digoel Agri subsidiaries with land concessions in the project. He could not be reached for comment.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Mahon associate Thirunavukarasu Selva Nithan, an Australian national, is the sole director of the three companies, corporate records show. Contacted by email, he said he had resigned his position and directed questions to Jackson.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The involvement of these investors adds to a growing list of actors from across the world with a stake in what could become the world's largest stretch of oil palm. Malaysian logging giant Shin Yang has constructed a sawmill to process timber from the project.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">North of the Digoel Agri concessions, investors whose identities are hidden behind anonymously owned companies in the United Arab Emirates have also begun clearing land, with the Menara Group and the sister of a prominent politician from Indonesia's National Mandate Party as their minor partners. So far, they've bulldozed 8,300 hectares (20,500 acres) of forest, nearly 3% of the project's total area.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Yet another firm holds the rights to the northernmost block of the project. Corporate records show it is majority owned by two holding companies registered to a letterbox address in Malaysia. The minor shareholder in that venture is the Malaysian logging giant Rimbunan Hijau.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Many Auyu remain steadfastly opposed to the Tanah Merah project, according to Franky Samperante, the director of Pusaka, an Indonesian nonprofit that advocates for indigenous peoples' rights.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Franky Samperante. Sandy Watt / The Gecko Project</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">On a recent trip to the area, he found that members of the Kemon clan, whose land has been targeted by Digoel Agri, did not want the plantation to go ahead on the grounds that it would destroy their food and water supplies.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">He questioned the government's decision to allow the plantation to move ahead, without investigating the allegation that permits held by the earlier investors had been falsified.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"In light of the irregularities that have arisen, the Ministry of Environment and Forestry must review the decrees rezoning the land," he said. "The government must impose sanctions on the perpetrators."</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Reposted with permission from Mongabay.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">emissions deforestation palm oil rainforests indonesia</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6820316/</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">...</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Methods:</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A search was carried out in June 2018 in PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and Ovid. Relevant publications were identified by a systematic search of four databases and relevant journals. Publications were included if they examined occupational hazards in oil palm plantation workers.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Results:</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">941 publications were identified; of these, 25 studies were found eligible to be included in the final review. Of the 25 studies examined, 19 were conducted in Malaysia, 2 in Costa Rica, and one each in Ghana, Indonesia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, and Cameroon. Oil palm plantation workers were found to be at risk of musculoskeletal conditions, injuries, psychosocial disorders, and infectious diseases such as malaria and leptospirosis. In addition, they have potential exposure to paraquat and other pesticides.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">...</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Pesticide and Herbicide Exposure</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Four studies investigated paraquat exposure among farmers, including palm oil workers.36-39 Among 119 paraquat handlers and 54 non-handlers on a range of farms in Costa Rica, including oil palm plantations, exposure to paraquat was only detected among paraquat handlers on spray day; levels varied by crop and not among workers.38 This study and another one found no association with lung disease.37 Exposure to a range of pesticides among farmers, including plantation workers in Sabah, Malaysia, was reported to increase the risk of having abnormalities in three out of five semen quality parameters (sperm count, motility and teratospermia), although differences were not found by type of pesticide (paraquat or malathion) and the study sample sizes were small (62 exposed).39</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In addition to exposure to paraquat, palm oil workers are known to be exposed to other pesticides, however, the literature on this subject is limited. For example, studies in both Cameroon and Malaysia found that the main herbicides used by the oil palm growers are paraquat and glyphosate while metalaxyl, maneb, and captan are used as fungicides and cypermethrin and carbaryl are the most common insecticides.40,41</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Go to:</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Discussion</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">We found that many of the common tasks undertaken by workers on oil palm plantations during harvesting were associated with increased risks of MSD, and that the prevalence of MSDs reported in most studies was high. Additionally, palm oil workers were at risk of infectious diseases and stress and mental disorders because of their working and living environments and were also exposed to a range of pesticides, in particular, paraquat. In general, work on oil palm plantations remains largely unmechanized, and reliant on low-paid workers. This lack of automation increases the risk of work-related injury and disease for these workers.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">down to Earth No 66  August 2005</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Pesticides, including herbicides, are commonly used in oil palm plantations, despite their adverse impacts on human beings and the environment.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In his keynote speech to the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, October 2004, the then Indonesian agriculture minister, Bungaran Saragih, admitted the dangers of herbicides use in oil palm plantations(1). Around 25 different pesticides are used in oil palm plantations, but monitoring is difficult due to lack of control and documentation(2).</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Paraquat</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Used for more than 40 years in both small and large plantations, paraquat dichloride, known simply as 'paraquat', has become one of the most widely used herbicides the world over. In Indonesia, it is often sold as Gramoxone. This highly toxic weed-killer is commonly used in oil palm plantations in South East Asia. It may be fatal if inhaled, ingested or absorbed through the skin. No antidote for paraquat poisoning exists yet.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The main concern about paraquat is its risks to plantation workers. Although incidents also occur in the North, lack of proper conditions of use in many developing countries, where label instructions and recommendations for use may not be well observed, is a particular concern. Plantation workers are often employed for long periods, working up to 10 months in a year, six days a week and therefore subjected to regular exposure to toxins.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In March 2002, Pesticide Action Network Asia Pacific and Tenaganita, a Malaysia-based workers' rights organisation, launched their study on pesticides poisoning in Malaysia's plantations(3). This highlighted the suffering of women plantation workers, who work daily as pesticide sprayers. The acute paraquat poisoning symptoms include nosebleeds, eye irritation, contact dermatitis, skin irritation and sores, nail discoloration, nail loss and abdominal ulceration.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Paraquat is banned or restricted in Austria, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Hungary and Slovenia. Among developing countries, Indonesia, in addition to North Korea and Togo, has applied severe restrictions upon its use(4). Malaysia, the biggest producer of palm oil, is reconsidering its ban on paraquat as it approaches the end of a 2-year phase-out period. This represents a clear case of backtracking on a decision - for which it was applauded - taken in August 2002. It is thought to have been the result of strong opposition to the ban by the Malaysian Palm Oil Association and the agro-chemical industry. Under Indonesia's regulation, only people who have been trained and certified are allowed to use paraquat. However, in reality, training is often minimal and protective clothing - where provided - is impractical. It is also difficult to prove that untrained and uncertified workers are not using the chemical.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Glyphosate</b></font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As paraquat is becoming more restricted or banned, glyphosate is reported to be taking its place as the 'queen of herbicides'(5). Monsanto, one manufacturer of glyphosate(6), claims it is a highly effective weed-killer, safe to users and harmless to the environment. However, anti-pesticide campaigners reveal that there is evidence of toxic effects on humans as well as on the environment, indirect environmental damage and resistance in some target weed species(7). Furthermore, although glyphosate is much less toxic than paraquat, some of the surfactants included in preparations for spraying it are highly toxic. Roundup, produced by Monsanto, is a glyphosate-based herbicide used worldwide, including on genetically modified plants in which it can be tolerated. Some agricultural workers using glyphosate have had pregnancy problems. Recent research shows that glyphosate is toxic to human placental cells in concentrations lower than those in agricultural use(8). This is of particular concern since farmers may become more dependent on Roundup. In March 2005, Dr. Mae-Wan Ho and Prof. Joe Cummins, leading scientists at the London-based Institute of Science in Society, called for an urgent regulatory review on glyphosate. They pointed to effects of exposure to glyphosate including an increased risk of late spontaneous abortions(9). Monsanto has rejected the findings.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In addition to concerns about the health and safety of plantation workers, there are issues about water pollution associated with paraquat and glyphosate. Manufacturers claim that both chemicals are harmless to people and wildlife after spraying as they are rapidly absorbed by plants and inactivated by contact with the soil. However, in parts of Indonesia where the rainfall is often very high, herbicides can be washed into streams and rivers which provide the only source of water for all household needs - including drinking - for villages around the plantations. Furthermore, the herbicides do not bind to sandy soils.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Ratification of PIC treaty</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">On 24th February 2004, the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade (known as the PIC treaty) became legally binding. The Convention provides a warning procedure in the international trade of hazardous pesticides and other chemicals. At present, it has 73 signatories and 59 parties. Indonesia is among the signatories. PAN Indonesia is urging the government and parliament to ratify the PIC Convention so that it becomes national law(10). Malaysia has ratified the convention and is being urged to include paraquat in the PIC list.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">https://www.intechopen.com/books/biomass-now-sustainable-growth-and-use/the-oil-palm-wastes-in-malaysia</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Introduction</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Oil palm is the most important product from Malaysia that has helped to change the scenario of it’s agriculture and economy. Lignocellulosic biomass which is produced from the oil palm industries include oil palm trunks (OPT), oil palm fronds (OPF), empty fruit bunches (EFB) and palm pressed fibres (PPF), palm shells and palm oil mill effluent palm (POME). However, the presence of these oil palm wastes has created a major disposal problem. The fundamental principles of waste management are to minimise and recycle the waste, recover the energy and finally dispose the waste. These principals apply to agro-industrial wastes such as palm oil residues as they do to municipal waste. We can simply no longer afford to dispose the residues when there is an economically useful alternative. We must first consider the current uses and disposal of mill residues in order to address the potential for recovery of energy in the palm oil industry. One of the unique aspects of Malaysian renewable energy sources is that the palm oil mill is self-sufficient in energy, using PPF, EFB and shell as fuel to generate steam in waste-fuel boilers for processing, and power-generation with steam turbines as described in Section 2.2.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">World palm oil production in 1990 doubled to 11.0 million tonnes from 5.0 million tonnes in 1980, and by the year 2000, the production doubled to 21.8 million tonnes. Malaysia produced about half of the world palm oil production (10.8 million tonnes), thus, making Malaysia as world’s largest producer and exporter of palm oil during this period [1]. In 2008, even though Malaysia had produced 17.7 million tonnes of palm oil based on 4,500,000 hectares of land used for its plantation, Indonesia became the world's largest producer and exporter of palm oil, replacing Malaysia as a chief producer [2,3] Palm oil has made impressive and sustained growth in the global market over the past four decades, and it is projected in the period 2016 – 2020, the average annual production of palm oil in Malaysia will reach 15.4 million tonnes [4]. In 1999, the land area under oil palm plantation is about 3.31 million hectares, and it has been projected that Sarawak will have about one million tonnes hectares of oil palm by the year 2010 [5].</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The oil palm industry has always been linked to the environment because it is a land intensive industry. Any unplanned development will lead to the degradation of the forest systems, loss of habitats including plants and animals, extreme land degradation and pollution (water and airborne) due to the use of large quantities of pesticides and herbicides required to maintain the plantation. The Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) was established in recent years with the support from the government and Malaysia Palm Oil Council (MPOC). RSPO consists of palm oil producers, processors, traders, consumer goods manufacturers, retailers and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and they will develop the principles and criteria of a sustainable palm oil industry, and facilitate the development of sustainable palm oil production. The proposed guidelines include commitment to transparency, compliance with all applicable local, national and ratified international regulations, adoption of sustainable cultivation practices (including water management, pesticide control and soil erosion), conservation of resources and biodiversity and community development [6]. The oil palm industry has long avoided the openings of virgin forest land, which thus minimize environment degradation and enhance the sustainability of oil palm growing. As initiatives, the Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities (MPIC) had announced in 2006, the RM20 million Malaysian Palm Oil Conservation Fund (MPOCF) with aims to help protect affected wildlife (including orang utan and other protected species) and to sustain biodiversity conservation programmes that are expected to be beneficial to both the industry and society.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Oil palm is the most important product of Malaysia that has helped to change the scenario of its agriculture and economy. Despite the obvious benefits, oil palm mill also significantly contributes to environmental degradation, both at the input and the output sides of its activities. On the input side, crude palm oil mills use large quantities of water and energy in the production processes, and on the output side, manufacturing processes generate large quantities of solid waste, wastewater and air pollution. The solid wastes may consist of empty fruit bunches (EFB), mesocarp fruit fibers (MF) and palm kernel shells (PKS). The liquid waste is generated from an extraction of palm oil of a wet process in a decanter. This liquid waste combined with the wastes from cooling water and sterilizer is called palm oil mill effluent (POME). During POME digestion, odor released into surrounding air, thus, reduces air quality in the surrounding lagoons area. Disposal of EFB into oil palm plantation without recovering remnant oil in the EFB contributes to oil spills. Incineration of EFB means wasting renewable energy source and heat which actually could be provided for boiler in palm oil mill. At present, PKS and MF wastes are used extensively as fuel for steam production in palm-oil mills. EFB is a resource which has huge potential to be used for power generation, currently not being utilized. The application of shells for road hardening has no impact to the environment, however, current practice is actually wasting potential renewable energy source. Methane gas is one among other green house gases which can cause ozone depletion. However, at present, methane in biogas generates during POME digestion is not being utilized or captured and it just escapes into the atmosphere. Palm oil mill residues are currently underutilised; therefore, maximizing energy recovery from the wastes is desirable for both economic and environmental reasons.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">...</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">...</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>3. Utilization of oil palm wastes</b></font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Another route to obtain more energy from oil palm plantations is the more efficient use of oil palm biomass other than the palm oil. There are no detailed statistics for oil palm dry matter production. Such statistics are only compiled for palm oil, palm kernel and fresh fruit bunches (FFB). Rough extrapolations, however, can be made based on estimates of the ratio of palm oil to other dry matter. For each kg of palm oil roughly another 4 kg of dry biomass are produced; approximately a third of which is found in FFB derived wastes and the other two thirds is represented by trunk and frond material [27,30,44]. On an energy basis, the palm oil represents roughly a third of the biomass yield, as it has roughly twice the heating value of the other oil palm dry matter, which therefore amounts to approximately 2 kg on a palm oil equivalent basis. Based on 2005 production, around 30 million metric tonnes of oil equivalent of non palm oil dry biomass matter were available for energy production from Malaysian palm oil plantations, or in other words approximately half of 2004 total primary energy demand. Only a small fraction of this potential was used, and that vary inefficiently. Open burning is still too common and responsible for substantial air pollution problems in South East Asia, indicating that other solutions urgently need to be found. Some of the biomass is used for mulching and as fertiliser, though this use is limited by labour and logistical limitations and concerns about encouraging oil palm pests [45].