Of all WWF's priority agricultural commodities, palm oil poses the most significant threat to the widest range of endangered megafauna – including tigers, elephants, rhinos and orangutans.
Palm oil & biodiversity loss
Large-scale conversion of tropical forests to oil palm plantations has a devastating impact on a huge number of plant and animal species.
Specific problems include:
Specific problems include:
- The destruction of habitats containing rare and endangered species.
- The elimination of wildlife corridors between areas of genetic diversity.
- An increase in human-wildlife conflict as populations of large animals – such as tigers, elephants and orangutans – are squeezed into increasingly isolated fragments of natural habitat.
- Reduced biodiversity in plantations. For example, nearly 80 mammal species are found in Malaysia's primary forests. In contrast, disturbed forests have just over 30 mammal species, while oil palm plantations have only 11 or 12 (Wakker 1998, in Clay (2004) "World Agriculture & Environment"). Similar species reductions occur for insects, birds, reptiles and soil microorganisms.
- Increased harvesting of animal species for food, the pet trade or other reasons by people lured to plantations as workers.
- The indiscriminate use of poisons to eliminate rats within oil palm plantations, which also poison other animals attempting to recolonize plantations.
Dead maroon leaf-monkey (Presbytis rubicunda) lying in a new palm oil plantation near Sembuluh, Central Kalimantan (Borneo), Indonesia. Clearcutting the monkey's forest home for oil palm plantations deprives it of its natural habitat.
Downloads
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Trade in Orang-utans and Gibbons on Kalimantan, Indonesia
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Orangutan Population and Habitat Viability Assessment
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The oil for ape scandal: How palm oil is threatening orang-utan survival
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Oil Palm, Soy Bean and Critical Habitat Loss
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Better Management Practices on Avoidance, Mitigation and Management of Human-Orangutan Conflict in Oil Palm Plantations
Affected in different ways
A variety of large mammals coexist in Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra and Borneo– in precisely the areas where oil palm plantations are expanding.
These include tigers (Malaysia, Sumatra), Asian elephants (Malaysia, Sumatra, Borneo), Sumatran rhino (Malaysia, Sumatra, Borneo), orangutans (Sumatra, Borneo), tapir, and sun bear (Malaysia, Borneo).
Some of these species, such as rhinoceros and tiger, simply can't live in the types of disturbed areas that are created in oil palm plantations.
Others, like elephants and orangutans, can – but are considered a pest as they eat oil palm fronds and seeds, and so are often killed.
Poaching of orangutans in cleared areas for the illegal pet trade is also more prevalent. In addition, fires set to clear natural forests for oil palm plantations are thought to have burned thousands of these slow-moving apes to death as they were unable to escape the flames.
Indeed, the palm oil industry is one of the most important factors for the dramatic reduction of orangutan populations in Borneo.
Sources: Clay (2004) "World Agriculture & Environment"; Ardiansyah (2006) "Realising Sustainable Oil Palm Development in Indonesia – Challenges and Opportunities" International Oil Palm Conference 2006; Wakke (1998) "Lipsticks from the rainforest: Palm oil, crisis and forest loss in Indonesia: the role of Germany" WWF
These include tigers (Malaysia, Sumatra), Asian elephants (Malaysia, Sumatra, Borneo), Sumatran rhino (Malaysia, Sumatra, Borneo), orangutans (Sumatra, Borneo), tapir, and sun bear (Malaysia, Borneo).
Some of these species, such as rhinoceros and tiger, simply can't live in the types of disturbed areas that are created in oil palm plantations.
Others, like elephants and orangutans, can – but are considered a pest as they eat oil palm fronds and seeds, and so are often killed.
Poaching of orangutans in cleared areas for the illegal pet trade is also more prevalent. In addition, fires set to clear natural forests for oil palm plantations are thought to have burned thousands of these slow-moving apes to death as they were unable to escape the flames.
Indeed, the palm oil industry is one of the most important factors for the dramatic reduction of orangutan populations in Borneo.
Sources: Clay (2004) "World Agriculture & Environment"; Ardiansyah (2006) "Realising Sustainable Oil Palm Development in Indonesia – Challenges and Opportunities" International Oil Palm Conference 2006; Wakke (1998) "Lipsticks from the rainforest: Palm oil, crisis and forest loss in Indonesia: the role of Germany" WWF
Elephants & plantations
Elephants not only "eat the profits" in oil palm plantations, but also damage the trees doing it. In some areas elephants have destroyed 20% or more of plantations as large as 5,000 hectares.
To keep elephants out, entire plantations are surrounded by deep trenches, electric fences, or barbed wire.
But elephants still often find ways in – like by walking up unprotected rivers and streams.
The conflicts are not always benign. In at least one instance, an elephant killed a plantation manager. It is not known how many elephants have been killed.
To keep elephants out, entire plantations are surrounded by deep trenches, electric fences, or barbed wire.
But elephants still often find ways in – like by walking up unprotected rivers and streams.
The conflicts are not always benign. In at least one instance, an elephant killed a plantation manager. It is not known how many elephants have been killed.
