palmoilmillmachine-blog

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Malaysia, Indonesia to talk on retaliatory moves for palm oil

27 May 2019 (The Malaysian Reserve) Malaysia and Indonesia are expected to discuss further on retaliatory moves against palm oil restrictions on biofuel that will take effect on June 10 as propagated by members of the European Union (EU).

Primary Industries Minister Teresa Kok (picture) said the discussions could only be conducted once Indonesia’s new line up of ministers are determined following the the country’s recent election.

She said Malaysian officials will wait for the new members of the Indonesian government to settle down after the election win, which will likely be until July, before resuming talks on measures to counter the palm oil usage limits set by the EU.

As it is, Kok said the Indonesian administration will be led by the incumbent President Joko Widodo.

However, ministers who are involved in the palm oil matter may not necessarily be the same as those prior to the election.

She said Malaysia needs to work with Indonesia on plans to launch a complaint against the palm oil limits to the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

“The proposed WTO complaint is still in the pipeline. We need to have some coordination with the Indonesian side. They just announced the election results. We need some time to go about it,” Kok said at a press conference in Putrajaya last Friday.

While offensive measures are on the cards, Kok said Malaysia will continue promoting palm oil in Europe and lobby the new EU commissioner and European Parliament MPs who will be elected after the bloc election soon.

Kok said a Malaysian delegation will meet the new European MPs in October to share Malaysia’s efforts on the sustainability of palm oil industry, forest preservation and success stories of local industry players.

The EU’s restrictions for the use of palm oil in biofuels will begin to take effect on June 10. The new regulation is scheduled to be reviewed in 2021.

Kok said Malaysia will work hard within the next two years to reform the industry and get all the oil palm plantations certified with the Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) status.

At present, she said only 30% out of the total 5.85 million ha of oil palm plantation areas in the country are MSPO-certified.

She added that the country is facing challenges to get small and medium smallholders to embark on MSPO certification because some of the land plots are managed by contractors.

“We are reaching out to them. But some of them could not be found. For instance, some plantations are managed by contractors and the owners may not be in the country. The owners must come forward to get their plantations certified,” Kok said.

Malaysia has targeted for all the local oil palm plantations to be MSPO-certified, but it may be an uphill task to be completed given the current level of uptake.

Malaysia and Indonesia are the world’s top producers of palm oil at about 85% of global output, while EU countries are the second-largest buyers from both countries after India.

Europe currently consumes 7.5 million tonnes of palm oil a year, or about 10% to 15% of the global palm oil demand.

In biofuels, the continent uses about three to four million tonnes of palm oil every year.

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Palm oil regulator to create separate standards for smallholders

27 May 2019 (BusinessWorld Online) JAKARTA — A global palm oil industry watchdog is planning a separate standard for smallholders to help them adopt sustainable practices and get green certification, the Indonesian director of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) said.

Indonesia is the world’s biggest palm oil producer and smallholders account for roughly 40 percent of the country’s 14 million hectares of palm plantations, and are often blamed for practices such as burning to clear land, causing forest fires.

The European Commission earlier this year determined that palm oil has resulted in excessive deforestation and it should no longer be considered a renewable transport fuel, albeit with some exemptions, a decision that angered the Indonesian government.

Independent Indonesian farmers, with land no larger than 25 hectares, will have to meet environmental and social sustainability standards, but some requirements will be adjusted soon, RSPO Indonesia director Tiur Rumondang said in an interview this week.

Getting farmers to obtain sustainable certification would encourage them to comply with good agricultural practices and reduce the risk of forests being converted or damaged, she said.

“Imagine if this 40 percent is not looked after, this is potentially a massive land conversion if we don’t manage it.”

Small Indonesian farmers generally suffer low productivity due to the use of poor quality palm seeds and substandard farming practices.

Indonesia currently runs a subsidized palm replanting program for small farmers to help boost yields without expanding plantation size. The government aims to replant 2.4 million hectares of palm cultivation area by 2025.

Details of the new smallholder standards are still being discussed, Rumondang said, but among requirements that will be changed are those related to labor, since farmers managing only a few hectares of land generally get help from family members.

These farmers would still have to comply with rules such as when teenaged family members work, they should not do so during school time and only for a certain amount of time per day.

The RSPO will also allow farmers to enjoy the benefits of certification in stages so that, for example, they can start to get RSPO benefits as soon as they confirm the legality of their land ownership.

Access to the RSPO credits would help farmers to finance further audits needed for the certification, Rumondang said.

Proving land is legally owned or farmers have the right to use land had been among the main hurdles for Indonesian farmers wanting to join the replanting program, farmers have said.Bambang Gianto, a farmer in South Sumatra, whose plantation has been certified by RSPO, said the process had been quite costly, including improving farming methods and fertilizer use.

“Costs at the beginning were pretty big,” Gianto said.

In addition, he said getting certified did not guarantee better pricing for palm fruits, but the improved methods made his output jump by up to 20 percent.

RSPO has certified 2,919 independent smallholders in Indonesia, its data showed, covering 7,272 hectares of cultivation area.