</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Generally, oil palm mills generate a numbers of oil palm wastes. The oil palm wastes contribute about RM6379 million of energy annually [46]. However, there is much to be done to optimise the utilization of oil palm wastes for cogeneration in Malaysia. Various studies conducted in Malaysia have indicated that the used of biomass as a source of energy is one of the most promising ways of effectively using the residues. Some of the commercial projects and research activities are include treatment of palm oil mill effluent [47,48], pyrolysis of oil palm shell [49], chars from oil palm waste [50], solid biofuels from biowastes [51], briquetting of palm fibre and shell [36], palm oil effluent as a source of bioenergy [52] ethanol fermentation from oil palm trunk [53] and converting oil palm trunks and cocoa wood to liquid fuels [37]. In the following sections, potential uses of oil palm wastes are presented.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">3.1. Potential uses of Pome</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">POME is the effluent from the final stages of palm oil production in the mill. It is a colloidal suspension containing 95-96% water, 0.6-0.7% oil and 4-5% total solids including 2-4% suspended solids [54]. Most palm oil mills and refineries have their own treatment systems for POME, which due to its high organic content is easily amenable to biodegradation. The treatment system usually consists of anaerobic and aerobic ponds. However, because of silting and short circuiting many do not reach discharge standards to water courses. This situation can be significantly improved by introducing enclosed anaerobic digestion systems which reduce the biological oxygen demand (BOD) of the effluent and capture methane, one of the more potent greenhouse gases. The energy in the methane can then be recovered, either as a supplementary boiler fuel, or in a biogas engine generator. For each tonne of crude palm oil (CPO) produced, about an average of 0.9-1.5m3 POME is generated. The biological oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand, oil and grease, total solids and suspended solids of POME ranges from 25000 to 35000 mg/L, 53630 mg/L, 8370 mg/L, 43635 mg/L and 19020 mg/L respectively [55]. Therefore, this had created environmental problem because the palm oil mill industry in Malaysia produces the largest pollution load into the rivers throughout the country [56]. However, POME contains high concentrations of protein, nitrogenous compounds, carbohydrate, lipids and minerals that could be converted into useful material using microbial process [57,58]. As example, bio-gas can be produced by processing POME through anaerobic treating system. Anaerobic digestion is a series of processes in which microorganism break down biodegradable material in the absence of oxygen. About 400m3 of bio-gas produced from 100 tonnes of POME, of which this amount of POME had been released during processing of 20 tonnes of fresh fruit bunches [59-61].</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Currently, fertilizers is also derived from POME and used in the farms and vegetation areas [62]. It is also found that the gas composition contained hydrogen (66-68%) and carbon dioxide (32-34%) that can be produced from POME using anaerobic micro flora and this generated gas is free from methane [63]. At present, a renewable energy power plant developer in Malaysia, known as Bumibiopower is in the progress of setting up a plant from methane extraction and power generation using POME near Pantai Remis at the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia. A closed anaerobic system is installed to produce and collect consistently high quality of methane-rich biogas from POME. The installation of a generator of size between 1 and 1.5 MW is also included in this project [64].</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">3.2. Potential uses of bio oil derived from oil palm wastes...</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">https://www.ecowatch.com/ecuador-residents-palm-oil-2644430752.html</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">1/20</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">mongaby</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></font></font></font></div><div>Mongabay Series: Global Forests, Global Palm Oil</div><div>
</div><div>Communities in Ecuador fight back against palm oil</div><div>by Alejandro Pérez on 3 January 2020 | Translated by Romina Castagnino</div><div>
</div><div>Residents of the communities of La Chiquita and Awá Guadalito say their drinking water has been contaminated by pollution from oil palm plantations.</div><div>A court ruling ordered two oil palm companies and the state to pay reparations for social and environmental impacts caused by the oil palm cultivation.</div><div>However, in the two years since the ruling was issued, two communities in San Lorenzo say they have yet to see any changes.</div><div>This story is a journalistic collaboration between Revista Vistazo and Mongabay Latam.</div><div>
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</div><div>Fifteen years ago, Martha Valencia relied on the nearby river for water and for food. But then oil palm crops arrived in the area and polluted the river, say Martha and her neighbors. The community took the oil palm grower to court, which ultimately resulted in a ruling in their favor.</div><div>
</div><div>“It is determined that there had been serious environmental effects in the territory of the communities … which should have been prevented by the Ecuadorian government,” the ruling read, and a judge ordered compensation for those affected.</div><div>
</div><div>That was two years ago. And Martha and her neighbors say they are still waiting for things to change.</div><div>
</div><div>No clean water</div><div>The river and the community, both named La Chiquita, are located within the municipality of San Lorenzo in the Esmeraldas province of Ecuador. Logging and oil palm plantations, in addition to its <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>proximity to the Colombian border where drug trafficking and armed conflict is rife,</b> contribute to the area’s dubious honor of having the highest levels of poverty and violence in the country.</span></div><div>
</div><div>Every eight to 15 days, the municipality sends a water truck to La Chiquita. The tank fills a 1,500-liter blue plastic tank “but not even that water is clean. We were told by the Municipality to put chlorine before drinking it,” says Olga, another community member.</div><div>
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</div><div>Residents of La Chiquita say they don’t have adequate access to safe drinking water. Photo by David Silva.]</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">When a new truck does not arrive in town before their tank runs dry, residents say they can buy 20-liter water canisters in San Lorenzo, which last three or four days. However, this option often proves too expensive for community members who must subsist off meager profits from small farms. They say that in that case, they are forced to walk great distances to other rivers.</span></div><div>
</div><div>There’s little in the way of alternatives for people living in the area. According to the National Statistical System and the National Statistics and Census Institute (INEC), 16% of San Lorenzo residents are illiterate, which is more than double the national rate of 6.8%.  Almost half of its population is engaged in agriculture and fishing due to a lack of industrial development in the area.</div><div><b>
</b></div><div><b>Two years have passed since the Jan. 2017 ruling of Esmeraldas’ Provincial Court of Justice, and those affected in La Chiquita are still waiting for the judge to order the provision of drinking water, among other compensations. The ruling also requires the construction of a health center and a school.</b></div><div>
</div><div><b>La Chiquita lies in the the Chocó-Darién, an ecosystem that extends from Panama to northwest Ecuador and is known for its unique forests and vast biological wealth – both of which are disappearing at a fast clip due to agribusiness and other human pressures</b>.</div><div>
</div><div>Oil palm companies are required to have a buffer zone between planted fields and water sources. They must remove any crops that are located less than ten meters (33 feet) from community water sources and replace them with endemic species such as guadua bamboo. According to former environment ministers, a fine is applied “for obvious negligence in the performance of their duties.”</div><div>
</div><div>“It is a historic ruling, although it has objections and inaccuracies that must be corrected in its execution,” says Manolo Morales, a lawyer and representative of the <b>Corporation of Management and Environmental Law (Ecolex) that sponsored the lawsuit.</b></div><div>
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</div><div>Oil palm cultivation is one of the primary drivers of deforestation in the province of Esmeraldas. Photo by Eduardo Rebolledo.]</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The ruling also calls for the Ministry of Environment, together with affected communities, to reforest 500 hectares of degraded land with native species. However, La Chiquita resident Isaha Ezequiel says this is absurd. “Companies are the ones that have polluted and killed the forest but they want us to reforest,” he told Mongabay.</span></div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>Violence is common in the region. The murder rate in San Lorenzo in 2018 was 96 per 100,000 inhabitants – almost ten times the national rate. </b>The area gained further notoriety that year when a reporting team from the El Comercio newspaper was kidnapped and then killed by FARC dissident groups. The incident occurred in Mataje, a border town near Guadalito, Colombia.</span></div><div>
</div><div><b>Although four companies were referenced during the trial, two were included in the ruling: Palmera de los Andes and Palmar de los Esteros (Palesema</b>). Only Palmera de los Andes agreed to comment for this story.</div><div>
</div><div>Never-ending battle</div><div>Oil palm plantations in Ecuador cover about 250,000 hectares (617,763 acres) and are distributed among several provinces. Due to its suitable growing conditions, Esmeraldas has the lion’s share.</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Palm oil companies arrived in San Lorenzo in the late 1990s [US bio-fuel bill?] and early 2000s, settling in an area of ??around 30,000 hectares (74,131 acres) that was later expanded to 50,000 (123,552 acres). The inhabitants of La Chiquita, who are mostly the descendants of enslaved people of African ancestry, say local children began to develop stomach diseases and that they noticed oil and pesticide residue in a river that was their primary water source.</span></div><div>
</div><div>When La Chiquita residents went into the forest to investigate the cause of this pollution, they discovered that one of the oil palm growers had installed a palm oil mill less than three kilometers upriver that was dumping liquid waste into the water. The same thing was reported by members of the Awá Guadalito indigenous community, who also joined the demand for change and reparations.</div><div>
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</div><div>Aerial view of a young oil palm plantation in Esmeraldas. Photo: Eduardo Rebolledo]</div><div>
</div><div>However, a representative of Palmera de los Andes contends claims of pollution.</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>“We have 11 processing pools with strict environmental controls,” said Fabián Miño, a lawyer and director of the company’s legal department. “It is false that we are the cause of any contamination.” </b>He explained that, after the palm oil refinement process, wastewater is treated in each pool until it is decontaminated. “To confirm that the liquid comes out clean from our building, in the last two pools we have fish and seaweed,” he said.</span></div><div>
</div><div><b>Miño says communities have been manipulated by NGOs with ulterior motives. He claims Ecolex is an environmental organization that receives funds from abroad, and that the organization attacks oil palm growers to justify its activities and budget regardless of the employment and development opportunities plantations create.</b></div><div>
</div><div>Manolo Morales, of Ecolex, says Miño’s accusations are absurd. He says the organization has worked in the area since 1998 helping local communities gain legal rights to their ancestral territories. He claims that in the intervening years the government promoted and encouraged the cultivation of oil palm and that many inhabitants were persuaded to sell their territories to agroindustry companies. He said he made the decision to advise La Chiquita and Guadalito when he learned of the problems they face.</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">In 2005, a water quality study by the Al Tropic environmental foundation detected the presence of <b>endosulfan and terbufos</b> in the tributaries that provide water for these two communities. Commonly used as pesticides, these compounds can cause severe illness and death in humans, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency classifies both as Category 1 toxins – a designation reserved for the most dangerous substances. This information was included in a report from the Ministry of Environment (MAE) in 2009 and served as the basis for initiating the trial. However, subsequent water studies were not decisive enough to directly hold oil palm companies accountable. Therefore, the judge only partially accepted the claim, ordering the government to fulfill some of the requested reparations to affected communities.</span></div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Ecolex reported that oil palm grower companies were alerted by government authorities before officials went to take water samples looking for the presence of toxins. Meanwhile, Fabián Miño, from Palmera de los Andes, claims that the organization was trying to obtain samples of stagnant water.</span></div><div>
</div><div>“They went out of their way to find pollution,” Miño said. “We have all the environmental certifications, national and international.”</div><div>
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</div><div>Satellite image of oil palm plantations in San Lorenzo. Image courtesy of Rodrigo Sierra.]</div><div>
</div><div>Isaha Ezequiel and his neighbors say two years have passed and they have seen no progress towards court-mandated reparations. According to Nathalia Bonilla, an environmental engineer and coordinator with the NGO Ecological Action in Ecuador, this is because <b>the judge did not report the verdict to the ministries responsible for carrying them out.</b></div><div>
</div><div>Because there is a mountain between the towns of Guadalito and La Chiquita, the judge ordered the building of a school in each. However, Bonilla says the Ministry of Education was also not made aware of this ruling.</div><div>
</div><div>Palmera de los Andes reports that it has already begun fulfilling the reparations required by the ruling. However, company representatives say it is doing so because such activities are within its environmental responsibilities and protocols, not because it considers the ruling to be right.</div><div>
</div><div>“We are reforesting as required by the ruling,” says lawyer Fabián Miño. He adds that the company has a 1200-hectare (2,965-acre) forest reserve, which was not requested in the reparations, and that the company has an environmental license and provides upwards of 700 jobs to local residents. “They should applaud us and not judge us,” he said.</div><div>
</div><div>A refuge for many species</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Deforestation in northern Esmeraldas began well before oil palm moved in. In the 1960s, the government implemented its Northwest Forestry Development project that established 14 forest concessions. According to project data, more than 400,000 hectares (988,421 acres) of dense forest was cleared between 1966 and 1975. Five more concessions were subsequently created.</span></div><div>
</div><div>“This is how the primary forests of Esmeraldas were cut down,” says Walter Palacios, a forest engineer and associate researcher at the National Institute of Biodiversity (Inabio). He explains that the primary forests of northwestern Ecuador are home to around 4,000 species of plants, and says many may have disappeared due to habitat loss without biologists ever knowing them.</div><div>
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</div><div>Oil palm plantations in San Lorenzo, Ecuador. Photo by Eduardo Rebolledo.]</div><div>
</div><div>The region’s protected areas preserve what has been lost to agriculture elsewhere: reserves, rich in orchids and giant ferns, extend to the paramos of the Ecuadorian highlands, providing vital habitat for a multitude of species including<b> jaguars and ocelots</b>. A microcosm of the biodiversity of the Chocó-Darién can be seen in just one of its massive trees. A Sande tree, for example, can be covered by as many as 60 species of ferns, orchids and other plants, its fruit important food for birds and insects.</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">According to Walter Palacios, when the palm plantations first appeared in the area, the secondary forests that had regenerated after the mass clearing of the 1960s were cleared once again.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“A secondary forest no longer has the same species density, it has less wildlife,” Palacios said. “However, it is better to preserve them than to turn them into monocultures.</span>”</div><div>
</div><div>Of the region’s remaining primary forest, Palacios says he hopes that the government spares these areas from the expansion of the agricultural frontier.</div><div>
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</div><div>Oil palm crops near the town of San Lorenzo. Photo by Eduardo Rebolledo.]</div><div>
</div><div>Residents say conversion of forest to plantations has affected their lives.</div><div>
</div><div>“I used to make with my mother wicker baskets out of Piquigua – an endemic plant,” Martha Valencia said. “We used the baskets to transport fish, or the meat of guanta, deer and other animals that we hunted. The forest and the river gave us everything, now we have to go to San Lorenzo to buy the food that was taken from us.”</div><div>
</div><div>Residents like Valencia say they know everything they had before will not return in their lifetimes, but that they should still be able to expect clean water. “That is why we need the reparations promised by the ruling,” says Wilberto Valencia, another community member.</div><div>
</div><div>The current Minister of Environment in Ecuador is Raúl Ledesma, who assumed the position four months ago. In an appearance before the National Assembly, together with the affected community members, Ledesma offered to further investigate the situation in La Chiquita to verify the damage that Wilberto Valencia and others say is affecting their ability to live. At that same meeting, Ledesma said he was aware that Energy Palma is breaking environmental standards.</div><div>
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</div><div>Inhabitants of La Chiquita are fighting against the pollution of their water sources. Photo by David Silva.]</div><div>
</div><div>What does the future hold?</div><div>Large-scale plantations aren’t the only places where oil palm is grown in Ecuador, and advocates of the crop say stricter regulations on its cultivation could hurt small farmers.</div><div>
</div><div>“If there are infractions, justice must act,” says Wilfredo Acosta, executive director of the National Association of Palm Oil Growers (Ancupa). “But 89% are small producers and for us, it is an agricultural activity, like any other, that encourages the development of the country.”</div><div>
