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Indonesian NGO Backs Villagers in Fight Against Palm Oil
PANGKALAN BUN, Indonesia - Deep in the forests of Indonesian Borneo, a small environmental group is using education and common sense to arm villagers against the devastating onslaught of palm plantations.
Orangutans at Pringen Safari park in Pasuruan. Deep in the forests of Indonesian Borneo, a small environmental group is using education and common sense to arm villagers against the devastating onslaught of palm plantations (AFP/File/Aman Rahman) Yayasan Orangutan Indonesia (Yayorin) was founded in 1991 with the goal of saving Indonesia's endangered orangutans and other wildlife as well as the forests that those species need to survive.
Since then the spread of palm oil plantations into forests and peatlands on Sumatra and Borneo islands have helped make Indonesia the world's third-highest greenhouse gas emitter, thanks partly to the craze for "eco-friendly" biofuels.
They have also wiped out habitats of threatened species like orangutans and Bornean clouded leopards.
But the plantations are also hurting people whose traditional communities depend on the forests and the biodiversity they contain, and that is where Yayorin director and founder Togu Simorangkir sees hope for change.
"We think that above all the problem of deforestation is human," said the 32-year-old biologist in Pangkalan Bun village in the heart of Central Kalimantan province.
"That's why 80 percent of our programme focuses on education. It's not enough just to give the message 'stop cutting down trees'. You have to explain the consequences of deforestation in the short and long term."
Indonesia is the world's largest producer of palm oil, which is used in a range of products including soap, cooking oil and biodiesel.
Vast tracts of forest have already disappeared under palm plantations and the government is encouraging more despite its stated commitment to lowering greenhouse gas emissions by preserving the carbon stored in jungles.
In 1990 there were 1.1 million hectares (2.7 million acres) of land under palm oil plantation in Indonesia, according to official figures. This year there are 7.6 million hectares.
"We've heard some terrible stories," said Daryatmo, the chief of Tumbang Tura village in Central Kalimantan.
"Our neighbours (who sold their forested land to palm planters) can't grow ratan anymore or harvest rubber. Fishing is impossible because the river is polluted," he said.
"These are our principal sources of income. What kind of legacy are we going to leave our grandchildren?"
Lured by immediate "wealth" in the form of a few thousands dollars in cash, people in forest-dependent communities often are not aware of the consequences of selling out to the palm planters, Simorangkir said.
"Last year a plantation company offered a village two billion rupiah (176,000 dollars) to exploit its land. Every family calculated that that would bring them 30 million (2,640 dollars) each," he said.
"The village authorities sought our advice and we told them the consequences for the environment in the medium term. Despite the bait, they concluded by refusing the project."
The NGO followed up by helping the villagers improve their subsistence-level agriculture techniques, he said.
With projects spread across several villages as well as plantations, companies, schools and government agencies, Simorangkir said he hoped Yayorin could help make a difference in the battle to save Indonesia's forests.
But will such initiatives be enough to save the "man of the forest," the orangutan?
There are currently an estimated 40,000 wild orangutans on Borneo but the United Nations estimates there could be fewer than 1,000 by 2023.
Palm oil companies have been clearing orangutan habitats on Borneo despite signing up to voluntary standards under the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), a talking shop for industry and environmental groups.
The Indonesian Palm Oil Producers Association, in rejecting a moratorium on new plantations proposed by Greenpeace last year, argued that the RSPO standards were enough to protect the species.
But the Centre for Orangutan Protection says orangutans living outside Central Kalimantan's conservation areas could be wiped out within three years. Of the roughly 20,000 individuals in Central Kalimantan province, close to 3,000 die every year, it says.
"Their future is in the north of the Central Kalimantan region, which at the present time is preserved. The belt of palm oil plantations must not extend to the north," said Stephen Brend of Orangutan Foundation International.
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21 Comments so far
Show AllPeople are indeed being impacted by palm oil plantations, as are valuable wildlife and forest species. Read your food ingredient label and you'll find that palm and palm kernel oils are a common ingredient.
Relatives of an Indonesian American acquaintance of mine had to leave their village because of take over by the palm plantation corporations. They left the only place they had ever known and are all now living in Florida. This is one example of the corporate economic policies that drive emigration around the globe.
Possibly consider not purchasing foods made with palm oil.
Or soaps.
I go with organic, all-natural soaps all the way. But if you use organic bar soaps, most likely they will have palm oil in them. That is why I use liquid soaps all the time. In particular, I use Dr. Bronner's organic, fair-trade, pure-castile liquid soaps (with hemp oil). They also make bar soaps but I don't use them because of this very palm oil issue. PLEASE also consider using fair trade liquid soaps without palm oil.
And you can use those Dr. Bronner's soaps for just about everything (except in the dishwasher) - I use them as regular hand soaps, shampoo, and for cleaning my entire house.
I think the best solution is to read what is in your food and other products. I am trying to live a simple life style and try to buy most of my goods that can be made as close to my home as possible. I am not all about buying American made products for patriotic reasons, but America does have better regulation over the environment compared to many countries, but still has a long ways to go. That cuts down on transporting everything and allows other countries to make and use their own products rather than outside nations consuming it up.
I boycott palm oil. Please do the same. Orangs can't speak out on their own behalf. Let's stand by our genetic great ape relatives.
Don't just boycott palm oil. Get your reps to help Ron Paul legalize hempseed oil for manufacturing so that we can eliminate our dependence on palm oil.
Terrance Mitchell
Redfield, South Dakota
I agree. Hemp should be legalized if America is really serious about energy independence.
