http://panda.org/news_facts/newsroom/press_releases/news.cfm?uNewsID=4 94311, Dec 2002
Key actors in the palm oil business could save Indonesian forests, new WWF report says Download WWF's report on oil palm plantations in Indonesia (1034kb Acrobat file) http://www.panda.org/downloads/forests/oilpalmindonesia.pdf See also: Is your ice cream bad for elephants? http://www.panda.org/news_facts/newsroom/features/news.cfm?uNewsID=4941 Gland, Switzerland - A new report released today by WWF shows that key actors in the international palm oil trade chain - investors, traders and retailers - could save forests in Indonesia by developing, promoting and implementing sound practices in this producing country, rather than encouraging destructive ones. According to the new WWF report, Oil Palm Plantations and Deforestation in Indonesia, global demand for palm oil will increase from 22.5 million tons per year currently to 40 million tons in 2020. In order to satisfy this demand, producer countries will need to establish 6 million ha of new plantations by 2020, with half of these predicted to be in Indonesia. Unless the institutions that will finance the expansion of the sector, and the companies that buy palm oil, insist on sound environmental, social and economic practices, WWF is concerned that the result will be an expansion of plantations at the expense of natural forests in Indonesia - a country that already has one of the highest rates of deforestation in the world. "Oil palm plantations have had a destructive effect on Indonesia's threatened natural forests," said Dr Chris Elliott, Director of WWF's Forests for Life Programme. "However, if financial institutions that fund this industry - and in particular the European ones - would open their eyes to the damage being done, it would be perfectly possible to find and fund palm oil plantations that do not destroy natural forests." Oil palm plantations have already had a dramatic impact on Indonesia's forests, according to the WWF study. Since 1985, Indonesian oil palm plantations have grown from some 600,000 ha to more than 3 million ha in 2000, leading to dramatic habitat reduction for endangered species such as orang-utans and Sumatran elephants. Often for economic reasons and due to poor governmental control, instead of putting oil palm plantations on widely available degraded lands, logging and estate companies clear land by setting fire to natural forests on their concessions, after having removed all the valuable timber and left fire-prone debris. The cleared land is then converted into crop plantations. The fast expansion of the oil palm sector has been financed to a large extent by European, North American and East Asian financial institutions, that, for the most part, rarely try to improve the social and environmental practices of their clients. "It is vital that investors, traders and retailers move towards better practices," Dr Elliott added. "Already four Dutch banks have adopted a pioneering responsibility policy in their financial services to the Indonesian palm oil sector. Swiss retail company Migros has also adopted sustainability criteria for its sourcing of palm oil, and WWF is hoping that such commitments will serve as models to the other companies involved in the palm oil business." According to the new report, India, China and Pakistan, where palm oil is the traditional cooking oil, are the world's largest importers. The Netherlands, the UK and Germany are Europe's main palm oil importers, and the European Union has a share of 17 per cent of the global palm oil market. Palm oil can be found in a wide range of food and non-food products, including cosmetics, detergents, confectionery, chocolate, ice cream, ready-to-serve meals, and margarine. < B>For further information: Dieter Mueller Forest Conversion Initiative, WWF-Switzerland Tel.: +41 1 297 22 25 or +41 79 236 96 20 (mobile) E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Olivier van Bogaert WWF International Tel.: +41 22 364 9554 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://archive.nnytech.net/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
