Palm oil is widely cultivated in tropical regions of Asia, Africa, and South America; however, 85% of the world's palm oil products come from Malaysia and Indonesia. In 2011, Indonesia produced 9 million tons of palm oil, ranking first in the world. Over the next 10 years, the Indonesian government plans to double its production and actively develop peatlands along its tropical rainforest coast.
Since recent research has finally confirmed the relationship between oil palm expansion and greenhouse gas emissions, this decision by the Indonesian government will have a huge impact on the world.
Unlike most scientists who measure greenhouse gas emissions from palm oil, two graduate students from Tohoku University in Japan, Fatwa Ramdani and Masteru Hino, focused solely on greenhouse gas emissions in Riau province, rather than looking at the whole of Indonesia.
Both rainforests and peatlands provide important ecosystem services, such as providing habitats for organisms, clean air and water, or even carbon storage. But peatlands are undoubtedly the world's champion in carbon storage.
Peatlands are typically damp and muddy, where any dead organisms take a long time to decompose. Carbon extracted from the atmosphere by plants is thus stored indefinitely in dead or living cells. However, whenever the ecosystem is disturbed or altered, the stored carbon is released.
Between 2000 and 2012, Riau Province's peatlands were subjected to large-scale encroachment by 137 multinational corporations and 2 listed companies. The area of natural forest cover in Riau Province plummeted from 63% in 1990 to 22% in 2012.
They found that between 2000 and 2012, the expansion of oil palm plantations in Riau province released an average of 5.2 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually, with about 70% of those emissions coming from peatland development.
In the 1990s, forest conversion accounted for 60% of greenhouse gas emissions. The contrast between then and now shows emissions have increased rather than decreased, indirectly indicating the extensive development of peatlands in Riau province by palm oil companies. But what's even more puzzling is the question of what constitutes sustainable development as claimed by these companies. Researchers stated, "Peatlands are typically not protected by government-mandated development permits, making them a prime target for conglomerates, who compete fiercely for them, solely to convert the land to oil palm cultivation." Ramdani said, "The unbridled desires of palm oil companies and the government's inaction are the biggest factors accelerating the collapse of peatlands and rainforests. The only way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is to steer oil palm cultivation towards environmental sustainability and biodiversity conservation."
However, a glimmer of hope has recently emerged: the Roundtable of Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) is planning to raise product standards, and two palm oil giants, Wilmar International and Golden Agri-Resources, have recently pledged to avoid converting peatlands to oil palm. But only if consumers are willing to support environmentally sustainable palm oil can Riau province's peatlands continue to store carbon and provide habitat for wildlife. This will also reduce energy costs for future green buildings.
Sources: Environmental Information Center (2014-02-11)
