Why palm oil plantations can endanger biodiversity

Deforestation is one of the major evils that seek to prevent the sustainability commitments made by various countries of the world. This measure aims, among other things, to avoid the disappearance of trees and plantations that are essential to combating climate change. However, a group of scientists recently warned that some natural habitats Latin america Based on Africa It could suffer from the agricultural expansion that takes place in conjunction with these policies. The a job They were conducted by experts from the University of York in the UK, who mapped the areas located in riskSpecifically, crops Palm oil.

Using this methodology, they discovered that there are 167 million hectares suitable for the survival of this plant in the dry forests and grasslands of Colombia, Bolivia, Guinea and Congo. According to scientists, if these areas were forested, the natural habitats of a third of the vertebrate animals living in the area could be altered. red list Threatened species from the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Professor Jane Hill, one of the study’s authors, said: “Palm oil is at the forefront of the debate about how to balance the need to feed the world and maintain livelihoods, while protecting nature.”

Secondly, Hill added: “With yields estimated to be six times higher than many other vegetable oils such as rapeseed, palm oil is a miracle crop and sustains the lives of millions of people in tropical countries. So instead of shunning or banning palm oil, we need to ensure policies and governance effectively protecting not only rainforests but also tropical grasslands and dry forests.”

In this way, this expert group has called for urgent protection measures for all habitats that could be affected, as they are home to a large variety of species and also store carbon. “Our study highlights how current sustainability commitments could have the unintended consequence of endangering areas of remarkable biodiversity due to the expansion of oil palm cultivation,” Hill noted.

In any case, specialists from the University of York noted that in the past five years, many multinational companies dedicated to palm oil have adhered to zero deforestation policies and cannot expand their plantations in endangered tropical forests.

The paper’s other authors, Dr Susanna Fleiss, specify: “Although we found that the yield of oil palm in areas currently covered by grasslands and dry forests will be lower than in tropical forests, these sites will still be attractive for expansion of cultivation.” oil palm. We also found that irrigation would improve yields in many of these sites, making them more attractive for expansion.”

“Clearing these areas for farms will have a serious impact on biodiversity, potentially reducing the ranges of a quarter of the vertebrate species currently threatened with extinction. The development of farms will replace existing habitats in these areas, altering the ability of existing species to find food and water, and affecting on their migration routes.

According to this expert’s statement, “A large number of people live in areas of dry forests and tropical grasslands, where they play an essential role in ecological processes such as burning and grazing. The expansion of oil palm cultivation in these areas could generate a series of interrelated problems for the local population and biodiversity “.

Finally, discussing the findings of this revealing study, Dr. Phil Platts, Fellow Emeritus at the University of York: “The Sustainability Guidelines for palm oil were developed within the rainforest context of Southeast Asia and therefore reflect the structure and function of those habitats. Now that the expansion has shifted to ecological contexts Differently, commitments to sustainability must be similarly broadened, in line with the outstanding biodiversity and carbon stocks now threatened.”

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