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Palm Oil: The Hidden Ingredient You Could Be Eating Every Day

26 May 2019 (10 daily) In May, the Indonesian government ordered the country's palm oil companies refrain from releasing data about production to the public citing national security, privacy and competition reasons.

Environmental groups slammed this decision as a move away from transparency for the palm oil industry, which already faces widespread criticism for destroying diverse rainforest ecosystems.

“The Indonesian government seems determined to prevent brands knowing whether the companies that produce their palm oil are destroying forests,"  Kiki Taufik, Global Head of the Indonesian forests campaign at Greenpeace Indonesia said.

Greenpeace claims withholding information is preventing the palm oil industry reforming to end ecosystem destruction. Indonesia and Malaysia produce 86% of the world’s palm oiland without reform, large international companies could stop purchasing the products, which will stunt the nation's economies.

"It would also do untold damage to the Indonesian economy, as many consumer brands would find themselves with no choice but to stop buying palm oil altogether,” Taufik said

Palm Oil In Australia

This apparent lack of transparency is also true for Australian markets. It's not compulsory for palm oil to be labelled as an ingredient on Australian packaging, meaning consumers don't know when they are consuming the product.

"We as consumers have a right to choose the products that we use and to make ethical decisions with our choices, so denying us that choice through the control of information I think is deeply undemocratic," President of The Orangutan Project Leif Cocks told 10 daily.

How To Know If A Product Contains Palm Oil

Palm oil is labelled as vegetable oil on Australian packaging. Only peanut oil, sesame oil and soybean oil must be individually labelled.

A label must declare if an item has saturated fat, so if a product has vegetable oil and saturated fat it will most probably contain palm kernel oil, palm oil or coconut oil.

"Under current regulations, palm oil can be labelled in the ingredient list using the generic terms 'vegetable oil' or by identifying the source of the oil, for example, as 'palm oil'," the Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ)

The most recent application calling for palm oil to be identified in the ingredient list was reviewed by FSANZ in 2008.

FSANZ said it "previously rejected an application for mandatory ingredient labeling of palm oil when used in food products because the application was about environmental concerns".

This possible lack of transparency causes confusion for consumers, according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

To clear things up, the Round Table for Sustainable Palm Oil (ROSP), supported by the WWF, has put together guidelines for sustainable palm oil production.

"There’s a lot of confusion not just about vegetable oil or palm oil but about food generally," Head of Sustainable Food at WWF Australia Joshua Bishop told 10 daily.

"You have to label vegetable oil but there is an awful lot of oil that can fall under that label.

We would prefer that not only is palm oil labelled but that any kind of vegetable oil is labelled so people can understand if it is sunflower, if it is grape seed, palm or coconut or anything else."

Only 20 percent of products are currently made with palm oil that meets RSOP standards.  Bishop said consumers can look for the RSPO certified palm oil label (above) as an indication of how sustainable an item is.

"The onus is on the consumer really and you have to do a little bit of work. It is not about boycotting ... but informing yourself to make better choices," Bishop said.

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Nigeria to benefit huge forex from palm oil

26 May 2019 (The Eagle Online) The National Palm Produce Association of Nigeria says the country will benefit a lot from Crude Palm oil as a leading foreign exchange earner with its price now 500 dollars per tonne against 426 dollars of crude oil.

The association disclosed this in a statement signed by its National President, Henry Olatujoye on Sunday in Ibadan.

It said: “The current domestic market value of palm oil is about N400 per litre, while that of Premium Motor Spirit otherwise called petrol remains N145, just as diesel is N210 and kerosene is N250.

The association however decried lack of government incentives and programmes to further promote palm oil farming and production.

It said: “Right now, there is no financial credit, technological support and other assistance from the government and its agencies for our members that have injected billions of US dollars into the industry.

“Whereas the cost of establishing a petroleum refinery is estimated at US$500 billion, while a mere N50 million can be used to set up a palm oil refinery that can be replicated across the oil palm belt of Nigeria.’’

NPPAN reiterated its readiness to collaborate with the Federal Government, the Central Bank of Nigeria and other government agencies to turn the industry around. It also said its members were ready to meet with the presidency, National Assembly, CBN and the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to provide statistics and documents on the comparative advantage of CPO over crude oil as a foreign earner.

It said: “We are concerned that rather than ban the importation of palm oil into the country, ensure strict compliance and enforcement at the borders, the authorities preoccupies itself with sticking to only a commodity which is crude oil.

“This crude oil is shipped abroad to be refined and imported into Nigeria as finished good at criminal costs and processes fraught with gross abuse, fraud and other forms of sharp practices.

“This process smacks off lack of seriousness and any form of economic sense and wisdom, especially when Nigeria has got a huge comparative advantage over others on the commodity.’’

It said that allowing illegal importation of CPO into Nigeria would only add to the nation’s already saturated unemployment market and boost employment in other countries.