</div><div><b>In recent years oil palm crops have been beset with “bud rot.” As of October 2019, the fungal disease had wiped out 15,000 hectares (37,065 acres) o</b>f plantations, according to Acosta. His proposed solution: support farmers with credits and provide, through the Ministry of Agriculture, new seeds that are resistant to this disease.</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Assemblyman Lenin Plaza, a native of Esmeraldas and president of the Committee on Food Sovereignty, together with Ancupa, is promoting a bill in the National Assembly, which has already passed the first debate. One of its objectives is to double palm oil yields for biofuel production, but Plaza says that does not necessarily mean expanding the agricultural frontier with new plantations. “This will depend on the country’s demand,” Plasa said. “The important thing now is to help the producers.”</span></div><div>
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</div><div>Assemblyman Lenin Plaza has proposed a law to increase palm oil production. He says it is necessary to help small producers. Photo by Cecilia Puebla.]</div><div>Acosta says oil palm expansion could take advantage of underutilized land once used for agriculture but which has since been abandoned.</div><div>
</div><div>“It’s not necessary to expand, it’s about optimizing crops,” Acosta said. “With that, we take the pressure off the forests.”</div><div>
</div><div><b>However, even if the majority of producers may be small, environmental organizations say large companies control around 80% of land used for oil palm cultivation.</b></div><div>
</div><div>“The big companies are the ones that benefit,” said Nathalia Bonilla of Ecological Action. “What they say about small producers is just a story. [Oil] palm is an activity that uses chemicals that seep into the earth [and] needs large areas, and working conditions are precarious.”</div><div>
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</div><div>This story was first reported by Mongabay’s Latam team and published here on our Latam site on October 7, 2019.</div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/20/magazine/palm-oil-borneo-climate-catastrophe.html</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The remains of an Indonesian rain forest that was cleared to make way for oil palms.</font></font></font></div><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">]</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Palm Oil Was Supposed to Help Save the Planet. Instead It Unleashed a Catastrophe.</b></font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">A decade ago, the U.S. mandated the use of vegetable oil in biofuels, leading to industrial-scale deforestation — and a huge spike in carbon emissions.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The remains of an Indonesian rain forest that was cleared to make way for oil palms.Credit...Ashley Gilbertson/VII, for The New York Times</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">By Abrahm Lustgarten</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Nov. 20, 2018</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This article is a partnership between ProPublica, where Abrahm Lustgarten is a senior reporter, and The New York Times Magazine.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The fields outside Kotawaringin village in Central Kalimantan, on the island of Borneo, looked as if they had just been cleared by armies. None of the old growth remained — only charred stumps poking up from murky, dark pools of water. In places, smoke still curled from land that days ago had been covered with lush jungle. Villagers had burned it all down, clearing the way for a lucrative crop whose cultivation now dominates the entire island: the oil-palm tree.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The dirt road was ruler straight, but deep holes and errant boulders tossed our tiny Toyota back and forth. Trucks coughed out black smoke, their beds brimming over with seven-ton loads of palm fruit rocking back and forth on tires as tall as people. Clear-cut expanses soon gave way to a uniform crop of oil-palm groves: orderly trees, a sign that we had crossed into an industrial palm plantation. Oil-palm trees look like the coconut-palm trees you see on postcards from Florida — they grow to more than 60 feet tall and flourish on the peaty wetland soil common in lowland tropics. But they are significantly more valuable. Every two weeks or so, each tree produces a 50-pound bunch of walnut-size fruit, bursting with a red, viscous oil that is more versatile than almost any other plant-based oil of its kind. Indonesia is rich in timber and coal, but palm oil is its biggest export. Around the world, the oil from its meat and seeds has long been an indispensable ingredient in everything from soap to ice cream. But it has now become a key ingredient of something else: biodiesel, fuel for diesel engines that has been wholly or partly made from vegetable oil.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Finally we emerged, and as we crested a hill, the plantations fell into an endless repetition of tidy bunches stretching for miles, looking almost like the rag of a Berber carpet. Occasionally, a shard of an old ironwood tree shot into the air, a remnant of the primordial canopy of dense rain forest that dominated the land until very recently.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Our driver, a 44-year-old island native and whistle-blower named Gusti Gelambong, had brought us here to show us the incredible destruction wrought by the growing demand for palm oil. The oldest male among nine siblings, he was modestly built but exuded a wiry strength. His father, he told us, was a king of one of Borneo’s dozens of Dayak tribes, the sixth descendant of the sultan of Old Kotawaringin, and his mother came from a line of warriors who served in the Indonesian special forces. In 2001, he said, he took part in a brutal ethnic cleansing of Indonesians who had moved in from the nearby island of Madura. He macheted his way through the nearby town of Pangkalan Bun, slaughtering dozens of people. He felt no remorse about the violence. But the palm-oil companies, Gelambong said, were much stronger than the Madurese. As we approached an intersection, we could see two plantation guards lying back in a shack, rifles propped against their knees. He sped past the guards, averting his eyes.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Most of the plantations around us were new, their rise a direct consequence of policy decisions made half a world away. In the mid-2000s, Western nations, led by the United States, began drafting environmental laws that encouraged the use of vegetable oil in fuels — an ambitious move to reduce carbon dioxide and curb global warming. But these laws were drawn up based on an incomplete accounting of the true environmental costs. Despite warnings that the policies could have the opposite of their intended effect, they were implemented anyway, producing what now appears to be a calamity with global consequences.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The tropical rain forests of Indonesia, and in particular the peatland regions of Borneo, have large amounts of carbon trapped within their trees and soil. Slashing and burning the existing forests to make way for oil-palm cultivation had a perverse effect: It released more carbon. A lot more carbon. NASA researchers say the accelerated destruction of Borneo’s forests contributed to the largest single-year global increase in carbon emissions in two millenniums, an explosion that transformed Indonesia into the world’s fourth-largest source of such emissions. Instead of creating a clever technocratic fix to reduce American’s carbon footprint, lawmakers had lit the fuse on a powerful carbon bomb that, as the forests were cleared and burned, produced more carbon than the entire continent of Europe. The unprecedented palm-oil boom, meanwhile, has enriched and emboldened many of the region’s largest corporations, which have begun using their newfound power and wealth to suppress critics, abuse workers and acquire more land to produce oil.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ImageA worker on an oil-palm plantation on Borneo.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A worker on an oil-palm plantation on Borneo.Credit...Ashley Gilbertson/VII, for The New York Times]</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">We arrived at another plantation and stopped near where a stream coursed through the bog. People still lived here: A mother bathed two children beneath a culvert, and a shirtless young boy ran through row after row of identical young palms in the distance, surrounded by dragonflies and sparrows. The uniformity of the world he was growing up in was striking, like the endless plains of drilling rigs in an East Texas oil field. It was, in a way, an astounding achievement, the ruthless culmination of mankind’s long effort to extract every last remaining bit of the earth’s seemingly boundless natural wealth. But it was also frightening. This was what an American effort to save the planet looked like. It was startlingly efficient, extremely profitable and utterly disastrous.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">2. ‘Oh, My God, What the Hell Is Happening Here?’</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The last thing anyone expected from President George W. Bush’s 2007 State of the Union address was a proposal for the largest-ever cut in the nation’s use of gasoline. The president was no climate champion — he had backed out of the Kyoto Protocol shortly after taking office in 2001 — but he did favor what he called “energy independence.” He had declared the United States “addicted” to foreign oil, yet dependence on Middle Eastern fuel continued. Hurricane Katrina, and the lingering damage it did to oil pipelines and refineries, had pushed up gas prices, renewed fears of global warming and kept a firm thumb on the economy.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">Now, Bush proposed, homegrown energy could be drawn from the rural places most in need of an economic boost. Clean-coal initiatives would generate the electricity of the future, but it was biofuels — in particular ethanol, which is largely distilled from corn, and biodiesel, made with vegetable oil — that would power the vehicles of the future.</span> Within 10 years, the country would replace 35 billion gallons of petroleum, or one-fifth of all the gas and diesel burned, with fuel made from plants. The measure, as he put it, would confront “the serious challenge of global climate change.” Unsaid, but clear to anyone paying attention, was that it would also please America’s agriculture industry, which had been lobbying for ethanol and advanced biofuel research for years. The House chamber erupted in applause.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">On the night of the president’s address, Timothy Searchinger sat on his couch in Takoma Park, Md., just a few miles from the Capitol, and watched on television, struck by what seemed to him a glaring lapse in logic. “Oh, my God, what the hell is happening here?” he recalls wondering aloud.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Searchinger wasn’t a scientist; he was a lawyer, working with the Environmental Defense Fund. But he saw a serious flaw in the claim that the president’s proposal would ameliorate climate change. Searchinger knew that cropland had already consumed virtually every arable acre across the Midwest. Quintupling biofuel production would require a huge amount of additional arable land, far more than existed in the United States. Unless Americans planned to eat less, that meant displacing food production to some other country with unused land — and he knew that when forests are cut, or new land is opened for farming, substantial new amounts of carbon can be released into the atmosphere. Forests hold as much as 45 percent of the planet’s carbon stored on land, and old-growth trees in particular hold a great deal of that carbon, typically far more than any of the crops that replace them. When the trees are cut down, most of that carbon is released.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Scientists and lawyers who study environmental impact often deploy “carbon-life-cycle analysis” to determine just how much carbon a given product is removing from, or introducing to, the environment over the course of its production and consumption. When a truck burns biodiesel, the carbon emissions that come from its tailpipe aren’t much different from those of a truck burning petroleum. But a part of the biodiesel emissions aren’t counted, because — in theory — they have been balanced out: Plants absorb carbon from the atmosphere when they grow, and fuel experts subtract that sequestered carbon from the tailpipe emission, completing a transaction that they say balances at zero.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In ideal circumstances — unvegetated land planted for the first time — this balancing out really happens. When corn grows, it soaks up carbon, and when it is consumed (whether as food or fuel), it releases that carbon back into the air. But the analysis breaks down when faced with the reality of land use. Almost everywhere in the world, planting more corn or soy for biofuel would involve creating more farmland, which in turn would involve cutting down whatever was already growing on that land. And that would mean releasing a huge amount of carbon into the air, with nothing to balance the books. As Searchinger watched Bush’s call for an unprecedented increase in biofuel production, his hunch was that the biofuel balance sheet would turn out to be tragically shortsighted.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>Representative Henry A. Waxman, at the time a powerful 16-term Democrat from California who had presided over several failed efforts to pass climate legislation, was also skeptical about Bush’s plan.</b> But he knew that one of the most vexing aspects of global emissions reduction was the question of how to replace transportation fuels. It was hard enough to upgrade several thousand electrical power plants to draw on wind or solar or even nuclear power. That would take years. But transforming the more than 100 million cars and trucks on America’s roads would take far longer, decades even, and in the meantime those vehicles were producing 28 percent of carbon emissions in the United States. Waxman thought a biofuel requirement could be a turning point in climate legislation, a moment when Washington stopped pretending.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Within months of Bush’s speech, the House and the Senate were reconciling a draft of a sprawling omnibus bill that would eventually be called the Energy Independence and Security Act, or EISA. In addition to requiring carmakers to improve fuel standards, a longtime priority for Democrats, the bill updated and expanded renewable-fuel standards, requiring fuel producers to mix in soy, palm and other kinds of vegetable oil with diesel fuel and to use ethanol from corn and sugar in gasoline. The bill also set tough standards for how much cleaner, in terms of carbon, each of those categories of fuel had to become — 50 percent for diesel, 20 percent for gas — and empowered the Environmental Protection Agency to judge what qualified.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The expected gains were enormous. The switch to biofuels, the E.P.A. would later calculate, promised to stop the release of 4.5 billion tons of carbon over three decades, the equivalent of parking every single American automobile for more than seven years. Before the bill passed in December 2007, Speaker Nancy Pelosi called it “the shot heard round the world for energy independence.”</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The law had a profound effect. Biodiesel production in the United States would jump from 250 million gallons in 2006 to more than 1.5 billion gallons in 2016. Imports of biodiesel to the United States surged from near zero to more than 100 million gallons a month.</b> A<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">s fuel markets snatched up every ounce of domestic soy oil to meet the American fuel mandate, the food industry also replaced the soy it had used with something cheaper and just as good: palm oil, largely from Malaysia and Indonesia, which are the sources of nearly 90 percent of the global supply.</span><b> Lawmakers never anticipated that their well-intentioned plan — to help the climate by helping American farmers — might instead transform Indonesia and present one of the greatest threats to the planet’s tropical rain forests. But as Indonesian palm oil began to flood Western markets, that is exactly what began to happen.</b></font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“We saw great promise,” Waxman told me recently, sitting in a glass conference room at Waxman Strategies, the Washington lobbying firm of which he is chairman. But he is no longer so hopeful. He is now also the chairman of the environmental organization Mighty Earth, which lobbies food and agriculture companies to deploy more climate-friendly production methods. In 2007, he and other lawmakers were focused on the benefits of biofuels and the bridge they promised to even greener technologies. Now the soft-spoken Waxman is far more concerned about the other side of the equation. “<b>We didn’t think we were going to pay such a heavy price,” he said.</b></font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">3. ‘No One Fights for Their Rights’</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Palm-oil producers had been lobbying American lawmakers to introduce biofuel incentives for years, and they were well prepared for the moment when the incentives became law. Wilmar — the colossal Singaporean conglomerate that controls nearly half of the global palm-oil trade — announced in 2007 that it would quadruple its biodiesel production. In Indonesia, officials directed state-owned and regional banks to make loans on more than $8 billion worth of palm-oil-related development projects and pledged to produce 5.9 billion gallons of biofuel within five years. They also announced that Indonesia would convert more than 13 million acres of additional forest to industrialized palm production. It was as if in response to a law in China, the United States undertook a plan to convert every single acre of New Jersey to soybean crops, and then threw in all of Connecticut and New Hampshire</font><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">....</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">loe pri npr</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">https://www.pri.org/stories/2016-01-01/saving-planet-depends-saving-its-tropical-forests-can-we-do-it</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Saving the world’s tropical forests was a central element of the climate change agreement that emerged from COP21 in Paris. Delegates from all nations seem to have finally reached consensus on one point: Saving the planet from climate catastrophe is not achievable without also saving the Earth’s tropical forests.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">One way of accomplishing this that has been around for a decade is the UN-REDD program.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>As a tool for mitigating climate change, REDD has been called “the ultimate way to have our cake and eat it, too.</b>” Saving tropical forests has the potential to remove or reduce about one-third of the world’s carbon emissions — buying time for the world to transfer away from fossil-fuel based economies, maintaining much of the world’s biodiversity and empowering local indigenous cultures.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Up to now, unfortunately, REDD’s implementation has fallen far short of its goals.