Palm oil, soy and tropical forests: a strategy for life



Posted on 09 October 2008  | 
Between 2000 and 2006, the area harvested for soy and palm oilglobally increased by almost 22 million hectares—an area twice thesize of Cuba. Today this expansion continues unabated, and in manyplaces is occurring at the expense of natural rainforests and thepeople who depend on them to survive.

Why is this happening? A massive demand for soy and palm oil, whichare used in a wide range of everyday products including animal feed,margarine, ice cream, cosmetics, detergents and biofuels, is drivingthese trends. Today, agricultural expansion is actually a much moreserious threat to forests than timber trade.

There are solutions to deal with the environmental problems caused bythese crops. Companies, investors, governments and consumers shouldencourage soy and oil palm cultivation that protects the environmentand people's livelihoods.

Download new WWF brochure to learn more.
Palm oil, soy and tropical forests: a strategy for life!
© Forest International Enlarge

Download

Comments

blog comments powered by Disqus

Subscribe to our mailing list

* indicates required
Measure your footprint

see all WWF gifts

Building a future in which humans live in harmony with nature.

Photos and graphics © WWF or used with permission. Text available under a Creative Commons licence.