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The Oil Palm

The European Push for Sustainable Palm Oil

The rotating EU Presidency now rests in the hands of the Dutch Government, for the first six months of 2016. The Dutch EU Presidency has shown recent signs that it intends to push for greater scrutiny of palm oil that comes into Europe. This could mark the first time that an EU Council Presidency has made palm oil a strategic focus of their sustainability agenda.

First, and foremost on the Dutch agenda will surely be the uptake of Certified Sustainable Palm Oil (CSPO), and the relative sparsity of uptake by European buyers and manufacturers.

This lack of CSPO uptake in Europe – something that is causing discontent amongst key palm oil stakeholders – is critical, because of Europe’s position in the palm oil sustainability debate.

Europe is the key source – really the only source – of NGO approved palm oil demand. Much of the demand for CSPO certified by Western NGOs is a result of anti-palm oil campaigns and risk-averse companies that have invested considerable amounts in their branded consumer products.

Despite this, uptake remains relatively low. The uptake of CSPO is roughly 50 per cent, and there is as such no premium on CSPO, even with higher production costs.

However, there appears to be a new concerted policy push from both governments and the private sector to increase the uptake of CSPO via regulation.

The push has most recently culminated in a new policy announcement by five European governments and a number of European bodies involved in palm oil. Late last year, a group of European nations – the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark and France – signed on to a commitment for ‘100% sustainable palm oil production’ by 2020.

They have also requested that the European Commission convene a session of member states to examine the issue and policy options.

This declaration indicates a political appetite among European policymakers and business – particularly in Northern European countries –for more stringent measures on palm oil.

The Dutch appear to be leading this new push, and it looks as though the Dutch Presidency of the European Council will push broader trade and environmental goals, as well. Indeed, the Dutch trade minister indicated in a speech in December that the Netherlands would draft the support of the private sector to push other non-trade goals.

This is not the first time that trade controls through regulation has been attempted in Europe, with the goal of supporting increased CSPO uptake (i.e. securing regulatory advantage for CSPO, or disadvantage for non-CSPO palm oil – which amounts to the same thing).

Dutch importers during the last Dutch EU Presidency lobbied for a reduced tariff on palm oil certified as sustainable – an effort that clearly would have run into problems with trade law and with key trading partners (i.e. in SE Asia). The proposed reduced tariff, which was effectively an increased tariff on non-CSPO palm oil, never got out of the gate for the above stated reasons.

A recent, more nefarious attempt in the dead of night through a non-transparent process was made to introduce discriminatory regulations favouring CSPO – in this case, a tax on all non-CSPO palm oil, that was proposed in Italy in late 2015, as part of the Parliamentary budget process. Again, the proposal died straight away.

The new push, led by the Dutch EU Presidency, appears to instead draw from three separate policy initiatives related to forestry that emerged from Europe over the past decade or so.

These three items are likely the potential ‘blueprints’ that the Dutch effort could attempt to follow.

  • First, a UK procurement initiative that emerged around 2010. This was effectively a voluntary measure that was instituted by the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Areas (DEFRA). The initiative worked with palm oil importers towards an aspirational target to have all palm oil going to the UK certified as sustainable by 2015. The initiative fell well short of its target and was disbanded after three years. However, the new initiative appears to have adopted almost the same approach.
  • Second was in the Netherlands, which had a similar approach to that in the UK. This was known as the Dutch Task Force on Sustainable Palm Oil, led by the Dutch Product Board for Fats and Oils (MVO). While nominally a private-sector push, the task force relies on significant Dutch, Danish and Swiss government funding via the Dutch body IDH, also known as the Sustainable Trade Initiative. The Task Force has pushed for similar goals to the UK measures, i.e. to have all palm oil imported into the Netherlands to be CSPO.
  • Third, and arguably most significant is the EU’s Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) program. It concerns for the most part the ‘legality’ of timber products exported to the EU. FLEGT has been a multi-million dollar program with two significant policy measures.
  • One is the introduction of ‘due diligence’ rules for European importers. European importers must – under threat of legal penalty – assess the legality of any timber products they are importing.
  • Another is the establishment of an environmental trade agreement known as a voluntary partnership agreement (VPA). Under the VPA system, timber will only be exported to the EU if it meets a particular agreed standard for legality, which includes environmental regulations.