</b></font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">REDD stands for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation. The UN describes the program this way:</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“It is an effort to create a financial value for the carbon stored in forests, offering incentives for developing countries to reduce emissions from forested lands and invest in low-carbon paths to sustainable development. REDD+ goes beyond deforestation and forest degradation, and includes the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks.”</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>New research shows that the tropics could theoretically save a whopping four to six gigatons of carbon a year if deforestation is halted and the trees are allowed to grow back</b>, according to Richard Houghton of the Woods Hole Research Center.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“[That] is enough to stabilize the concentration of carbon dioxide now and keep it stable as we come off of fossil fuels,” Houghton says.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>But to make such sharp carbon cuts, the world would need to end its current business-as-usual practices almost immediately — that is, stop cutting and burning virgin forests, begin to restore them and drastically reduce the logging of plantation trees that are used for pulp and paper, Houghton says.</b></font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The main challenge to making REDD work is finding a way to reduce deforestation while at the same time promoting social and economic development, says Mariano Cenamo of the Institute for Conservation and Sustainable Development of the Amazon.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“As we know, the main driver of deforestation in most of these regions comes from the need for economic development — from agriculture, cattle ranching, mining and illegal logging,” Cenamo said. “To substitute another land use for these activities that generate revenue, we need investments, we need funds and we need financial support.”</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>About 20 percent of the world’s tropical forests are in indigenous territories, and many of these lands have changed little in hundreds if not thousands of years</b>. The local communities are now developing and farming, but courts seldom grant indigenous people title to their lands. The REDD discussion has brought some clarity to this issue.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 51);">In 2013, the constitutional court of Indonesia ruled that customary land rights must be ceded back to <b>local indigenous communities. “That is a mind-boggling decision,” says Dan Nepstad, a tropical biologist and REDD expert who heads the Earth Innovation Institute in San Francisco. “It has to be implemented, and that’s a big step — but the context for that was the REDD debate.”</b></font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But, as is so often the case, the human drive for short-term gain — in Indonesia, mostly in the form of rapidly growing palm oil forests that destroy millions of acres of tropical forest — continues to trump the planet’s need for long-term planning.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">“I think there is nothing wrong with REDD, if the implementation puts indigenous peoples' rights as a precondition,” says Abdon<b> Nababan of Indonesia, secretary general of Indigenous Peoples' Alliance of the Archipelago. </b>“We have the same goals with REDD+ — to reduce deforestation and forest degradation. But if they put REDD into the hands of corporations, it will colonize our territory.”</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>
</b></font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Even after the constitutional court’s ruling, ownership of most of Indonesia’s forests is held by corporations that want to dry the nation’s rainforests and peat lands to create plantations for palm oil — and these industries are fiercely opposed to any change in support of indigenous peoples' rights, </b>Nabadan says.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The agreement at COP 21 showed a new determination to use nature’s own best method of saving the Earth from the worst effects of climate change. But now, as the time for implementation is at hand, it’s still uncertain whether this time around humanity can make the difficult changes needed to do it.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">https://www.<b>nationalgeo</b>graphic.com/magazine/<b>2018/</b>12/palm-oil-products-borneo-africa-environment-impact/</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx pix</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Palm oil is unavoidable. Can it be sustainable?</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Our appetite for the oil hurts the environment and wildlife. But Gabon hopes to show how to build an industry while protecting its forests.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">MALAYSIA</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Bunches of oil palm fruit harvested by hand are trucked to a mill for processing in mainland Malaysia. Oil palms yield more oil per acre than do other crops. But soaring demand for the… Read More</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">PHOTOGRAPH BY PASCAL MAITRE</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">15 MINUTE READ</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">BY HILLARY ROSNER</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">PHOTOGRAPHS BY DAVID GUTTENFELDER AND PASCAL MAITRE</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This story appears in the December 2018 issue of National Geographic magazine.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Picture of workers at a mill in the Democratic Republic of the Congo move palm fruit from a steamer</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Workers at a mill in the Democratic Republic of the Congo move palm fruit from a steamer that has softened it up for pressing. The oil palm tree, Elaeis guineensis, is native to West and central Africa, and commercial plantations are now expanding in the region. If a full-scale boom developed, it could encroach on crucial habitat for great apes, forest elephants, and other threatened species.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">PHOTOGRAPH BY PASCAL MAITRE</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Picture of part of the forest growing on peatland burned to clear the land for oil palms</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">INDONESIA</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In 2015 this forest growing on peatland on the island of Borneo was burned to clear the land for oil palms. Air pollution from fires in Indonesia that year—some natural, some not—contributed to at least 12,000 premature deaths. Nearly half of Indonesia’s greenhouse gas emissions come from cutting or burning forests, including those on carbon-rich peatlands.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">PHOTOGRAPH BY KEMAL JUFRI</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In southwestern Gabon, the old-growth forest stretches hundreds of miles. One January morning I disembark from a narrow boat on the shore of the Ngounié River with a few employees of Olam, a Singapore-based agribusiness company. Following elephant tracks, we plunge into the forest. We pass towering, ancient trees, chimpanzee nests, piles of day-old gorilla dung. Monkeys scamper overhead. A young Olam ranger yanks off his boots and climbs barefoot up a trunk, returning with handfuls of pink, plumlike fruits.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Wandering farther we find wild mangoes, kola nuts, bark that smells of garlic. At a sun-dappled clearing, fish splash in a watering hole. The trees around it have been scratched by elephant tusks.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">To stand here in the slanting sunlight and imagine all this being razed is heart-stopping.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The place is not a park or a preserve but part of the Mouila oil palm plantation, operated by Olam. If it were in Indonesia or Malaysia—the world’s two largest suppliers of palm oil—loggers and bulldozers might be closing in to clear the jungle for uniform rows of oil palm trees.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Picture of hands separating the fruit fibers from yellow oily mix</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">BENIN</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Palm oil is an ancient staple in West Africa, and its origins are artisanal rather than industrial. In Benin most palm oil is still produced by women for domestic use. The fruit is boiled and pounded to extract oil from the pulp. Here a woman separates the fruit fibers and shells from the oily mix, which will be boiled again to clarify the oil.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">PHOTOGRAPH BY PASCAL MAITRE</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Oil palms, with giant bunches of red fruit growing beneath unruly fronds, are an ancient staple crop. For millennia humans have boiled and pounded their fruit to extract cooking oil, burned their seed-kernel shells for heat, and woven their leaves into everything from roofs to baskets. Over the past few decades, however, palm oil use has exploded—in part because of the versatility and creamy texture of the oil (think Oreo filling) and in part because of the productivity of the trees. They require only half as much land as other crops, such as soybeans, to generate a given amount of oil.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Palm oil is now the world’s most popular vegetable oil, accounting for one-third of global consumption. It’s a common cooking oil in India and some other countries. As an ingredient, it has become difficult to avoid almost everywhere. It’s in all manner of supermarket items: cookies, pizza dough, bread, lipstick, lotion, soap. It’s even in supposedly eco-friendly biodiesel: In 2017, 51 percent of the European Union’s palm oil consumption was to power cars and trucks.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">TREE OF PLENTY</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The abundant oil from the fruit of oil palms can be found under different ingredient names in everything from cookies to soap to lipstick. A natural alternative to trans fats, it has many other advantages: It’s cheap to produce, stable in processing, and slow to smoke—plus it has a long shelf life.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The palm fruit</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The African oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) is native to Africa but has been introduced all over the world. The tree is an oil-producing machine with some 20 fruit bunches, found at the top of its trunk, each containing up to 3,000 palm fruits.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">GLYCEROLYSIS – Chemical bonds broken with glycerol to keep oil from separating from water</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">INTERESTERIFICATION (IE) – Fatty acids rearranged to change melting point</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">DISTILLATION – Oil heated and cooled to extract fatty acids</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">FRACTIONATION – Oil separated into liquids (oleins) and solids (stearins)</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Processing palm</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The flesh of the palm fruit and the kernel (once crushed) both produce oil. After refining, the different oils are modified into varying products.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">REFINING – Impurities removed from oil</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">CRUSHING – Kernel cracked to remove shell and then crushed and pressed</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">MILLING – Palm fruit steamed and pressed to separate oil from kernel and fibers</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">JASON TREAT AND RYAN T. WILLIAMS, NGM STAFF</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ART: GABY D’ALESSANDRO. SOURCE: MALAYSIAN PALM OIL BOARD</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">*RBD REFERS TO REFINED, BLEACHED, AND DEODORIZED OIL.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Quiz: How much do you depend on palm oil?</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Worldwide, demand for palm oil continues to rise. India uses the most, 17 percent of the global total, followed by Indonesia, the EU, and China. The United States currently ranks eighth. In 2018 global consumption is expected to reach 72 million tons, or roughly 20 pounds of palm oil per person.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Supplying that demand has taken a huge toll. Since 1973, nearly 16,000 square miles of rain forest on Borneo, the island shared by Malaysia and Indonesia, have been logged, burned, and bulldozed to make way for oil palm. It accounts for a fifth of the total deforestation on Borneo since 1973—and for 47 percent since 2000.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Picture of recent clearance of primary forest and new plantation of oil palm</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">INDONESIA</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Indonesia’s palm oil frontier is on the island of New Guinea; forests and peatlands on Borneo and Sumatra already have been logged extensively and burned to make way for oil palm plantations. According to Greenpeace, some of this new plantation in Papua Province violates an Indonesian moratorium on clearing peatland.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">PHOTOGRAPH BY ULET IFANSASTI, GREENPEACE</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Picture of man walking orangutan by hand to release it onto protected island</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">INDONESIA</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Workers from the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation release an orangutan onto a protected island. Raised at the Nyaru Menteng sanctuary after losing its jungle home, the ape is being rehabilitated so it can be returned to the rain forest—if a large enough patch can be found. Deforestation and hunting killed nearly 150,000 Bornean orangutans from 1999 to 2015.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">PHOTOGRAPH BY ULET IFANSASTI</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">All that deforestation has been devastating for wildlife. Nearly 150,000 critically endangered Bornean orangutans perished from 1999 to 2015, and although the main culprits were logging and hunting, palm oil was a major factor. It also exacerbates climate change—nearly half of Indonesia’s greenhouse gas emissions come from deforestation and other land-use changes—as well as acute air pollution. The haze from Indonesian forest fires, many deliberately set to clear land for oil palms, caused at least 12,000 premature deaths in 2015 alone.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">People in the path of plantations have suffered in other ways. Human rights abuses such as child labor and forced evictions have been well documented. On the Indonesian island of Sumatra, palm oil companies have sometimes bulldozed entire indigenous villages, leaving their residents homeless and reliant on government handouts.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">That kind of shortsighted ecological rampaging is precisely what Gabon is trying to avoid. The Eden I visited will not be razed: Olam has protected it as part of an agreement with the government that allows the company to grow oil palms elsewhere on its concession.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“What we’re trying to do in Gabon is find a new development path where we don’t cut all our forest down but keep a balance between oil palm, agriculture, and forest preservation,” says Lee White, the conservation biologist who runs Gabon’s parks agency. As the nation of fewer than two million people embarks on industrial-scale agriculture, the government is using scientific assessments to decide which parts of its expansive forests have high conservation value and which can be opened to oil palms.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In Africa as in Southeast Asia, the crop is here to stay. Producing countries depend on the income. Boycotting palm oil is unwise: Alternative oil crops would swallow even more land. It’s also futile, because palm oil is so pervasive and so often processed into ingredients, such as sodium lauryl sulfate and stearic acid, whose origins are opaque to consumers. We’re not likely to cut palm oil consumption radically. The only way forward is to make its production less bad.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Picture of worker harvesting palm fruit from very tall trees at an old plantation</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">MALAYSIA</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A worker harvests palm fruit on a plantation in Sarawak, one of two Malaysian states on the island of Borneo. These mature trees are about 25 years old, which means they will soon be cut down and replaced. Oil palm trees produce less fruit as they age, and taller trees are more difficult to harvest.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">PHOTOGRAPH BY PASCAL MAITRE</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Indonesia and Malaysia are now the epicenter of palm oil, but the oil palm tree, Elaeis guineensis, is not native to Asia. It comes from West and central Africa, where archaeologists have found 3,000-year-old palm nuts buried in streambeds deep in the forest. Throughout the 1800s, British traders imported African palm oil, using it for a growing number of products, from soap to margarine to candles. Once scientists discovered how to isolate glycerin from the oil, its applications multiplied: pharmaceuticals, photographic film, perfume, even dynamite.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">By the turn of the 20th century, oil palms had been shipped to Indonesia, and commercial plantations had taken hold. In the late 1930s they covered just 250,000 acres. Over the next half century or so, agricultural breakthroughs—breeding trees resistant to a common pathogen, introducing an African weevil for pollination—led to greater yields and a flourishing investment in oil palms.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Still, as recently as the 1970s, three-quarters of Borneo was covered in lush rain forests. But as global demand for palm oil grew, companies racing to supply it burned and bulldozed some of those forests. Health concerns over trans fats fueled the boom—palm oil replaced trans fats in many products—as did rising demand for biodiesel. By the early 2000s, the boom was in full swing, and thousands of square miles of lowland forests and peatlands across Borneo were planted with oil palms.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Hot Commodity</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Oil palms grow best in the steamy tropics, where rainfall and sunshine are abundant. Most of the world’s palm oil comes from Southeast Asia, but production is rapidly expanding in Africa, the trees’ original home.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">60</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ASIA</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">85% of palm</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">oil is produced in Indonesia and Malaysia.