It said: “Unlike the price of crude oil which is subject to the vagaries of foreign political powers, forces and cartel, palm oil is subject to domestic control mechanism because of the potential of local refining, value addition and packaging before export. “Price fluctuation in global crude oil market constantly threatens and actually imperils the Nigerian economy and subjects the lives of Nigerians to serious hardship, huge job losses and factory shutdown with severe social unrests and other dire consequences.

“Malaysia has a commodity board that ensures standard practice and protects its interest in the global market of palm oil. Nigeria can also set its own.’’

The body said that it had earlier expressed its total support for the CBN Governor, Dr Godwin Emefiele, who emphatically said CPO held huge economic potential for the country as a leading foreign exchange earner if investors were fully mobilised.

It said: “While appearing before Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions for his second term screening, the CBN governor had declared that the price of a tonne of palm oil is more than the price of a barrel of crude oil.’’ It reminded the authorities that a few influential Nigerians were colluding with a few manufacturers to illegally import the commodity towards crippling local production. It added: “We demand again that government check the activities of those bad eggs sabotaging its efforts at the land borders with neighbouring countries and apply the law against individuals, firms and manufacturers shortchanging the nation in that regard.

“It must create enabling environment by providing infrastructure that will guarantee the ease of doing business in the oil palm belt and march its word with pragmatism and action on assistance to the investors in a similar manner already extended to rice farmers.’’

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What is Acai Palm?

The acai palm tree, from the genus Euterpe Oleracea, is known for growing along riverbeds and near other waterways throughout South America. The acai palm tree has adapted well over the years to tolerating flooded areas and can grow in soil that is saturated with water. These particular palm trees reach heights of 49-99 feet (15-30 meters) and produce leaves that grow up to 9 feet (3 meters) long. Edible berries grow on the acai palm tree in thick bunches that are eaten and enjoyed by different animals in the rain forest as well as people.

Several different parts of the acai palm tree are used by people. Clothing, drinks, food, building materials and weapons are just a few examples of the benefits that come from harvesting an acai palm tree. Nutritional benefits have been discovered by consuming the acai berry and is often marketed for this reason.

Many people living where the acai palm tree prominently grows have used the acai berry as part of their herbal medicine practices for years. Using the rind of the fruit in an infusion helps with skin ulcers while the oil helps treat diarrhea. The seeds are crushed and sometimes toasted before being used to lower a fever. Although it has virtually no nutritious value, the palm heart is eaten as a vegetable across the world and enjoyed for its taste.

The acai berries create a juice that is enjoyed fresh and is sometimes mixed with tapioca flour or sugar. The acai berries are soaked in water to soften the outer shell. Once the shell is softened, the fruit is squeezed and the juice inside is extracted. The juice is mostly enjoyed fresh, but can be used to make desserts, liquor, mousses and ice cream.

The health benefits from the berries of the acai palm tree has made it popular across the world. Scientific research has proven the acai berries are loaded with antioxidants and many other essential nutrients to help sustain one's health. Various minerals have been found in the acai berry as well as phytonutrients. Daily supplements of the acai berry are sold in forms of juice, drink powders, smoothies, and tablets.

Due to the many advantages of the acai palm tree, farmers have begun to farm the trees and harvest them for profit. The acai palm can also be purchased online and grown at home. In order to grow one of these trees at home, they must not be in any danger of frost. If frost is a danger to the tree, a greenhouse room is required for proper growth.

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What is a Bamboo Palm?

A bamboo palm is a palm in the Chamaedorea genus, with many people thinking specifically of Chamaedorea seifrizii when they refer to bamboo palms. This palm is extremely popular as a houseplant, and it can also be grown outdoors in USDA zones 10 through 12. Many garden supply stores sell bamboo palms, typically at a very young age, because these palms can grow quite slowly, making it time-consuming to rear large mature specimens for sale.

Bamboo palms, as their name would suggest, have a growth habit similar to that of bamboo. They develop light green stalks from which fronds of feathery leaves protrude. Many gardeners grow bamboo palms in clumps to emphasize the resemblance to bamboo, and this plant can grow up to six feet (two meters) tall if it is allowed to thrive, eventually growing to resemble a thicket of bamboo.

The bamboo palm is native to Central and Southern America, where it evolved as an understory shrub in the rainforest. Bamboo palms like indirect light, and they require soil which is moist, but not wet, preferring rich, loamy soil like that found in their native rainforest. Their preference for indirect light makes these palms ideal for growing indoors as houseplants, since they will thrive almost anywhere, as long as there is a steady supply of light.

You may also hear a bamboo palm referred to as a reed palm. People who grow these plants indoors should be aware that they like to be fertilized every summer, and that it is important to empty the drain pan under the pot after watering, or to water bamboo palms in the sink and allow them to drain completely, to ensure that their roots are never exposed to standing water. Bamboo palms also like to be allowed to fill their pots before being repotted, and they can be periodically rotated if the leaves appear to be leaning in one direction or another in order to encourage the plant to grow upright.

