The Jakarta Post

23 May, 2011

Deforestation has severely ravaged Indonesia’s tropical forests, and a recently introduced moratorium on forest conversions would help reverse the trend, a senior official says.

President Susilo Bambang Yu-dhoyono’s special aide on climate change, Agus Purnomo, said illegal practices such as squatting and logging, had encroached on primary forests, leading the government to consider it necessary to give double protection to areas already under legal protection from exploitation.

“The decree will help stop such problems, as it will explicitly emphasize the duty to protect forests. With the decree, the Presidential Work Unit for Development Control and Monitoring [UKP4] will be able to issue recommendations to the president on punishing perpetrators,” he said. Read the rest of this entry »

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Science Daily

22 May, 2011

Forest fragmentation driven by demand for palm oil is having a catastrophic effect on multiple levels of biodiversity, scientists from Queen Mary, University of London have discovered.

The researchers are worried that unless steps are taken to safeguard and manage the remaining forest, then certain species will struggle to survive.

The study, which focused on bats as an indicator of environmental change, was published in the journal Ecology Letters.

The team conducted bat surveys in pristine forest and also in forest patches of varying size in central Peninsular Malaysia. They recorded the numbers of different species present and also assessed the level of genetic diversity within populations of some species. Read the rest of this entry »

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The Star

6 May, 2011

IOI Corp Bhd has been given an extension to May 25 by the Roundtable On Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) Grievance Panel to respond to the land disputes and illegal deforestation allegations by Migros, Friends of the Earth and Grassroots as well as the local community of Long Teran Kanan in Sarawak.

The extended timeline was to consider the feedback from the complainants to assess whether the proposal would indeed resolve the issues, said RSPO on its website posting on Wednesday.

RSPO will also assess and review the content of IOI’s proposal, and request for modifications from IOI where necessary. IOI submitted a detailed proposal on April 29. Read the rest of this entry »

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Business Times

3 May, 2011

There are 10 investors keen to fund biomass projects where plantation wastes like fruit bunches are used to produce electricity

Kuala Lumpur: It appears to be a case of communication breakdown.

European investors are lining up money to fund biomass projects in Malaysia but the local oil palm plantation industry doesn’t seem to know this.

According to the European Union (EU)-Malaysia Biomass Sustainable Production Initiative (Biomass-SP), an EU-led industry body, there are 10 investors keen to fund biomass projects where plantation wastes like fruit bunches are used to produce electricity,
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Reuters

2 May, 2011

Indonesia will form a body to manage, monitor and clarify its mandatory green palm oil industry scheme within two weeks, an agriculture ministry official said.

The agriculture ministry said last month that it planned to issue Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) certification to cover the entire operations of planters amid pressure from green groups to halt deforestation.

In January, Indonesia, the world’s top palm oil producer, said it would trial its ISPO certification, covering the operations of planters. [ID:nL3E7CL0N8] [ID:nSGE69J05S]

“We have been appointing a team to prepare the formation of the ISPO organization,” Gamal Nasir, director general of plantations at the ministry, told Reuters. Read the rest of this entry »

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By Kara DiCamillo

Triple Pundit

22 April, 2011

Just a few weeks ago we wrote about sustainable palm oil in the food business. It seems that with growing consumer awareness, the industry is under pressure and under a microscope. But food companies aren’t the only ones who are guilty of using palm oil. In fact, it’s also widely used in cosmetics and personal care products such as lipsticks, soaps, and shampoos. The reason? It’s a low-cost alternative.

Many smaller personal care companies have made the move towards the use of sustainable palm oil. Now one of the biggest beauty companies in the world, Avon Products, Inc., is making the industry’s biggest move to support sustainable palm oil production. Called The Palm Oil Promise, this company-wide global commitment is launching for Earth Day. Now while we usually cringe at the PR buzzwords “launching for Earth Day,” it was nice to hear that this commitment is actually part of a bigger program that Avon has launched called 2011 Hello Green Tomorrow. Read the rest of this entry »

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By Yvonne Tan

The Star

8 April, 2011

Mixed reviews from analysts over suspension of certification

IOI Corp Bhd’s brush with the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) is not expected to affect the group’s operations for now as it will merely delay the certification of new estates.

The issue was expected to be resolved amicably in “due course” given the group’s willingness to co-operate, CIMB Research analyst Ivy Ng wrote in a report yesterday.

Having said that, analysts remain negative on the latest development where RSPO certification on IOI Group’s activities which largely include plantation, manufacturing and property, have been suspended.

RSPO is the main industry body governing sustainable palm oil activities and its certification, among others, signifies that production of palm oil is environmentally friendly. Read the rest of this entry »

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Allvoices.com

5 April, 2011

Gordon Brown, former British Prime Minister, is speaking out about the exploitation of tropical rain forests and the clearing of land to plant large areas in palm oil. He is quoted: ‘probably the biggest environmental crime of our times.’ Survival International

Survival International is putting forward the plight of the aboriginal people who depend on the forests for their food and shelter, such as the hunter,gatherer Penan people. They have lost much of their forests to logging and now face a future of plantations of oil palm trees planted where their forests used to be. Other environmental organizations have spoken out about the destructive nature of large palm oil plantations. Greenpeace has had an ongoing campaign to make people aware of the invironmental destruction that accompanies such undertaking.

When many tropical forests are cleared, oil palm trees are planted. Many of these areas have thick beds of peat which hold water and act as carbon sinks. When these areas are cultivated, the peat dries out, water tables change and much carbon is released into the atmosphere. Read the rest of this entry »

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