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Palm oil production by country</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">in millions of</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">metric tons</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">40</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">MALAYSIA</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">MALAYSIA</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Indonesia</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">AFRICA</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">INDONESIA</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">INDONESIA</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Borneo</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Borneo</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">GABON</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">GABON</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">20</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Malaysia</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Rest of world</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">1970</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">1980</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">1990</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">2000</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">2010</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">2017</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Gabon’s future</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Little of Gabon’s land is planted with oil palms. But as it looks to diversify its economy beyond petroleum, Gabon is exploring how to embrace the cash crop sustainably.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Borneo today</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Industrial oil palm plantations have caused 47 percent</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">of the deforestation on the island since 2000. Some</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">877,000 acres are currently lost each year.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Over 32,000 square miles, an area about the size of South Carolina, have been planted</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">with oil palms.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Oil palm suitability</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Libreville</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">BRUNEI</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">BRUNEI</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">High</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Libreville</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Awala oil mill</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">and plantation</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Low</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">BORNEO</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">BORNEO</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Unsuitable</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Mouila oil mill and plantation</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Industrial oil palm plantations</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">MATTHEW W. CHWASTYK AND RYAN T. WILLIAMS, NGM STAFF</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">SOURCES: USDA; DAVID L.A. GAVEAU AND OTHERS, BORNEO ATLAS, CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL FORESTRY RESEARCH; JOHANNES PIRKER AND OTHERS, INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR APPLIED SYSTEMS ANALYSIS</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Deforestation in Borneo</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Forest</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Industrial plantation</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Reservoir created by hydroelectric dam</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">NGM STAFF</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">SOURCE: DAVID L.A. GAVEAU AND OTHERS, BORNEO ATLAS, CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL FORESTRY RESEARCH</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">By then, pressure from international conservation groups over deforestation was growing, and WWF teamed with some of the biggest palm oil producers and buyers to begin creating standards for producing palm oil more responsibly. Plantations certified by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) can’t clear “primary forests or areas which contain significant concentrations of biodiversity (e.g. endangered species) or fragile ecosystems.” They must minimize erosion and protect water sources. They must pay a minimum wage and get “free, prior, and informed consent” from local communities.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Today the RSPO certifies roughly one-fifth of the global supply. Many consumer goods manufacturers that rely on palm oil—Unilever, Nestlé, Procter & Gamble—have pledged to switch their supply chains exclusively to certified palm oil over the next few years. That’s a big step forward. But it’s not enough.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">What’s essential and still mostly lacking is government intervention in producing countries. “We in the conservation community were vastly overoptimistic in thinking that market-based solutions alone could solve this,” says John Buchanan, who runs the sustainable food and agriculture markets program at Conservation International. “If the government isn’t on board or doesn’t have the capacity or doesn’t know what it’s doing,” he says, the rain forest still takes a hit.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Picture of aerial view of Oil Mill at Suai SPO </font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">MALAYSIA</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A fifth of Malaysia’s crude palm oil is now produced in the state of Sarawak, where this mill is located. Malaysia recently mandated that all mills, plantations, and small growers must have their palm oil operations certified as sustainable by the end of 2019.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">PHOTOGRAPH BY PASCAL MAITRE</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">On a sticky afternoon near the northeastern tip of Borneo, small groups of elephants graze by a murky river. As the sun drops toward the treetops, the groups converge at a muddy riverbank. Soon more than 50 elephants are swimming in an orderly line across the wide, fast-moving Kinabatangan River, bobbing their giant heads and spraying water out their trunks.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Kinabatangan is among the easiest places to see wildlife in Sabah, the Malaysian state that occupies northern Borneo. From boats on the river, tourists can view rare and iconic species—Borneo pygmy elephants, proboscis monkeys, rhinoceros hornbills, even orangutans—without getting their boots dirty.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It’s a thrill to watch these animals in the open. But the reason they’re so visible is that they have nowhere else to go. For endless, sprawling miles around the river, the forest has been obliterated and replaced by oil palms. You can drive for hours, passing a parade of tanker trucks carrying palm oil, and barely see another species of tree.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In Sabah in the 1970s, the government turned to agriculture to address its decades-long overdependence on timber. It earmarked large swaths of fertile flatland in lowland forests, including the Kinabatangan region, for growing crops. “The assumption was that all the best soil should be allocated for agriculture,” says John Payne, a conservation biologist who has lived in Sabah since 1979.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Picture of excavator grabing palm-fruit bunches to load onto a conveyor belt</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">MALAYSIA</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">An excavator grabs palm-fruit bunches to load onto a conveyor belt, which will take them to a steamer. Palm oil production is far more mechanized in Asia than in Africa. This Malaysian mill, in Perak state, can process 44 tons of fruit an hour, which will yield 2.2 tons of crude palm oil. It runs 24 hours a day.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">PHOTOGRAPH BY PASCAL MAITRE</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Through the 1980s, Sabah’s agricultural land was largely devoted to cocoa. But when falling world prices and a pest called the cocoa-pod borer made the crop less profitable, most plantations switched to oil palms. Land was cheap, so companies from the Malaysian mainland began snapping it up, building mills and other infrastructure. That made it easier for growers to get their fruit to market—and large-scale forest clearing began in earnest. Today one-fifth of the state is covered in oil palms. Sabah produces more than 7 percent of the world’s palm oil.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The ecological cost has been astonishing. Many remaining forest fragments are disconnected from one another—islands of jungle that look intact but are largely empty of animal life. “What used to house the highest density of orangutans is now oil palm,” Payne says.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Amid all the loss, it can be hard to find hope. But in Sabah, a group of scientists, activists, RSPO members, and government officials is trying to right past wrongs. Payne now runs the Palm Oil & NGO (PONGO) Alliance, an industry-NGO coalition that aims to convert 5 percent of the biggest plantations on Borneo back to forest for orangutans. (Pongo is the ape’s genus name.) Hutan, the conservation organization that took me up the Kinabatangan, has over the past decade planted more than 100,000 trees of 38 species, trying to preserve a corridor for wildlife along the river.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And at the helm of the state’s forestry department until recently was Sam Mannan, the chief conservator of forests. Under his leadership Sabah expanded its protected lands over the past decade from 12 to 26 percent of the state—more than 7,000 square miles. Mannan’s goal was to increase that to 30 percent by 2025, linking up parks, wildlife reserves, and other blocks of state-owned forest with replanted corridors for animals to move through.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A gregarious man with a devilish streak—he once joked at a press conference that rhinos were going extinct because “they’re stupid”—Mannan believed in collaborating with palm oil producers. “Without oil palm, conservation in Sabah would be in trouble,” Mannan told me in his office in the seaside city of Sandakan, once the island’s timber capital. Only petroleum contributes more revenue to Sabah’s government than the oil palm industry. “The money is going back to conservation,” Mannan said.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">You could argue, I pointed out, that without oil palms you wouldn’t need as much money for conservation.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“You could argue that way,” Mannan said, “but you would be poor.”</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The palm oil boom has helped bring clear economic benefits to Sabah: paved roads, better schools, satellite television. In Kota Kinabalu, the state’s capital, gleaming new shopping malls feature Western and Asian luxury brands.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This past August, Mannan was terminated by Sabah’s new government, which had launched an investigation into possibly illegal logging deals made by the previous administration. Mannan had managed to annoy those on both sides of the palm oil debate in Malaysia during his nearly two-decade tenure. But many environmentalists had considered him a restraint on the industry—a “visionary, bold, and effective” government leader, Payne says.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">GABON</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Singapore-based agribusiness giant Olam has opened two new oil palm plantations, each with its own mill, in this west-central African country. Three-quarters of Gabon is covered in forest, and commercial agriculture is close to nonexistent. The government wants to develop that sector with crops such as oil palms— but without doing the kind of environmental damage that was done in Southeast Asia.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">PHOTOGRAPH BY DAVID GUTTENFELDER</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Ultimately, says RSPO CEO Darrel Webber, a Sabah native, the culture of the palm oil industry must change. With Mannan’s backing, Webber and a Malaysian activist, Cynthia Ong, launched an ambitious effort to do that in Sabah. Their goal is to teach everyone from smallholders with just a few acres to high-flying CEOs how and why to do palm oil better—and then to certify the state’s entire supply as sustainable.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“As demand increases and Sabah wants to supply that, we have to put some lines in the sand,” Ong says.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The state hopes to be certified as a whole by 2025, though exactly how is still a question. “We’re building the plane while flying it,” Ong says. Wild Asia, a Malaysian nonprofit, is organizing hundreds of smallholders in the Kinabatangan and other regions into groups that can be certified together and sell palm fruit to a certified mill. Nestlé, a large palm oil consumer that doesn’t own plantations itself, is helping to fund the project. Farmers get a better price; RSPO members such as Nestlé get a way to trace their oil. “We want to link this to the supply chain,” says Kertijah Abdul Kadir of Nestlé.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Since 2011 she also has overseen the planting of some 700,000 trees along the Kinabatangan River, covering more than 6,000 acres. Elsewhere in Sabah, Wilmar, the world’s largest palm oil supplier and another RSPO member, is replanting forests to protect watersheds and create wildlife corridors. Reforestation is labor-intensive, expensive, and slow—several lifetimes of waiting won’t produce anything resembling an old-growth rain forest. But it’s a start.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Critics of the RSPO complain that working with companies that caused the loss of forests renders the effort suspect. They say one of the main requirements for certification—no new deforestation—sets the bar far too low.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The RSPO’s Webber, who once worked for WWF, responds by comparing the palm oil industry to St. Paul on the road to Damascus. “Do you forgive a huge sinner because that person could be your greatest missionary?” Webber asks. “Or do we keep all the sinners out, and then what change would we have? We have to find a way to bring on board the whole group.”</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">During the past decade, Webber says, a growing number of palm oil companies have accepted the need for change. “We’ve got quite a few in acceptance but also quite a few in denial. Our job is to push this long tail of producers into acceptance. It will take a while.”</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">GABON</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">More than half of Olam’s Mouila plantation, where these workers are planting palm saplings, occupies savanna—a site chosen to avoid more deforestation. Gabon has developed a national land-use plan that attempts to “keep a balance between oil palm, agriculture, and forest preservation,” says parks agency director Lee White.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">PHOTOGRAPH BY DAVID GUTTENFELDER</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In Gabon, one of Africa’s most forested countries, palm oil is coming home, and a boom may be on the horizon. Situated on the Equator and on the continent’s west coast, Gabon is roughly the size of Colorado with a third of the people. More than 76 percent of the country is covered in forest, with 11 percent of its land area protected in national parks. It’s a wildlife wonderland.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“It’s exactly the kind of large, intact forest you want to protect from any kind of development,” says Glenn Hurowitz, CEO of Mighty Earth, a Washington D.C.-based environmental organization that has criticized Olam’s palm oil operations in Gabon. “There’s so much degraded land [across the tropics]. Why would you send your palm oil plantations to countries that have so much existing forest?”</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">One answer is that Gabon wants them. The former French colony has the fourth highest GDP per capita in sub-Saharan Africa, but much of the revenue comes from petroleum. It needs to diversify. Hurowitz argues that Gabon should be developing ecotourism instead. A relatively safe country with spectacular parks and wildlife, it has few airstrips, barely passable roads, and scant lodging. There’s a huge opportunity for more tourism—one that Gabon’s parks agency, the Agence Nationale des Parcs Nationaux (ANPN), is pursuing.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Tourism is only part of what the country needs. Gabon imports much of its food: Wheat and milk come from France; beef is flown in from India and Brazil. The government of President Ali Bongo Ondimba, who won a controversial election in 2016 to a second seven-year term, wants to add commercial agriculture—including palm oil—to Gabon’s economy. That requires cutting down trees.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Recognizing the conflicting demands on its land, the government has embarked on a project few other nations have tried: a national land-use plan.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Left: Workers at Mouila, Olam’s largest oil palm plantation in Gabon, board trucks to be driven to their work stations for a 7 a.m. start. Olam employs nearly 6,000 workers here and pays them Gabon’s minimum wage of about $260 a month.… Read More</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">PHOTOGRAPHS BY DAVID GUTTENFELDER</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Lee White, ANPN director and one of the president’s closest advisers—British born, he has lived in Gabon since 1989 and has dual citizenship—oversaw the process of mapping the country’s land and wildlife and determining which areas should be developed for agriculture. The government granted two new oil palm concessions to Olam and later sold the company an existing plantation. Olam now operates on 500 square miles, or 0.5 percent of Gabon’s land area. Some 215 square miles are planted in oil palms.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">On a bright January morning, Christopher Stewart, Olam’s chief sustainability manager, maneuvers a Mitsubishi SUV along the potholed highway southeast from Libreville, the capital. Trucks whiz past carrying giant okoume logs—Gabon’s chief timber export, bound in large part for China and Europe. Beyond Libreville’s sprawl, tiny villages dot the countryside. Nearly every cluster of houses has a roadside stand, consisting typically of an overturned rusty metal drum and a wooden rack. The drums are covered with bananas or plantains, bowls of brightly colored jungle fruits, plastic water bottles filled with bathtub palm wine. Hanging from the racks, all along the highway, are furry and spiny carcasses: porcupines, blue duikers, the occasional monkey, a civet, a crocodile, the haunches of a gazelle.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Much of that bush meat is illegal—and also perhaps understandable, in a country without much domestic meat production. Illegal bush meat is offered at many restaurants in Libreville. Poaching is a big issue for Olam; locals and workers use the plantations as access points to the forest, where they have been known to hunt at-risk species. So Olam rangers patrol the protected forests. At the plantation gates, guards search exiting cars.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Two and a half hours from Libreville, we pull onto a red dirt road toward the Awala plantation. This area is secondary forest, one of the places where logging first began in Gabon. The government gave Olam roughly 50,000 acres here—of which the company has planted oil palms on about a third. Another third is conserved as one block of forest, and the rest remains standing in smaller parcels, some of it on steep hillsides.