01/04/2011 (Fiji Times) - Part Two: "Social and Environmental Impacts of Palm Oil".

Part 1 on Palm Oil: 'The Killer Palm" outlined the associated health risks of palm oil, palm kernel oil and coconut oil; all vegetable oils containing saturated fat and used in chips, cooling oils, breakfast crackers, margarine, cosmetics, toothpaste, soap, and detergents, chocolate and biscuits

We have grown-up to think evil of saturated fats and their close link with coronary disease and rightly so.

I have; with both parents affected: one presenting with angina, hypertension (elevated blood pressure) and ultimately a heart attack; the other requiring a triple by-pass operation.

It doesn't end there.

Palm oil is not only affecting the welfare of humans; it is having a devastating impact on the environment, causing habitat loss and endangering species.

The social and ethical impacts of palm oil production include indigenous communities: rightful landowners who are forced to leave to make way for palm oil plantations for the sake of the national interest and is a violation both of their livelihood and their human rights.

Palm oil production causes enormous and often irreversible damage to the natural environment through cutting down and burning tropical rainforests.

Deforestation, the complete removal of rainforest vegetation, is harmful to the environment as greenhouse gasses are produced as a result of the burning of the vegetation. The pollution is made worse when the forest soil has high peat content as in the rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia. Over 90 per cent of peat land fire emissions originate from Indonesia, which puts the country in third place (after the USA and China) in the global CO2 emission ranking.

Many of these rainforests lie on top of peat bogs which have stored massive amounts of carbon that is only released when the forests are cut down and the bogs are drained to make way for palm plantations; contributing significantly to greenhouse gas emissions.

Indonesia is the world's largest palm oil producer and is facing the highest rate of tropical rainforest loss in the world.

Large areas of forest are being lost as native forest is cleared by large multi-national pulp companies and being replaced by plantations.

An area of forest equal to 300 soccer fields is being destroyed every hour.

Between 2000-2005 1.8 million hectares of tropical rainforest was replaced by palm oil plantations on a yearly basis.

At present rates, tropical rainforests in Indonesia would be completely deforested 10 years from now.

Habitat loss is another critical consequence of palm oil production.

Endangered species such as the Urangutan and Sumatran Tiger whose habitats are being destroyed at an enormous rate through deforestation are close to extinction.

Borneo is home to 13 primate species, 350 bird species, 150 reptiles and amphibians and 15,000 plant species.

Extinction in the wild is likely in the next 10 years for Sumatran Orangutans and soon after for Bornean Orangutans.

Palm oil production has been the direct result of their demise.

In February 2007 the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) called the situation a state of emergency in a report titled, "Last Stand of the Orangutan".

According to the UN, "The natural forests of Sumatra and Borneo are being cleared so fast, up to 98 per cent may be destroyed by 2022". These forests are the last viable habitats for the orangutan species.

What can I do about it?

The social consequences of palm oil production have no less an impact.

There is evidence of palm oil producers being guilty of various human rights violations from low pay and poor working conditions to theft of land and murder.

New palm oil plantations are commonly associated with conflict between the large palm oil companies, the government and the landowners leading to human rights' abuse.

Most of the area developed for palm oil plantations is customary land owned by indigenous peoples.

In the name of "national interest" and economic growth, communities are being forced off their land, often against their will and without adequate compensation.

Many palm oil companies claim they bring work to the area, but do not always employ the local people.

What can we do in Fiji to stop palm oil producers from destroying habitats, endangering species, polluting on a large scale and destroying livelihoods of thousands of innocent people?

You can use your rights as consumers to apply pressure to local manufacturers use alternative oils in the manufacture of their products.

They can also be asked to identify palm, palm kernel and coconut oils on product labels and alternative products can be purchased.

Furthermore, you can urge supermarket managers who are influenced by consumer demands to be selective in the imported products which they sell by offering palm oil free alternatives.

On a more global scale, you can drop a note to the Indonesian Ambassador to apply influence on the government to stop clearing native rainforest for palm oil plantations.

There is approximately 300-700 million hectares of abandoned land globally that can potentially be used for oil palm plantations instead of virgin rainforest; 20 million hectares in Indonesia alone.

There are palm oil alternatives we can choose and options we can all take to make a difference if we can act with conviction and genuine concern for the health of the community, for the environment and for the sake of endangered species such as the urangutan.