It is absolutely heartbreaking to watch the deforestation and depletion of species on the once beautiful islands of Borneo & Sumatra. The pitiful orang-hutans in Malaysian Borneo survive in the Sepilok national preserve, but they have become accustomed to hand feeding by park rangers. Honestly, you can see more wildlife dead in the road near Atlanta suburbs than you will see in once exotic Borneo. If you only have one more vacation in your life, go to Sumatra & Borneo while there is still some natural beauty remaining.
Good one.
Instead of using bad versions of biofuels such as corn-based ethanol and palm oil, we should be turning to better biofuels that harm no one and can in fact repair the environment if only we'd give them a CHANCE ! Hemp, algae, and even switchgrass are the best sources of biofuels and yet both sides never admit it and are in fact DISHONEST. Leave palm oil alone and let us get rid of BIG GOVERNMENT'S ban on HEMP and tell the to stop derailing decentralization for growing algae and hemp to repair the environment and fill in the necessary demand.
And by the way palm oil is dangerous to your health while hempseed oil ain't but guess what big government is terrorizing you with ?
I agree. Hempseed oil, not palm oil for fuel.
Terrance Mitchell
Redfield, South Dakota
Hogwash, as usual, not a shred of evidence to sort out these complex and technical matters.
Start with this one: http://www dot westonaprice.org/brochures/wapfbrochure.html (more at the site):
"Saturated fats, such as butter, meat fats, coconut oil and palm oil, tend to be solid at room temperature. According to conventional nutritional dogma, these traditional fats are to blame for most of our modern diseases--heart disease, cancer, obesity, diabetes, malfunction of cell membranes and even nervous disorders like multiple sclerosis. However, many scientific studies indicate that it is processed liquid vegetable oil--which is laden with free radicals formed during processing--and artificially hardened vegetable oil--called trans fat--that are the culprits in these modern conditions, not natural saturated fats."
You're arguing the false, corporate transfat complex side of the argument.
More Corporate America and Big Government propaganda to keep the public poisoned. Since when do you support any real reforms other than big government price controls? A simple google search would give you plenty of proof that hemp seed oil trumps palm oil on health, fuel, environment, etc ... Care to look or be another Big Agri Big Government spokesman ?
And human beings invented money.
Paul Siemering
ok people but this is not about your personal shopping habits. Indonesia is not being clear cut for your food or soap. Palm oil is being used for your cars. It's about feeding the u.s. and europeans insatiable appetite for more more more energy, more fuel to power our bigger and bigger cars. Which in turn is in order for us to be able to honor our capitalist masters, the ones who insist that the "american way of life is not negotiable".
because the Earth is really finite, and really can be used up. and the american way of life spells certain doom for our dear one and only planet. And remember- we can't mess with Mother Nature
The only way we'll be able to get rid of our dependence on palm oil is to get rid of the ban on hempseed oil and then our dependence on palm oil will go away. Otherwise, you're not being helpful.
Terrance Mitchell
Redfield, South Dakota
Hogwash. You hemp folks are yet to provide any evidence that hemp is better than any other value added crop.
A simple google search on the benefits of hemp would give you plenty of evidence. There are thousands of sites that point out millions of benefits to hemp. Care to look or are you just another spokesman for big and bigger government?
I suppose you think people should be in jail for even suggesting hemp legalization? Somebody should inform you that this is the 21st century.
Thank you, abuelo. The expanse of ignorance in basic macro-ecology is stunning.
Please join us - free public transit.
http://frepubtra.blogspot.com
We've dumped below cost commodities on the countries of the world for decades, devastating their farmers, and blocking wealth creation. That is, we lost money on farm exports (to provide hidden benefits to domestic and multinational corporate agribusiness (processors, ethanol, food and feed mills, animal factories), below cost raw materials. We need to get Vilsack and Obama to stop pouring our wealth out in below cost exports. We need Ag chair Harkin's Harkin-Gephardt farm bill, not his green Freedom to Farm (2002, 2008).
So they're desperate for money to survive.
We also need an end to speculation. See IATP's study of speculation: http://www dot iatp.org/iatp/publications.cfm?accountID=451&refID=104414
We need to stop price volatility. It's when prices jump a long ways that countries jump on these huge bandwagons. Major commodity prices were 25% -32% of parity in 2005, then jumped to about fair trade/living wage prices (fourfold or three fold increases). That's a huge change, it's volatile. It helps LDC farmers if sustained (which it is not) but the shock puts millions into starvation, as there isn't time for farm income to create wealth in these countries.
Daryl E. Ray explains how volatility causes these dramatic changes, for example in: "Supply response to sky-high prices: old reliables and an eye-opening new approach" http://agpolicy dot org/weekcol/436.html
NFFC's (National Family Farm Coalition, nffc.net) Food from Family Farms Act (basically Harkin-Gephardt) puts a floor under prices and a ceiling on top (managed with supply management and strategic commodity reserves) to stop volatility and to stop dumping.
We need international agreements along these lines (not to ask countries to open their borders to below cost dumping as we've been doing via "free trade"!). We help these countries (and our country) get fair trade prices and use that leverage to get changes on these other matters. Ag chair Harkin knows all about this as he was pushing for these agreements in the 1980s and 1990s. See the Africa Group's call for "stable, equitable and remunerative prices for commodity producers and to deal with structural oversupplies." IATP, "On the Right Path to Development," http://www dot tradeobservatory.org/library.cfm?refid=88129
Translation, more big government gag rules and market riggings on the way.