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">GABON</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">At an oil palm nursery in Gabon, Olam gardeners tend to seedlings. Gabon’s economy is largely petroleum based; it imports much of its food. The government sees industrial agriculture as an important part of the nation’s future.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">PHOTOGRAPH BY DAVID GUTTENFELDER</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Inside the plantation, it’s easy to lose your sense of direction amid row upon row of palm trees, punctuated by indistinguishable dirt roads. At the end of each row, workers have piled fresh palm-fruit bunches and loose fruit. In the afternoon other workers will toss the fruit into dump trucks, which will deliver it to an on-site mill that processes 50 tons of oil an hour.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">At Olam’s Mouila plantation, farther south, an even bigger mill is producing twice as much oil. More than half the planted area at Mouila was open savanna. Research here has revealed the presence of a rare antelope, the southern reedbuck. Photographed by a camera trap in 2017, the animal is helping White justify a new national park in the savanna.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Stewart, who has a Ph.D. in ecology, helped set up the RSPO program in Southeast Asia before joining Olam. On our boat trip back from the old-growth forest at Mouila, we talk about the devastation in Indonesia. He visited areas with biologists who had worked only a few years earlier in intact rain forest—and were returning to find it all destroyed. Stewart chokes up as he recalls this. He’s immensely proud of Olam’s conservation efforts in Gabon.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Atop a small hill within the plantation, we climb to the roof of Stewart’s truck. For 180 degrees, the rows of oil palms stretch nearly to the horizon. In the scorching sun, the monochrome view is dizzying. The map Stewart holds is even more sobering. This section of plantation covers nearly 40,000 acres; what we’re seeing is less than 7 percent of that.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As an ecologist, Stewart hates the idea of trees being cut. But, he says, “I know that this is actually in Gabon’s long-term interest for these projects to be in the right place and managed well and to show what well-planned, well-managed agriculture can do.” White agrees. Olam isn’t undermining protected areas, he says: “Olam is helping me create more national parks.”</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Seven hours from Libreville, at the end of three hours of bone-jarring dirt roads, lies Lopé National Park—one of 13 national parks White helped create. He lived here for 15 years and still visits often to do wildlife research. One evening, sitting in the open-air living room of the research station, White sips whiskey as lightning makes purple streaks across the starry sky. In the forest around us, families of gorillas and mandrills are bedding down for the night. Leopards and caracals are waking up to hunt.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Once you start clearing forests for agriculture, it becomes easier to clear ever more. Does White worry about that? He smiles. “I’m not really a worrier,” he says, before reframing the risk: “If in 50 years’ time we can’t feed the number of human beings we have on the planet, then highly productive, humid, tropical places where you can grow vast amounts of food are going to come under threat.”</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">On hilltops near Lopé’s western boundary, French archaeologist Richard Oslisly has uncovered evidence of Stone Age and Iron Age communities—chips from the making of quartz arrowheads, iron tools and furnaces. Three thousand years ago, Bantu peoples began to migrate along the Atlantic coast to Gabon from Cameroon. They brought oil palms with them. Wading in a stream in Lopé’s forest, Oslisly scratches at the bank and pulls out domesticated palm nuts dating back two millennia.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">By around 1,500 years ago, those early farmers had covered large parts of Gabon and northern Congo in palm groves. “Central Africa,” White says, “probably looked like Indonesia does today.” A drastic population crash—perhaps caused by an epidemic—wiped out those Iron Age people. The rain forest came roaring back.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Now we are starting the cycle again,” White says. “Our management actions will tell whether once again we destroy the forests or if we can maintain an equilibrium.” For humans, balance is often an elusive goal.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Hillary Rosner’s last article for the magazine was about the pine beetle epidemic in western U.S. forests. David Guttenfelder and Pascal Maitre have both worked extensively in Asia and Africa.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">CLIMATE 101: DEFORESTATION</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Forests cover about 30% of the planet, but deforestation is clearing these essential habitats on a massive scale. What is deforestation? Find out the causes, effects, and solutions to deforestation.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">MORE ON THIS TOPIC</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">https://www.un-redd.org/single-post/2018/05/25/A-step-towards-sustainable-palm-oil-in-Ecuador</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx pix</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Ecuador takes steps towards sustainable palm oil</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">1 Jun 2018</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">María Amparo Albán</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Achieving sustainability in the agricultural sector is one of the most complex challenges of modern times. The sector’s multiple interactions with diverse development priorities raise discomfort and anxiety among traditional stakeholders. The same questions are raised again and again and echo across the globe: “Are sustainable markets paying off?” “Is the government helping?” “Where is our gain?” “Do we need to comply with yet another stringent environmental law?” </font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">However, the reason why the agricultural sector should bet on a full conversion to sustainable practices goes beyond environmental self-consciousness. This conversion has several motivating factors and does not follow an already established pattern. It is the result of a combination of factors among which economic feasibility, social relevance, and environmental awareness, are just a few. Chief among these is the increasing impact of environmental policies and international market preferences, where concern for conserving biodiversity and reducing carbon emissions is increasing steadily.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Motivation and readiness converged during the recent creation of the Inter-institutional Committee on Sustainable Oil Palm (CIPS, by its Spanish acronym) which will be in charge of implementing the Sustainable Oil Palm Production Initiative.”</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The path to sustainability is unique from case to case. Even within the same country, what works for one sector may not be applicable to another. At the end, sustainability involves a permanent exercise of multi-scale and multi-factor analysis that relies on a continuous strategy of persuasion. In the case of Ecuador, changing scenarios, such as severe macroeconomic conditions in a dollarised economy, or the fall of the international price of palm oil, make these decisions more difficult, as it is the case currently. However, the challenge has been accepted by the palm oil sector.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> Photo: morguefile.com/rikahi</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As illustrated above, the motivation for the palm oil sector to rebrand, rethink, and reinvent itself is the result of many factors and the readiness of the sector to assume larger commitments. Motivation and readiness converged during the recent creation of the Inter-institutional Committee on Sustainable Oil Palm (CIPS, by its Spanish acronym) which will be in charge of implementing the Sustainable Oil Palm Production Initiative in Ecuador, lead jointly by the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Environment.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Sustainable Oil Palm Production Initiative started with the implementation of the REDD+ Sustainable Oil Palm  Action Plan for the Amazon Basin, as part of REDD+ National Action Plan – “Forests for Good Living, 2016-2025”. This is an initiative led by the Ecuadorian Ministries of Environment and Agriculture and supported by the UN-REDD Programme, which engaged the oil palm sector to commence a comprehensive discussion on how to implement sustainable practices for oil palm to decrease and hopefully cease deforestation in the Amazon provinces.  One result of these discussions was the CIPS platform. This platform would serve as a forum for discussion and decision making towards the implementation of the sustainable oil palm plans resulting from the REDD+ Action Plan.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“The Sustainable Oil Palm Production Initiative started</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">with the implementation of the REDD+ Sustainable</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Oil Palm Action Plan for the Amazon Basin, as part of</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">REDD+ National Action Plan.”</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">CIPS was formed last year by the Ministry of Agriculture, along with the private sector, and NGOs such as Conservation International, World Wildlife Foundation and the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) that support the initiative. At its first meeting, representatives of sectors such as the Ministries of Foreign Commerce and Industry and Productivity, local governments and representatives of the different sectors of the palm oil supply chain were nominated.  Last month, the Ministry of Environment joined the committee, adding its capacity to implement new environmental and sustainability policies to the platform’s overall potential.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The first duty of the CIPS is to incorporate civil society organisations, small producers, and academia as part of it. To do so, the Ministry of Agriculture is conducting a process to involve them based on an open call and on principles of objectivity, transparency and non-discrimination.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The CIPS will focus on issues related to high conservation values and the reduction of deforestation, among others, which are supported by an initiative funded by the Global Environmental Facility and the Green Climate Fund implemented for the Amazon Basin, called Programa Integral Amazónico de Conservación de Bosques y Producción Sostenible “PROAmazonía”, as well as by the Ministry of Environment of Italy and soon Italian private companies, too.  This work will initially focus on the Amazon Provinces and advance later to the rest of the country.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The CIPS is seeking to advance a new environmental governance model that will be essential as more Ecuadorian companies undergo the RSPO certification process, and many are close to finalising it.  The Committee will also be a central space for dialogue and coordination as many markets, especially the EU, are discussing trade-related environmental sanctions on palm oil biofuels and are debating more stringent certification schemes for palm oil production. The Committee will provide important guidance when Ecuadorian authorities and the different stakeholders involved in the Committee come to an agreement on how to move forward in relation to the sustainability of oil palm production.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“The shift towards sustainable palm oil production is fundamentally about people, human rights and development."</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">For the Ecuadorian government as well as for the Ecuadorian private sector, the transition towards sustainable oil palm production is not solely about forest conservation, or carbon stocks or watershed management. Nor it is just about capturing a greater share of trade in a premium market. The shift towards sustainable oil palm production is fundamentally about people, human rights, and development. In a country where 90 percent of oil palm producers are small farmers, the ability to produce sustainably and access the international market for sustainable palm oil is paramount.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">CIPS has taken on a complex task.  There are many challenges for small producers and communities which will have to be discussed and solved creatively, in order to advance on the path to sustainability in the oil palm sector.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The bet is on.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The information and views set out in this guest blog post are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the UN-REDD Programme.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">About the writer</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">María Amparo Albán is UNDP's Environmental Consultant for the project</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Italian support for REDD+ implementation in Ecuador</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">1987</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">https://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/african-palm-oil-impacts-equadors-amazon</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">AFRICAN PALM OIL: IMPACTS IN EQUADOR'S AMAZON</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">June 1987</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Author</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Ashley</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">John M.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The development of large African palm oil plantations in Ecuador's Amazonian province of Napo has become a sensitive issue for this small South American country. Over the past couple of years the Cofán, Siona-Secoya and Quichua peoples have felt threatened by the existence of palm plantations and are concerned because of palm plantations and are concerned because of plans to greatly expand this agro-industry in their region. Such an expansion for them means extensive destruction to the rainforest and a decline in the quality of the river waters, both of which are vital to their physical and cultural survival. The government supports the plantations as a vital part of development in the Oriente and, for the most part, has been insensitive to the Indian's needs.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Ecuador's Amazonia commonly called the Oriente, includes the upper Amazon basin and a portion of the westernmost lower Amazon basin as the river systems flatten out. The entire Oriente is rainforest, in which year-round moist conditions along with a stable warm temperature have created incredible biological richness. In addition to a diversity of plant species, the rainforest is also the home to a wide variety of forest animals, and a complex set of interdependent relationships between these multitudinous animals and plants, which are well known to the region's indigenous people. Western scientists, on the other hand, readily admit that they are just beginning to comprehend the complexity of the rainforest.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Presently approximately 20,000 ha of African palms are under cultivation in the Oriente. Although 20,000 ha does not seem extreme, substantial environmental and social damage has already resulted. Given this significant destruction, it is particularly alarming that the palm oil industry now plans to increase the area for palm oil cultivation up to as much as 250,000 ha. If these plans are realized, it means the deforestation of almost four percent of the Oriente, which in turn, accounts for almost half of Ecuador's total land base. The oil-palm industry is particularly interested in expansion within the provinces of Napo where, unlike most of the Amazon basin and other parts of the world's tropics, the soils are quite rich due to the breakdown of volcanic material that has washed down from the Andes.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Oil Industry - "Pure Business"</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The palm oil industry is not new to Ecuador. The first African palm seedlings were plated in 1953. Until recently all oil palm plantations were located on the coastal side of the Andes, primarily in the area of Santo Domingo de los Colorados. To grow well and produce an abundant crop of oil nuts, African palms require strong sunlight, regular rainfall and a consistent temperature between 25o - 28o. They also need fertilizer, pesticides and, most of all, extensive amounts of manual labor to prevent Kudzu vines from choking the palm trees. Because Ecuador is endowed with excellent growing conditions and an abundant supply of cheap labor, it is considered an ideal location by the palm oil industry.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Palm oil trees grow rapidly; five to six years after planting, they start to produce clusters of reddish-orange nuts and, if managed well, will continue to do so for 20 years. Once the nuts are harvested they are put through an extraction process which produces two kinds of oil. The first one, reddish in color, is extracted from the fleshly pulp of the nut's outer coverings. The "red oil". as it is commonly called, is sold primarily within the country to companies that produce cosmetics, industrial grease and cheap cooking oil. The other oil clearish-white, is extracted from the seed kernel of the nut. Used for cooking, this higher-grade white oil is exported abroad and is common in a wide variety of prepackaged foods in the US. According to Bruce Kernon, a USDA (US Dept. of Agriculture) forester in Ecuador, Ecuador now imports approximately 30 percent of its cooking oil. This figure is a major justification for the palm oil industry's expansion plans to make the country less dependent on imports. However, it really comes down to pure business, because cooking oil is already being exported from the country. Yet, in spite of its growing popularity abroad, palm oil is far more saturated and more damaging to blood vessels than they any animal fat known, including pork and beef fat.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Companies Receive Title to Indian Land</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Fifteen years ago, the areas where the palm oil plantations are now located were trackless virgin rainforest. The discovery of high-grade petroleum in the 1960s and the subsequent development of the industry in the northern Oriente has radically altered the forest ecosystem. New roads for oil exploration and a network of oil pipelines have opened the way to a continuous invasion of landless colonists and land speculators from the Sierra and coastal regions of the country. With little or no knowledge of how to subsist in a rainforest, the oil industry and the colonists have caused massive deforestation. This imported labor supply and a new infrastructure of roads have made it feasible for the palm oil industry to develop plantations in the Oriente.