Bamboo palms naturally shed their leaves as they grow, developing leaves which start to yellow and brown. Pruning dead bamboo palm leaves away is important, as it allows the plant more light. If all of the leaves start to yellow or brown, this is a sign that the plant is not happy, and it may need to be watered less or more, or moved to a new location in the house. Bamboo palms are also at risk of infestation by mites, which can be prevented by washing the plant with mildly soapy water once every few weeks. Pet owners should know that the fruit of the bamboo palm, along with its leaves, is toxic to many animals.

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What is a Madagascar Palm?

The Madagascar palm, also known by its scientific name Pachypodium lamerei, is a type of succulent flowering plant related to the cactus and plumeria. Despite the name, these plants are not actually palm trees. They do look similar to most palms, however, due to their long, slender bases covered in thorns and dark green leaves sprouting from the top. Most Madagascar palms do not exceed 15 feet (4.5 m) in height, and usually do not grow taller than 6 feet (2 m) when kept as houseplants. They are native to Madagascar, an island off the coast of south Africa.

Madagascar palms need full sun for proper growth, and exposure to temperatures under 30° Fahrenheit (1° Celsius) increases the risk of severe damage or death. Apart from the light and temperature requirements, the Madagascar palm requires little maintenance. Allowing the soil to dry out partially in between waterings is normally acceptable because this plant doesn't require constant moisture. The Madagascar palm goes into a dormant state in winter and needs little to no water during that time. Most people prefer to purchase young plants rather than starting them from seed due to their slow growth rate.

Temperate climates are considered ideal for growing Madagascar palms, but they can grow almost anywhere under proper conditions. If the plant appears to have died due to cold weather exposure, cutting away the dead pieces may help it come back. This plant almost always loses its leaves when exposed to cold or if in dire need of water, but will often recover. People who have potted Madagascar palms should bring them indoors during cold weather to avoid possible damage. If a Madagascar palm is planted outside and cold temperatures are imminent, covering it with a tarp may help ensure survival.

A healthy Madagascar palm will produce fragrant white flowers from late spring throughout the summer, and should grow at least 1 foot (30 cm) in height each year. Fertilization twice yearly with an all-purpose fertilizer should also benefit the health of these plants. Madagascar palms are normally very hardy plants, but they can become infected and sustain damage from pests. Infection can typically be eliminated by cutting off infected pieces, and pesticides should be able to take care of any pests. People with pets and children who keep an indoor Madagascar palm should bear in mind that the plant is poisonous, and preventative measures should be taken to prevent any ingestion.

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What is a Rattan Palm?

A rattan palm is a type of climbing vine that is native to southeast Asia. There are over 300 known species of this strong, flexible, and fast growing palm. Some varieties of rattan palms are fruit bearing and can grow to nearly 600 feet (180 m) in length. The rattan palm is harvested in parts of Asia to make items such as baskets, mats, cages, traps, and ropes. Rattan palm materials are also used to make products such as chair seats, furniture, umbrella handles, and walking canes.

Rattan palms have a bamboo-like appearance and are considered to be more of a vine than an actual tree. These palms attach themselves to other plants and trees using hook shaped spines. The fronds of this palm are often eaten as a vegetable in certain cultures. The majority of rattan palms are located in the countries of Indonesia, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines.

The vine’s stems are known worldwide for their strength and flexibility. The stem of a rattan palmis typically processed into raw materials that are used in a wide variety of furniture making applications. The outer skin of the stem is typically removed and used as a weaving substance, although the entire stem is often split and used to make wicker chair seats and baskets. In some applications, the stem is left intact to make handles or canes.

In addition to its many furniture making uses, rattan wood is also used to make the handles of percussion mallets for musical instruments such as the vibraphone and xylophone. Some varieties of rattan fruit produce a red-colored resin that is often referred to as dragon’s blood. This resin was believed to hold certain medicinal properties by ancient Roman, Greek, and Arab civilizations. This resin is sometimes used as a wood stain and typically produces a light peach color when applied to wood.

Certain countries use rattan palm stems to make instruments utilized in a form of corporalpunishment known as caning. In this kind of punishment, a Rattan cane is soaked in water before use to increase its weight and flexibility. The Singapore military forces also use rattan canes to punish disobedient soldiers. A thinner version of this cane is used for corporal punishment by schools in Malaysia, Singapore, and a number of African countries as well.

A scientific research team in Italy has conducted experiments using rattan wood to produce artificial bone material. In this process, small amounts of rattan palm wood are combined with calcium, carbon, and phosphate and then heated and pressurized in a special type of furnace to produce a bone-like material. This new material has been clinically tested in sheep without producing any adverse reactions. These researchers hope to begin clinical trials in humans in the near future.

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Palm oil—can we enjoy it responsibly?

The slippery question of whether to ban the controversial commodity, or work with the producers. Here’s why the latter makes more sense, writes Ekateri

“Palm oil is part of our poverty-reduction strategy. It directly contributes to employment and promotes economic growth in rural areas, enabling poor communities to access health and education.” This statement by Bagas Hapsoro, Ambassador of Indonesia to Sweden, at an event about agroforestry and sustainability in Stockholm last month, left environmentalists in the room puzzled and muttering.

