Conclusion
Palm oil is a product that has proven to be an immensely useful product for humans. It is in many of our products varying from margarine to car tyres. It is very adaptable, easily produced and positive for the health of humans. Also, it provides an enormous economic benefit to otherwise, poor South-East Asian countries. In Indonesia, the palm oil industry alone provides about two million jobs. However, despite the many advantages of producing and consuming palm oil, there are many extreme disadvantages of the production of this vegetable oil. This production destroys many forest and vast lands, which in turn causes issues regarding many ecosystems and the biodiversity that exists within these ecosystems. The deforestation for oil palm tree plantations (by the use of forest fires) is responsible for emitting 20% of global greenhouse gases. It is somewhat ironic that the production of palm oil is presently benefiting economies, but in the future, it will be destroying economies.
There is a solution to this problem and one would remain deeply taken aback as to why such a small amount of companies, governments, smallholders and farmers are actually acknowledging this solution and taking action. The solution is ‘Sustainable Palm Oil Production’. The only issue with palm oil production occurs at its very first step; harvesting. The locations of the plantations are the only things that cause a problem. Forests (containing homes of many animals) are destroyed and many lives of slow moving creatures are lost due to the means by which the forests are deforested. The solution is to simply stop developing plantations in forest areas. The production should remain in already existing plantations and new ones that are to be built far away from any shape or form of a forest. There are vast amounts of land around the world in which oil palm tree plantations could exist and operate successfully; 300-700 million hectares globally. This would evidently ensure that forest and wildlife destruction is discontinued.
Of course, another solution to this ever-growing problem is to stop or simply reduce the amount of palm oil that is consumed. This is very obvious because if there were no consumers of palm oil, anyone involved with its production that continued the production would be losing money, and clearly wasting their time. Also, if the production were to stop, the livelihoods of millions of people would be at stake. Considering this, completely stopping the production is not a feasible solution firstly because it would remove the source of revenue for millions of workers, but secondly because it is such a frequent ingredient in countless products; humans would need to find a similar substitute anyway. However, this solution could potentially come down to ones own conscience. What is more important; saving an intelligent species from extinction and theoretically ‘saving the planet’ or ensuring that a few million workers sustain a somewhat 'high' income?
There is a solution to this problem and one would remain deeply taken aback as to why such a small amount of companies, governments, smallholders and farmers are actually acknowledging this solution and taking action. The solution is ‘Sustainable Palm Oil Production’. The only issue with palm oil production occurs at its very first step; harvesting. The locations of the plantations are the only things that cause a problem. Forests (containing homes of many animals) are destroyed and many lives of slow moving creatures are lost due to the means by which the forests are deforested. The solution is to simply stop developing plantations in forest areas. The production should remain in already existing plantations and new ones that are to be built far away from any shape or form of a forest. There are vast amounts of land around the world in which oil palm tree plantations could exist and operate successfully; 300-700 million hectares globally. This would evidently ensure that forest and wildlife destruction is discontinued.
Of course, another solution to this ever-growing problem is to stop or simply reduce the amount of palm oil that is consumed. This is very obvious because if there were no consumers of palm oil, anyone involved with its production that continued the production would be losing money, and clearly wasting their time. Also, if the production were to stop, the livelihoods of millions of people would be at stake. Considering this, completely stopping the production is not a feasible solution firstly because it would remove the source of revenue for millions of workers, but secondly because it is such a frequent ingredient in countless products; humans would need to find a similar substitute anyway. However, this solution could potentially come down to ones own conscience. What is more important; saving an intelligent species from extinction and theoretically ‘saving the planet’ or ensuring that a few million workers sustain a somewhat 'high' income?