Palm oil is on a lot of people’s minds. In Indonesia, the industry is booming, with $19.7 billion of crude palm oil exports in 2011. But expanding oil palm plantations have taken their toll on remaining forests and other natural habitats in tropical regions and led to conflict over land with local people. …
Oil palm is a remarkable crop. It creates much-needed employment and opportunities for smallholder farmers in some of the poorest and most remote rural regions. Financial returns for larger investors have also been outstanding and seem likely to remain buoyant as demand grows.
But in order for Indonesian palm oil to maintain global market access, community consent and land-use planning to reduce forest clearing will need to become the norm. The resulting expansion in sustainable palm oil production would be a huge boost to the Indonesian economy and would set an example for the rest of the world of how to grow a nation’s economy while also conserving its forest and reducing poverty.