What about the rampant tropical deforestation to make way for palm oil plantations, and the enormous climate impact? What about the forest burning that shrouds large parts of Southeast Asia in a lethal haze? What about the indigenous people forced from their homes and the wildlife lost?

Palm oil is fuelling a heated debate. On one side, many environmental NGOs are urging a total ban on palm oil. They argue that the environmental destruction and human rights abuse brought by the rapid development of the palm oil industry is too great, and regard attempts to promote sustainable production, like the industry-led Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) certification scheme, as little more than greenwashing.

Their advocacy campaigns have clocked up some significant successes; for example, the European Union, the world’s top consumer of palm oil, agreed to phase out its use in transport biofuels from 2030.

On the other side, businesses and governments in palm oil producing and trading countries claim that boycotting palm oil is not a solution: it will only result in suppliers targeting less fussy markets, like India and China. There is a point of viewthat the EU ban on palm oil is in fact a protectionist measure aimed at boosting biofuel feedstocks produced in the EU, such as rapeseed. At the same time, they point out that palm oil is now so ubiquitous in food and cosmetics that it simply can’t be phased out. According to actors on this side of the barricades making existing palm oil supply chains more sustainable is the only way forward.

Rocio A. Diaz-Chavez, deputy centre director of Stockholm Environment Institute – Africa, and one of the scientists behind the SEI Initiative on Governing Bioeconomy Pathways, has been studying palm oil for several years. She is only too aware that “Environmental destruction, labour rights abuse and risks to food security as well as losses to the tourist sector brought on by the escalated global appetite for palm oil are impossible to deny.”

But Rocio is no advocate for a ban. She notes that oil palm is regarded as a wonder crop for a number of good reasons. For one thing, it grows fast and can be harvested several times a year. For another, it has the highest yields per area of any oil crop. The oils extracted from palm fruit and from palm kernels have different physical characteristics, which makes palm oil highly versatile. All these qualities make the crop very productive and profitable for the farmers, even with the middlemen taking their – unfair – share.

Moreover, the waste from palm oil mills can be used to generate clean energy and fuels, as well as fertiliser. According to Fumi Harahap, a researcher at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, the waste from oil palm mills in Sumatra alone could satisfy up to 50 per cent of Indonesia’s national bioenergy target. According to Gustav Melin, managing director at Svebio, palm oil electricity is already working on a smaller than the island of Sumatra scale at Kekayan Palm Oil Mill in Malaysia. Here palm oil wastes are fermented into biogas which is then used in three 1,200 kW generators, meeting the electricity needs of the entire mill complex and producing a surplus of 2,000 kW that is exported to the national grid.

At the same time, some major palm oil producers are looking at how to produce palm oil more sustainably. Golden-Agri Resources (GAR), one of the major players in palm oil production, has been experimenting with so-called mosaic landscapes, combining conservation, farming and industrial zoning as well as crop-livestock integration. However, the company is still to bring these initiatives to scale, so they are not profitable yet, according to Ian Suwarganada, head of sustainability relations at GAR. “The big bottleneck is resources; most of the palm oil plantations are operated by smallholders and rolling out new technologies to several millions of farmers is very costly,” says Suwarganada.

Another promising attempt to produce oil palm in a sustainable way comes from Colombia, the fourth biggest palm oil producer in the world. “Colombia’s land use model is completely different from the one employed in Southeast Asia, as the country mainly cultivates palm oil on grasslands formerly used for livestock, or already transformed agricultural and forested areas, avoiding deforestation altogether. The country also invests in research and development of palm oil-based products and has established institutions to regulate palm oil supply chains with sustainability as a priority,” says Diaz-Chavez.

So, to ban or not to ban? Diaz-Chavez, for one, is certain that banning isn’t the way forward. Instead, she suggests strict limits on the amount of land that can be dedicated to palm oil production, employing the best available technologies and knowledge to boost yields in a sustainable way, while safeguarding forests and ensuring there is enough land for growing food.

With palm oil, like many other sustainability dilemmas, the answer is not always black and white when you take a closer look. Yes, we can’t turn back the clock and restart palm oil production in more sustainable ways with the knowledge we have now – but we can try to do it better from here on in.

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Will Malaysia ban oil palm expansion?

The Malaysian minister of primary industries said the government is studying a proposal to cap the Southeast Asian nation’s palm oil estate at 6 million hectares. The country currently has 5.85 million hectares of the oilseed crop.

Malaysia may ban further expansion of oil palm plantations in an effort to improve the oilseed’s reputation abroad, reports Bloomberg.

In an interview Friday, Minister of Primary Industries Teresa Kok told Bloomberg that the prime minister’s cabinet will weigh a proposal to cap Malaysia’s palm oil estate at 6 million hectares (14.8 million acres), an area just 2.5 per cent larger than currently planted. However the proposal would also need to win support from state governments, which often govern land use allocation.