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In 1978 two palm oil companies, Palmoriente and Palmeras del Ecuador, received titles from IERAC (the Ecuadorian Institute of agrarian Reform and Colonization) for 10,000 ha each of "undeveloped" rainforest in Napo province. In the process of clearing these tracts of forests to plant the African palm seedlings, little of the timber resources was used. According to Jorge Uquillos, a sociologist working for INIAP (National Institute of Agricultural Research), Palmeras del Ecuador simply bulldozed trees and left them in large piles to rot. This same 10,000 hectares had previously been one of the primary hunting grounds for the Siona-Secoya Indians, who still live adjacent to the plantation along the Shushufindi and other nearby rivers.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Palmoriente plantation is located approximately 40 km to the southwest of Palmeras del Ecuador near the river town of Puerto Francisco de Orellana, more commonly called Coca. Palmoriente lies along the Huashito River, a fast-moving tributary of the Napo River. The largest river in the region, the Napo, is the main "highway" for the Indians. All along the river and its tributaries, the Quichua and Siona-Secoya peoples have numerous settlements and homesteads.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Toxic Pesticides Endanger Indians and Environment</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">When forests are cleared for these plantations wild-life populations decline because of a loss of habitat. Although not documented, there is strong reason to suspect the extinction of some species because of the high degree of plant and animal endemism in the area. Further deterioration of the environment continues once the palm oil seedlings have been planted. To protect the palms, a variety of highly toxic pesticides must be applied to the crop at regular intervals which later find their way into the local rivers and destroy essential sources of riverine protein upon which the native peoples depend. Fish kills have been reported downstream from Palmeras in both the Shushufindi and Aquarico rivers. The Huashito, Punino and Payamino rivers are now contaminated with toxins from Palmoriente. In recent years sickness among the Indian communities, who use the rive water for cooking and drinking, has increased significantly due to deterioration of the water quality.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The use of toxic pesticides is a common practice and essential for protecting a large monoculture crop in the tropics from a wide variety of insects and other pests that abound in the surrounding forests. There are 15 separate pesticides being used on the oil-palm plantations in Ecuador. These particular pesticides are extremely toxic and easily enter nearby streams and rivers via runoff from a vast network of ditches throughout these plantations. The most dangerous include endrin, aldrin, dieldrin. Both aldrin and dieldrin were banned for crop use in the US in 1974. Endrin is so dangerous that it is now considered the most toxic of the commercial cyclodienes. It is both persistent in the environment and highly toxic to fish. Eating game contaminated by endrin has caused brain damage and birth defects. Parathion is also extremely persistent in the environment and has an estimated lethal dose one-sixteenth that of DDT.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Once the oil extractors are installed within the next year or two at these two plantations the quality of the nearby river water will deteriorate further. For example, the Cucaracha River just west of Santo Domingo de los Colorados is now constantly covered with a greasy film and unfit for human consumption because of the waste dumped from palm oil extractors. Some rivers in Malaysia are compared to open sewers due to the waste from palm oil extractors in that country.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Such contamination threatens Indian peoples who live near plantations. Their physical survival depends on the well-being of the rainforest and the rivers; disturbances in this complex ecosystem will more than likely affect them adversely as well. The forests provide building materials for their homes, wood for canoes, palm leaves and vines for baskets, and a place together wild foods and medicines and to hunt small game. The rivers supply them with water and protein from fish, caimen and turtles.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Indians also depend on extensive areas of rainforest to support their swidden form of agriculture, which is ideally suited to the tropical rainforest. Their small forest gardens, called chakras, use only one to two hectares of land and require no pesticides or fertilizer. A wide variety of crops are planted together rather than in rows. By intercropping these plants, plant-specific pests are controlled and the different root systems avoid competition for nutrients. Finally, this multilayered garden canopy, which mimics the structure of the surrounding rainforest, helps to break up the impact of the rainfall and minimize erosion. After a couple of years a new garden site is cleared and the old garden is left fallow, allowing the forest to regenerate.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Indians Accuse Industry of Ethnocide</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">For the indigenous peoples of the Oriente, a whole culture is interrelated with the rainforest. It has been their home for millenia; the history of their people and the bones of their ancestors lie within these forests. The forests give their lives meaning and purpose and are a continuous source of spiritual sustenance. Their traditional religion could be called a type of ecological animism because of the respect it inspires for all the plants and creatures of the rain-forest. Quite complex, this spiritual relationship with the forest is based on the careful observations and experiments of many generations of native shamans. New knowledge about the forests is constantly being acquired as apprentices to shamans must prove not only their knowledge of known plants but also demonstrate potential uses of new plants.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Because of this long-term association with the rain-forest, the indigenous people, supported by various Indian organizations, accuse the expanding palm oil industry of ethnocide. The connection for them is obvious. The destruction of the rainforest threatens their traditional way of life and with it their identity as a forest-dwelling people. Several reports published in 1984 that include plans for expanding the plantations confirm the worst of their fears about the intentions of the national government and the palm oil industry.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In the spring of 1984 the Central Bank of Ecuador published a report (Informe 84-012 SEI) elaborating plans to expand development of palm oil in the province of Napo up to 245,000 ha. Most of this land lies within areas the Quichua and Siona-Secoya communities already inhabit.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A second report four months later, from the Ministry of Agriculture (MAG), known as Ministerial Agreement 0431, created two conservation reserves of 11,000 and 45,000 ha. Although the reserves were supposedly designed for conservation purposes, this agreement stipulated that certain forms of development would be acceptable within its boundaries. The cultivation of palm oil was specifically listed as an acceptable form of development (to Uquillos, personal communication). Even worse, MAG declared the areas within these reserves "empty of all human settlement," although 40 Indian communities, some with formal land title documents, lie within the proposed boundaries of these reserves.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Finally, in April 1984, the national newspaper Hoy quoted the director of the French Oil Institute (Institute de Recherches pour les Huilles et Oliagineux) as saying"...that the best land he has ever seen for growing African palms exists in the Oriente". Not only does the Oriente have the prerequisite growing conditions of sunlight, rainfall and constant temperatures, it also has unusually rich soils for a tropical rainforest region.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">These three reports represent an attitude toward the land totally different from that of the native peoples. For the bureaucrats of MAG and agro-business entrepreneurs, the rainforests in their natural state are useless with no inherent value and therefore must be "improved". IERAC policies reinforce this attitude by encouraging colonists to clear the land and raise cattle, cash crops, or both. In fact upon receiving title to new forest lands, some "improvement" is required within five years or the title may be revoked. A large sign in the local MAG office in Coca eloquently sums up the government's attitude toward the rainforest: "El Bosque es Trabojo y Dinero" (The Forest is Work and Money).</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The government lack of understanding, much less appreciation of the forest Indians' land-use patterns, exacerbates the ongoing problems of awarding titles to all Indian land claims. According to Uquillos, a sociologist working for INIAP, the government's notion of tierras baldias (empty, unoccupied land) is a complete myth because indigenous peoples inhabit or make use of almost all areas of the Oriente. To the government any forest lands that are not yet surveyed and registered with IERAC qualify as tierras baldias (Uquillos: personal communication). As recently as July 1985, Rafael Perez, the executive director of IERAC, stated that Ecuador's Oriente contains 13.8 million ha of unoccupied land. Such a statement from IERAC is consistent with its poor record of awarding titles to Indians as compared to non-Indian families. Moreover, IERAC is particularly reluctant to recognize communal lands and prefers to award titles to the heads of individual families, according to Cristobal Tapuy, president of the Confederation of Indian Nations of the Ecuadorian Amazon. Such a policy, which Indian organizations strongly criticize, undermines tribal solidarity and cultural values.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Indians Fight Government Discrimination</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Another essential component to this cultural interface is the deep racist attitudes held toward the Indians in Ecuador and forest Indians in particular. Although they are admired as picturesque in tourist posters, for the most part forest Indians are considered backward and a hindrance to national progress. According to anthropologist Norman Whitten, who has spent years in the Oriente: even the kindliest of the whites tend to look upon the Indian as a child held perpetually at the development stage. For the mestizo caught up in the national process of blanquemiento (White-mindedness), the thought of living in the jungle is repugnant, since only animals and Indians live there.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Indian people of the Oriente are well aware of the severity of the problem and have made great efforts to organize. They have established several regional organizations and most of them work together through the umbrella organization CONFENIAE, which was founded in 1980 and has a modern office in Quito. Under the leadership of Cristobal Tapuy, CONFENIAE has worked to formalize Indian grievances with the national government. Committed to protecting the Indians' cultural heritage and land rights throughout Amazonia, CONFENIAE is trying to do what the government has yet to do - establish a consistent policy for dealing with Indian peoples. It was only because of strong local and written protests from CONFENIAE, for example, that MAG retracted Agreement 0431 for creating two conservation zones.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Deeply concerned about the negative effects of the palm oil industry, CONFENIAE last year published a booklet, Palma African y Etnocidio (African Palm and Ethnocide), to educate the local public and people abroad. Two well-known international Indian rights organizations, Cultural Survival and Survival International, along with the Inter-American Foundation and the national environmental group within Ecuador, Fundación Natura, support CONFENIAE's work.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Adán Grefa, president of FCUNAE (Federation of Napo Communities - Union of Ecuadorian Amazonian Natives), a regional affiliate of CONFENIAE, in a recent interview indicated that violence has erupted in the Oriente because of the colonists' intrusion. In one confrontation this past year a colonist was killed. Grefa expressed regret over this death, but was adamant about the Indians' willingness to fight if necessary. He also believes colonist invasions may be organized with the help of the palm oil companies because their efforts are coordinated, not the usual spontaneous activities of colonists.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Industry Provides Few Local Benefits</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The very existence of palm oil plantations would not be possible without foreign capital and technology. Both Palmoriente and Palmeras del Ecuador operate with 40 percent foreign participation. The three principal foreign investors include British Commonwealth Development Corporation, German Development Company (DEG) and SOCFINO, a Belgian firm.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Although foreign investors, Ecuador's Central Bank and the government all point to the growing palm oil industry as a sign of development in the Oriente, local living conditions do not support this position. Even during the heyday of high petroleum prices, little if any money was put into the local communities. The existing roads are used primarily to transport heavy equipment to and from oil fields. Neither Coca nor Lago Agrio have any paved roads and Coca still lacks a running water system. Few Indians or local people are hired to work the plantations. The majority of the workers are brought in from the coast and paid by contratistas (contractors) (Uquillos, personal communication). Usually the laborers work on a rotation system, which saves the companies from providing social services and health insurance benefits, as well as overtime and vacation pay. Entry into the Palmoriente plantation is difficult because of guards and a high metal fence. In order to gain entry, a visitor must submit a letter of intent to the head office in Quito where it is reviewed for approval at meetings once every two months.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">More than likely Palmoriente's attitude is a response to formal protests and public criticism from Indian rights organizations, CONFENIAE and Fundación Natura. There has been an obvious decline in government praise for the economic and social benefits of the "golden crop", as the palm oil was once hailed.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Government Remains Indifferent to Indians As Industry Expands</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Nevertheless, the palm oil industry continues to expand in the Oriente and rumors repeatedly surface about United Brands and a Japanese firm starting a plantation in the near future. The ACEIPA Corporation, which already has a palm oil plantation near Santo Domingo de los Colorados, is presently clearing 5,000 ha of rainforest that adjoins the eastern boundary of Palmeras del Ecuador.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The development of this new plantation by ACEIPA is another example of the government's indifference to the rights of indigenous peoples. The land that ACEIPA is now clearing has already been recognized by the government as part of the Indians' traditional lands. Although not legally titled to them now, it adjoins the boundaries of their present comuna called San Pablo. In 1980 an inter-institutional commission set up by MAG, which included IERAC, agreed that these lands would be included with the San Pablo Comuna. By 1983 all the paper work had been completed and the land had been surveyed and marked with the participation and money of the Siona-Secoya. The Indians were simply waiting for IERAC to finish processing "their" land title. However, IERAC continued to delay awarding them the title and then, inexplicably, lost all the paperwork related to the Siona-Secoya land. Several people, including some employees at MAG, believe that this action was intentional on the part of IERAC because they knew a change in the administration from Hurtado to Febres-Cordero was coming. Consequently, 5,000 ha of this land now "belongs" to ACEIPA and is being cleared with the use of heavy military equipment. According to anonymous sources, a retired military general named Azanza, who is a stockholder of ACEIPA, is reportedly responsible for acquiring the use of this machinery. Left in a desperate situation, the Siona-Secoya are willing to compromise the loss of this land if it will prevent any further delays in acquiring the remaining lands that have been marked off for them.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In an interview, the director for MAG's African Palm Oil Program, Carlos Adolfo González, acknowledged that ACEIPA was in the Oriente but said that he knew of no problems with the Indians there. When asked about river pollution from pesticides González contradicted information published by INIAP, saying that it was minimal because the companies prefer to use organic pesticides. The INIAP documents list clearly the chemicals used in managing palm oil with warnings about those considered most toxic.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As long as the palm oil industry continues to expand, conflicts with the Indian people will continue, Right now the major economic spin-off of the palm oil industry in the Oriente is land speculation for its further expansion. Unless the government commits itself to securing all Indian land claims, the Indians' struggle to defend their will continue and perhaps result in other violent confrontations.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The present administration does not appear to be particularly favorable to the Indians' plight. Although difficult to confirm, it is widely believed that President Febres-Cordero is a stockholder in the ACEIPA Corporation. It is common knowledge, however, that Ecuador's Ambassador to the United States, Ribadeneyra, is a major shareholder of the Palmoriente plantation. In addition, Vice-President Blanco Peñaherrera Padilla is pressuring officials to bring back to the Oriente the infamous Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL), a missionary organization with a notorious reputation for insensitivity to indigenous cultures. The SIL was officially expelled from Ecuador in 1982 after numerous complaints from various Indian communities. CONFENIAE is adamantly opposed to its return and feels that it would drive a wedge in the Indian community and open the door for further development, particularly African palm oil (Tapuy, personal communication).</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Contrary to government propaganda, Indian peoples of the Oriente do not see themselves as antidevelopment. Fully aware of a larger world, they welcome innovations when incorporated into their lifestyles without unnecessary disruption to their environment and cultural values. To date, the palm oil industry has added nothing of positive value to their lives. Considering that Western science knows little about the rainforest and that Indians have a deep intimate knowledge of the complex ecosystem, to destroy these forests and disrupt the lives of these people in order to plan a monoculture crop of palm oil trees is not only highly inappropriate but tragically foolish.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Article copyright Cultural Survival, Inc.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">African Palm Oil: Impacts in Equador's Amazon | Cultural ...</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">https://www.culturalsurvival.org › publications › cultural-survival-quarterly</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The development of large African palm oil plantations in Ecuador's Amazonian province of Napo has become a sensitive issue for this small South American ...