Kok said that Malaysia could continue to increase palm oil production despite the cap by improving yields of existing plantations.

The proposed move comes in response to criticism over palm oil’s link to large-scale deforestation in Southeast Asia, an issue that has hurt palm oil’s uptake as a biofuel feedstock in Europe at a time when a global palm oil glut has cut prices to the lowest levels in more than a decade.

The Malaysian and Indonesian governments have conducted major public relations and lobbying campaigns in support of palm oil, while also shoring up domestic demand via biofuels mandates, but haven’t been able overcome scientific studies that show the crop is a major driver of rainforest and peatlands conversion, and therefore a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions, undermining industry sustainability claims for palm oil-derived biodiesel.

Environmentalists have also linked some palm oil companies to land grabbing, human rights abuses, poor labor standards, and endangerment of charismatic animals like orangutans.

The palm oil industry has tried to police itself with the establishment of voluntary standards like the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), an eco-certification initiative, and the adoption by some companies of policies — zero deforestation, peatlands, and exploitation (ZDPE) commitments — that bar conversion of natural forests and peatlands, but the sector’s image remains tarnished by actors who have continued with expansion on a business-as-usual course.

Still, even if Malaysia does approve the 6 million hectare cap, it may not be enough to address its reputational issues given many Malaysian palm oil companies are active internationally, especially in southeast Asia, where they continue to convert forests, peatlands, and areas claimed by traditional and indigenous communities.

Some observers have noted that Malaysia could eventually be pressured by oil palm expansion in countries like Brazil, which have vast areas of land suitable for the crop that were long ago deforested for low-value cattle pasture. Converting those areas for palm could dramatically increase palm oil supply without deforestation.

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End of funding dims hopes for a Sumatran forest targeted by palm oil growers

The Harapan lowland rainforest in Sumatra, one of only 36 global biodiversity hotspots, could be lost to oil palm plantations within the next five years.

Its name in Indonesian means “hope,” but there seems to be little of that remaining for the Harapan rainforest, a tropical woodland oasis in an ever-expanding desert of oil palm plantations in Sumatra.

The Harapan rainforest is one of the last remaining expanses of lowland forest left on the island and could disappear in five years, swallowed up by encroaching palm plantations, after losing the main source of funding still keeping it on the map.

Its demise would mean the loss of one of just 36 IUCN-recognised global biodiversity hotspots, and the end of a key habitat for nine globally threatened species, including Sumatran tigers, with a population of around 400, and Storm’s storks, the rarest of all storks, with fewer than 500 left in the wild.Since 2011, the Danish government has been the main funder keeping the Harapan rainforest alive, providing technical assistance and financial support to the tune of $12.7 million. The money is channeled through the NGO Burung Indonesia, the local affiliate of BirdLife International, to REKI, a private company established to manage the forest. Much of the funding is spent on patrolling the forest to prevent illegal encroachment by palm farmers.

But the Danish government will cease its support at the end of this year, and there’s no other source of funding in sight to fill the gap. Rasmus Abildgaard Kristensen, the Danish ambassador to Indonesia, says the decision to end the funding has nothing to do with the project itself.

“This has to do with the general slowly phasing out [of] Danish development assistance to Indonesia,” he says. “The traditional development assistance is unfortunately being slowly being phased out, as many other countries are doing. Of course, Indonesia is becoming wealthier and you’re developing. And so at some point in time, this” — the end of financial assistance — “will have to come.”

With just a few months to go until the money dries up, Kristensen says no new donors have been found for the Harapan rainforest, and that leaves him concerned about the future of the forest.

“To be honest, I’m worried,” he says. “I’m very worried that unless we find another international donor to come in, and unless you keep paying for patrolling [to prevent encroachment], this [forest] will be gone in five years.”

Restoration project

Between 1985 and 1997, the islands of Sumatra, Sulawesi and Kalimantan, the Indonesian portion of Borneo, lost 60 per cent of their lowland forest, a region rivaling the Amazon for sheer abundance of species. Lowland rainforests have disappeared particularly fast because they are most accessible for logging, plantation and mining development. As a result, they are regarded as among the most threatened forests in the world.

Given the rates of degradation and conversion, it was predicted that the lowland forests of Sumatra would be wiped out by 2005.

Harapan beat the odds, and 13 years after its predicted expiry date still spans 769 square kilometers (300 square miles), representing 40 per cent of the remaining global habitat of this particular forest type. But in that time it’s lost a quarter of its area, largely to the relentless creep of oil palm estates.

When Denmark started funding the restoration of Harapan seven years ago, Kristensen says, there were “another three to four” similar expanses of lowland forest in the region. “Now they’re gone. They’ve all turned into palm oil, so this is the only one left,” he says.

What spared Harapan from being fully razed for plantations was its status as an ecosystem restoration concession, or ERC. The Indonesian government defines ERCs as former state-run logging concessions that private companies can license for restoration. The idea is to prevent these degraded logging sites from being permanently converted to palm plantations or smallholder farmland, by restoring them to their previous forested state.

Harapan became the first licensed ERC in Indonesia in 2008. Since then, 16 ERC licenses have been issued for a combined area of 6,230 square kilometers (2,400 square miles), representing 35 per cent of the total land that the government intends to license as ERCs.

Fire in the forest

Teguh spends her days in the Harapan forest hunting for softshell turtles and gathering rattan and dammar gum.

“We still search for food in the forest. There are still animals that we eat, such as fish. We also eat fruits and tubers,” she says.

Teguh, 39, is a member of the Batin Sembilan indigenous group, who number around 1,000 and lead a semi-nomadic life inside the Harapan forest. But the outside world eating away at the forest has also had an impact on the Batin Sembilan.

“In the past, we rarely got sick,” Teguh says. “If one of us ever got sick, we believed it was caused by the devil. But now we often fall ill because there’s often haze here. This haze is caused by the encroachers, who burn the forest every dry season.”

Slash-and-burn forest clearing has long been a hallmark of Indonesia’s palm oil industry, paving the way for vast estates of palm monoculture on land once brimming with biodiversity. The burning and resultant haze were particularly severe in 2015, the year Teguh says her entire family fell sick.

“Our eyes were burning and our throats were sore,” she recalls.

Even when the forest isn’t burning, the fires leave their mark. Like many indigenous forest communities around the world, the Batin Sembilan have a rich encyclopedic knowledge of medicinal plants, but the scorched earth yields nothing.

“Now it takes us four to five hours to look for medicinal herbs, because they only grow in forests that still have good [tree] cover and have never been burned,” Teguh says. “For forests that have been burned, there are fewer medicinal herbs.”

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Why is palm oil important?

Palm oil

accounts for 35% of the world's vegetable oil market and there's a very good reason why.

Efficiency

Harvested all year round, oil palm trees produce on average 10 tonnes of fruit per hectare - far more than soya, rapeseed and sunflower crops.

This means oil palm requires 10 times less land than the other three major oil producing crops, soya, rapeseed and sunflower . In addition to the 3.74 tonnes of palm oil per hectare, 0.4 tonnes of palm kernel oil and 0.4 tonnes of palm kernel expeller / cake are also produced from the fresh fruit bunches or FFB.

Palm kernel expeller is used extensively in the energy and animal feed sector. Palm kernel oil is a widely used ingredient in the personal care market.

Versatility

Palm oil demand continues to grow because it is the most versatile of all vegetable oils. This is because palm, palm kernel oil can be processed to form a wide range of products with different melting points, consistencies and characteristics.

Feeding a global population

In November 2011 the global population reached 7 billion and by 2050 it is expected to increase by 2 - 3 billion. Since oil palm is the most efficient oil crop available, it is a crucial commodity when it comes to feeding the growing number of people on our planet. The importance of palm oil becomes clear when we consider that many people in the developing world rely on it as a cheap and available cooking medium.

Top 10 palm oil consuming nations 2015

A total of 61 million tonnes of palm oil was consumed in 2015. The top 10 consuming nations accounted for 41.2 million tonnes, 68% of global consumption.

1.    India: 9.2 million tonnes

2.    Indonesia: 7.3 million tonnes

3.    EU 28:  7.2 million tonnes

 4.    China:  5.8 million tonnes

5.    Malaysia: 2.9 million tonnes

6.    Pakistan:  2.5 million tonnes

7.    Nigeria:  2.3 million tonnes

8.    Thailand: 1.7 million tonnes

9.    Bangladesh: 1.3 million tonnes

10.  USA:  1 million tonnes

Providing livelihoods

Many people rely on palm oil for their livelihoods. Oil palm smallholders are some of the poorest farmers in the world. The money they earn from growing oil palm trees is crucial to feed and care for their families.

Supporting economies

Farming and producing palm oil form the backbone for many communities and, indeed, countries. Palm oil accounts for 11% of Indonesia's export earnings, with one third of this production attributed to smallholder farmers.

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The social and environmental impact of palm oil

Deforestation

Palm oil has been linked with the destruction of the world's precious rainforests. Development of new oil palm plantations, coupled with smallholders expanding their farms to meet the rising demand for palm oil, has resulted in significant deforestation.

Threat to species survival

The removal of acres of rainforest threatens the rich biodiversity in these finely balanced ecosystems, along with the habitat of species such as the orangutan. In 1990 there were around 315,000 orangutans. Today it's estimated that fewer than 50,000 exist in the wild, split into small groups with little chance of long-term survival. The orangutan is only one of a number of species facing extinction as a result of deforestation. While palm oil is not the only cause of deforestation, it does play its part.

Interested in supporting the survival of the orangutan?"Securing safe forest habitat is the single most important thing we can do to save the orangutan from extinction."