</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Ecuador to invest $1.2bn in palm oil sustainability & innovation</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">https://www.foodnavigator.com › Article › 2018/05/04 › Ecuador-to-inves...</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Jan 24, 2019 - A leading palm oil exporter in Latin America, Ecuador, is chasing the green dollar with a palm oil sector that is RSPO-certified on a national ...</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Sustainable organic palm oil from Ecuador Natural Habitats</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">https://www.foodnavigator-latam.com › Article › 2019/01/24 › Sustainable...</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Feb 6, 2019 - Natural Habitats is one of the world's biggest producers of certified organic palm oil, and almost all its supplies are grown in Ecuador.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Ecuador: Peoples, communities and nature against oil palm ...</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">https://wrm.org.uy › articles-from-the-wrm-bulletin › section1 › ecuador-p...</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Nov 16, 2018 - In Ecuador, the expansion of industrial oil palm plantations is the main cause of deforestation. A meeting to exchange knowledge, the first of its ...</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Ecuador takes steps towards sustainable palm oil</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">https://www.un-redd.org › single-post › 2018/05/25 › A-step-towards-sust...</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">May 25, 2018 - Ecuador takes steps towards sustainable palm oil. 1 Jun 2018. María Amparo Albán. Achieving sustainability in the agricultural sector is one of ...</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Ecuador Takes Giant Step Towards Certified Sustainable ...</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">https://rspo.org › news-and-events › news › ecuador-takes-giant-step-towar...</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Mar 30, 2017 - The signing of the MoU commitment of the Ecuadorian Government with palm oil producers and civil society marks the start of Jurisdictional ...</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Palm Oil News - Ecuador - IndexMundi</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">https://www.indexmundi.com › commodities › news › palm-oil › ecuador</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Ecuador, a significant palm oil market in the LATAM ... The report by EMR offers an in-depth insight into the regional price trends of palm oil in the LATAM market ...</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">From Big Oil to Palm Oil - Amazon Frontlines</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">https://www.amazonfrontlines.org › chronicles › from-big-oil-to-palm-oil</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">For decades, the Ecuadorian Amazon has been the epicenter of one of the most polluting oil operations of all times. The oil boom initiated by Texaco in the ...</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Chain: Ecuador's Palm Oil Exports May Expose ...</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">https://chainreactionresearch.com › the-chain-international-firms-exposed-t...</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Aug 20, 2019 - The main drivers of deforestation in Ecuador are similar to those in other countries in the region: The cattle industry; logging (both for fuel and ...</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">orangutan</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ew 919</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Palm Oil Is in Everything, and It’s Hurting More Than the Orangutans</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> US Customs has a legal obligation to block imports linked to forced labor. So today, alongside our partners International Labor Rights Forum and Rainforest Action Network, we've launched a demand that US Customs seize conflict palm oil from Procter & Gamble’s business partner, ‘FGV’, at US ports!</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Fuel to the Fire</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">How a U.S. law intended to reduce dependence on fossil fuels has unleashed an environmental disaster in Indonesia.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">by Abrahm Lustgarten</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">View Story</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Photos: An Indonesian Village That’s Fighting for Its Life</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In Bea Nehas, the small plots that homes are built on are in constant jeopardy of being burned to the ground and bulldozed. A sprawling plantation that surrounds the village produces huge volumes of palm oil.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">by Ashley Gilbertsonspecial to ProPublica</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">View Story</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Palm Oil Sourcing Should Be Disclosed to Consumers, Sustainability Study Recommends</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">By Alex Kirby</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Companies selling products which contain palm oil need to be upfront about where it comes from, so as to relieve consumers of the burden of making sustainable choices, a UK study says.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Researchers from the University of Cambridge say companies should not rely simply on purchasers' own awareness of the need to make environmentally responsible decisions, but should publicly disclose the identities of their palm oil suppliers.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">honduras, backed by world bank?</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> Norwegian parliament voted this week to make Norway the world's first country to bar its biofuel industry from importing deforestation-linked palm oil starting in 2020, The Independent reported.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Environmentalists celebrated the move as a victory for rainforests, the climate and endangered species such as orangutans that have lost their habitats due to palm oil production in Indonesia and Malaysia. It also sets a major precedent for other nations. ... The new report highlights a range of policies that can help keep emissions in check.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">palm oil</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">https://www.ecowatch.com/who-trans-fat-2568793389.html</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> we’ve just released a report that ties the snack food giant to massive-scale deforestation in Indonesia.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">PepsiCo has knowingly persisted in conducting business with the Salim Group, a company tied to reckless palm oil producers responsible for the destruction of nearly 10,000 hectares of Borneo’s pristine peat forests––an area bigger than Manhattan!</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Meanwhile, PepsiCo kept on promising that it’s working towards a truly sustainable palm oil policy, making commitments to human rights and zero deforestation. But this new report leaves no doubt: this whole time, PepsiCo’s palm oil promises have been nothing but smoke and mirrors.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As PepsiCo rolls out its “Pepsi Generation” campaign to celebrate 120 years of doing business, we need your help to put an end to generations of deforestation at the hands of PepsiCo’s irresponsible palm oil sourcing and partnerships.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">http://www.alternet.org/environment/how-pepsico-mcdonalds-nestle-unilever-kelloggs-mars-and-procter-gamble-are-pushing</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> Leuser Ecosystem on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia thrums with life. It is an ancient, 6.5 million acres of lush rainforest and steamy peat swamps, and because of its rich biodiversity, is one of the most important rainforests still standing today.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Its clear rivers provide drinking water for millions of people and its lowland and mountainous rainforests are literally the last place on earth where Sumatran elephants, orangutans, tigers, rhinos and sunbears still coexist in the wild. Globally, we all depend on it for the climate regulating effects such a large carbon-sink can have.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And yet, the Leuser Ecosystem is being actively destroyed for palm oil and other industries.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">One of Sumatra’s remaining and critically endangered baby elephants peers out from behind its mother’s trunk in the Leuser Ecosystem. (image: Paul Hilton/RAN)</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A new field investigation released by Rainforest Action Network exposes how one company is pumping conflict palm oil—palm oil connected to the clearance of tropical rainforests and the destruction of carbon-rich peatlands—into the global marketplace. The conflict palm oil coming out of the Leuser Ecosystem is shipped to the major brands whose products line store shelves the world over.  </font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Palm oil has quickly become the most widely used vegetable oil in the world. It can be found in every room of the house, in products ranging from potato chips to laundry detergent, ice cream to cosmetics, and cookies to cooking oil. The boom in palm oil has been driven, in part, by a demand in Western countries for shelf-stable vegetable oils, used to replace the hydrogenated oils now despised for their transfats.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">However, the palm oil industry is rife with issues, and conflict palm oil still dominates the market. Child labor, human trafficking, land grabbing, rainforest deforestation, endangered species habitat destruction and massive forest fires are all connected to the production of conflict palm oil....</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">http://www.alternet.org/environment/cables-reveal-us-govt-role-herakles-farms-land-grab-cameroon</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Cables obtained by the non-profit Oakland Institute through a Freedom of Information Act request reveal that U.S. government officials pushed the Central African nation of Cameroon to approve a deeply controversial oil palm development owned by Herakles Farms despite full knowledge of the project’s negative impacts on the environment and local communities.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Sithe Global Sustainable Oils Cameroon (SG-SOC), a subsidiary of U.S. agribusiness firm Herakles Farms, signed a convention with a Cameroonian government minister in 2009 to develop a large-scale palm oil plantation that included a 99-year lease for 73,086 hectares (about 180,600 acres) of land in the Ndian and Kupe-Manenguba Divisions in southwest Cameroon. The development was contentious from the start, as the convention was likely illegal, given that land in excess of 50 hectares can only be granted by presidential decree under Cameroonian law.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Nonetheless, the company began clearing forest and developing nurseries in 2010, converting pristine tropical rainforest into monoculture oil palm plantations despite massive local opposition, according to a report released today by the Oakland Institute. The area where SG-SOC began operating is considered a biodiversity hotspot, and its operations allegedly put the livelihoods of 45,000 people at risk.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Herakles Farms ignored local court orders to cease these operations, “one of which specifically ordered the company to cease work until a proper environmental impact assessment was conducted, compensation was made to those directly affected by the project, and a Memorandum of Understanding was negotiated with local indigenous peoples,” the report states.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Then, four years later, SG-SOC got the decree it needed. President Paul Biya signed three decrees in November 2013 green-lighting the project, though it had been scaled back significantly, from a 99-year lease to a three-year probationary lease for just 19,843 hectares.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“It was shocking that President Biya signed the decrees despite the mountain of evidence exposing the vast social, economic, and environmental consequences of the project,” Frederic Mousseau, Policy Director at the Oakland Institute, said in a statement. “We now know that behind the scenes, US government officials were applying serious pressure to the Cameroonian government to grant Herakles Farms the land.”</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">...</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Leonardo DiCaprio Faces Deportation Threat After Criticizing Indonesia’s Palm Oil Industry</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Leonardo DiCaprio has been threatened with deportation by officials from the Indonesian government after...</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">http://ecowatch.com/2016/03/14/palm-oil-scorecard/</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">...</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">ince the release of the scorecard, we’ve heard from a few of the companies, evidence of the impact of our research. For example, Johnson & Johnson has posted a blog—their first public communication since adopting their policy in May 2014—saying that finding out who their suppliers is like a game of telephone. But we know this is not a child’s game and we will keep on these companies until they step up their efforts to source responsible palm oil.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">TAKE ACTION: Tell brands like Johnson & Johnson, PepsiCo and Colgate-Palmolive to take urgent action to stop forest destruction for palm oil.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">http://www.alternet.org/environment/big-win-rainforest-activists-against-pepsi</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The world’s largest sovereign wealth fund has divested from a major snack food company due to its failure to implement ethical palm oil policies. Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG), which is valued at around $880 billion, divested from First Pacific Group Ltd (HK: 0142), the parent company of Indonesia-based Indofood, which has controlling interests in one of the biggest plantation companies in Indonesia tied to conflict palm oil.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Conflict palm oil is connected to human rights abuses, forced and child labor, loss of local sustainable food and farming practices, species extinction, habitat destruction, forest and peatland destruction and climate pollution. The move sends a powerful message across the globe, not just to companies that are sourcing conflict palm oil, but to fund managers and other investors concerned about the risks associated with investing in such unethical and irresponsible companies.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A globally traded agricultural commodity, palm oil is ubiquitous in the marketplace: It can be found in about half of all consumer goods, from packaged foods like pizza dough and instant noodles to cooking oil, biofuels and personal care products like shampoo, soap and even lipstick.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Rainforest Action Network, an environmental group that has been campaigning for an ethical global palm oil market, has identified 20 major food companies that have failed to adopt sustainable and ethical policies in regard to sourcing palm oil: Toyo Suisan Kaisha, Kraft Foods Group, Nissin Foods, Hillshire Brands Company, Grupo Bimbo, H.J. Heinz Company, Campbell Soup Company, Hormel, Unilever and PepsiCo. The group asserts that the so-called Snack Food 20 laggards “are almost certainly using conflict palm oil.”</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As the Indonesian joint partner of snack food giant PepsiCo, Indofood produces Pepsi-branded snack foods that are sold across Indonesia. The risks in Indofood's global operations were exposed by an investigative report released by RAN and Rainforest Foundation Norway in September 2015 that documents the company's role in social conflicts and the destruction of the nation’s rainforests.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">According to the report:</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In 2013 and 2014, Indofood cleared 1,000 hectares of previously untouched tropical rainforest in East Kalimantan, on the island of Borneo. The forest cleared was previously protected as part of a lowland swamp forest known as the Metau forest. The Metau forest is located in one of the largest wetlands in Kalimantan and is a critical breeding and nesting habitat for endangered birds, including the Lesser Adjutant, a large-winged bird in the stork family which is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Metau forest is a forest that has been used by local Dayak communities for generations. The Muara Ohong village is home to 800 people and is now seriously affected by Indofood’s palm oil plantation operations. For the past two years, the villagers have been unable to drink from their water source, and the fish in community fish ponds have died due to run-off pollution linked to the plantations. Increased incidence of floods, droughts and extreme water levels in nearby Lake Jempang have impacted the villagers ability to grow crops, and villagers, left with no other option, are leaving their homes. Indofood has continued to develop the Metau swampland for palm oil plantations, despite efforts by the Governor of East Kalimantan to protect the region as a water conservation area.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Indonesia is the world's eight biggest greenhouse gas polluter. One of the sources of this pollution is deforestation, driven in large part by the nation’s palm oil industry. In addition to its contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, deforestation in Indonesia has put some 20 million of the nation's indigenous and forest-dependent people at risk. It has also led to the widespread habitat destruction of many species, including critically endangered orangutans, Sumatran tigers and elephants.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
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</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">RAN is calling on all global investors in First Pacific Group or in its majority held companies — Indofood CBP Sukses Makmur, Indofood Sukses Makmur, Indofood Agri Resources Ltd. — as well as investors in Indofood snack food joint-partner PepsiCo, to demand commitments from each company to make verifiable changes to their current unsustainable policies and practices connected with the production and use of conflict palm oil.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">While the move to divest by Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global is a major step, it only impacts one of the many companies involved in destructive and unethical palm oil production.</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></font></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“We need to convince each of these [Snack Food 20] laggards to adopt a time-bound and truly responsible global palm oil procurement policy, which requires fully traceable, legally produced palm oil, and eliminates sourcing from companies which are destroying rainforests or carbon-rich peatlands, stealing community lands or violating human and workers’ rights,” RAN said in a petition statement.</font></font></font></div>