Environmental damage

The removal of forest releases carbon into the atmosphere, speeding up global warming. In the tropics, tree roots anchor the soil. Deforestation removes this important structure, allowing heavy rains to wash away nutrient-rich soil. Crop yields begin to decline and farmers then have to use expensive fertilizers, which eat into their profits and further damage the environment

Social consequences

While the global palm oil market creates an opportunity to bring many communities out of poverty, the race for land rights has left many locals on the losing team. Reports of displaced communities and illegal land grabs are not uncommon. The resulting conflicts, loss of income and dependence on large plantations have had a significant impact of the social welfare of many.

The answer?

The demand for palm oil is huge and rising. Sustainable agriculture is the only way to maintain economic performance while halting the damage to the environment and farming communities. Supporting the production of sustainable palm oil is the way forward.

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What Are the Different Types of Palm Tree Decor?

Decorations and thematic home decor items can help bring a tropical paradise to a living room, bathroom, kitchen or lounge. Items that reflect the overall theme help create a mood and ambiance of relaxation found on vacations, and few images call to mind sandy beaches and exotic vacations like the ubiquitous palm tree. Because of its iconic nature, palm tree decor is widely available from wallpaper to trinkets to bedding and textiles in a variety of colors to fit any budget.

Including palm tree decor in a bedroom or sleeping area can be as simple as finding a comforter with a palm tree print. Crafty homeowners can opt to paint an idyllic mural of a lone palm tree on a bedroom wall, while the less artistically inclined can purchase wall decor such as wall decals or a painting of a palm tree. Palm tree-shaped nightlights or switch plates decorated with palm trees are examples of two more interior decorations that can pull palm trees into the bedroom. A homeowner can place dried or artificial palm fronds over a bed to create a shady canopy.

Living rooms, lounges, and dens provide another canvas to display palm tree decor. A playful pair of curtains with a palm tree print can bring to mind a palm tree swaying in the wind when placed in front of an open window. Those with a flair for gardening can incorporate a potted live palmtree in their interior design scheme. For a cohesive look, add accents that tie the palm tree into the room decor as a whole, such as seashells arranged on a shelf or a sprinkling of sand in a jar to continue the beach theme without being obtrusive or taking up valuable floor space.

Fans of palm tree decor who are unwilling to plaster their house in arboreal home furnishings can have a sampling of the tropical home decorations by redecorating their bathrooms with a palmtree theme. Bathrooms are small enough and simple enough that a unique decor theme like palmtrees is neither overwhelming nor unattainable. More so than any other room of the house, bathroom items are functional decor pieces. Palm tree-themed shower curtains and shower accessories are an easy way to bring tropical flair to a bathroom.

It can be easy to get carried away when picking out palm tree decor items. It is often better to choose one or two large or bold items as the focus for a room and choose accessories and other pieces that enhance, but do not detract from those pieces. Color and texture can add flair and variety. A large potted palm is an attention getter that needs little visual help; a bright orange or yellow enameled pot with clean lines makes the plant pop even more.

There are no hard and fast rules for decorating a home with palm tree motifs. Personal style, space and aesthetic preferences are the only limits when choosing palm tree decor. A home decorator can browse home decor books and magazines for ideas, or scope out a local home decor shop for advice and available decorations.

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How do I Choose the Best Palm Tree Fertilizer

The best palm tree fertilizer typically has a 2-1-2 or 2-1-3 nitrogen, phosphorous,potassium (N-P-K) ratio. While other fertilizers may work fairly well for palm trees, fertilizers with these ratios give the tree the best chance at being healthy longer. If a tree is showing signs of nutrient deficiency, then switching to a fertilizer specific for palm trees is important.

Nitrogen is especially useful for palms, especially potted palms that have a great deal of green in proportion to the rest of the plant. This nutrient aids in the transfer of energy and is a part of chlorophyll, which is vital to the photosynthesis process. Signs of a nitrogen deficiency in palmtrees include slower growth, as well as lighter green leaves than the palm normally would have.

While nitrogen is necessary, palms that suffer from lack of potassium are often more at risk for long-term problems. That is why choosing a palm tree fertilizer that has more of this nutrient is recommended. For palm tree owners using a general-use fertilizer, the potassium content may not be enough to truly help the tree. Yellowed to brown older fronds could signal a deficiency, which could take two years or more to completely correct, or could be fatal to the tree if not corrected. Choosing the right fertilizer will help prevent this situation.

Phosphorous, while also a vital component in photosynthesis, is typically not a big problem for palm trees. That is why most palm tree fertilizers do not have as much phosphorous as they do nitrogen and potassium. It is not good to totally deprive the tree of phosphorous, but the best fertilizer will focus on those other nutrients.

One of the other important ingredients in a good palm tree fertilizer is magnesium. In fact, if a gardener is trying to correct a potassium deficiency, then magnesium becomes even more important because as potassium is added, it can make a magnesium deficiency worse. A good fertilizer for palm trees will have 1 to 3% magnesium. While low amounts of this mineral is rarely fatal, it will make the palm look unhealthy.

Growers may also prefer choosing an organic fertilizer rather than a chemical one. This is a personal preference and typically makes no difference to the palm tree. No matter which fertilizer is used, choosing one that has a 2-1-2 or 2-1-3 ratio is the most important criterion.