The EU is currently exploring the possibility of extending this FLEGT program to other commodities imported to the EU.

This is similar also to approaches taken in relation to conflict minerals on both sides of the Atlantic, and more recently, with reporting on policies in relations to child or trafficked labour in the State of California. In these cases, the reporting requirements are those that basically demonstrate that some level of risk management has been undertaken. However, the requirements make parties that are essentially innocent so paranoid about auditing that extreme levels of compliance are implemented that don’t actually go towards solving any social or environmental problems.

These three abovementioned policies, in combination with the most recent announcement in the Netherlands, indicate that the EU – and certainly specific EU states – is taking some sort of environmental trade control seriously.

This has not gone unnoticed by palm oil producing countries, and efforts by the Dutch Presidency to implement policies based on these scenarios would risk disagreement with palm oil producing countries – key trading partners for the EU in general, and the Netherlands in particular.

The bigger question is whether the EU is of the opinion that it can undertake these measures unilaterally in the light of recent policy initiatives in both Malaysia and Indonesia.

Both countries have introduced government-backed sustainability standards for palm oil production. The Malaysian standard in particular follows national standards procedures and conforms with norms established in the International Standards Organisation (ISO).

Any move by the EU – or EU nations – to push a private, non-governmental standard rather than recognise one that has been established by a sovereign government would have further ramifications for European trade policy and any trade push by the European Union into the palm oil-producing region in South-East Asia. The idea that the EU wouldn’t to some extent recognise a standard established by one of its trading partners is politically dangerous.

The EU, for example, recently announced a new trade strategy called ‘Trade For All’. The policy states that Asia is crucial to Europe’s economic interests; yet Asia appears to be something of an afterthought in EU foreign policy. The EU-Singapore free trade agreement went ahead because there was nothing contentious in it; in some ways it can simply be considered an agreement on investment and services. The EU-Vietnam agreement negotiations concluded in December; and there is still at least an 18-month legal review and ratification period ahead.

But the reality is that the EU’s trade relationship with most ASEAN countries has stagnated; as demand in Europe wanes, its manufacturers and services providers need greater market access in growing markets.

The only way this will happen is with careful and considered bilateral or multilateral engagement that covers national standards, EU trade regulations such as due diligence laws and broader trade engagement. If European countries want to say which palm oil can enter Europe, and which can’t, they must be aware that this will come at a price.

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ATTUALITÀ Italiano

I rapaci, le piantagioni e anche le raffinerie: olio di palma, ciò che non sapete

Dai rapaci ai frutti, dalle piantagioni alla lavorazione in raffineria, poi i camion e il marchio di sostenibilità: tutto quello che non sapete sull’olio di palma.

Il rapace notturno e la sua casetta – Questa specie di barbagianni malese è un rapace notturno. Viene utilizzato nelle piantagioni malesi di olio di palma per ridurre l’impatto ambientale. Infatti questo carnivoro da la caccia ai topi che sono molto ghiotti dei frutti di palma. In tal modo – utilizzando questo sistema biologico – invece di altri prodotti chimici, si combattono i roditori in maniera “naturale”. Non per niente vengono anche curate le “casette” dei rapaci

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ATTUALITÀ Italiano

Olio di palma, un grasso naturale ostaggio di false credenze?

La prevenzione delle malattie cardiovascolari, non dipende dalla riduzione o dall’aumento del consumo di olio di palma. Guy-André Pelouze (chirurgo cardiotoracico): L’olio di palma è un olio vegetale ben bilanciato. Non è più dannoso di altri oli. Basta mantenere un’alimentazione equilibrata.

Torniamo a parlare dell’olio di palma e del dibattito che lo ha visto protagonista in particolare negli ultimi anni. Se da una parte esperti nutrizionisti lo hanno condannato per essere un olio estremamente dannoso per la salute, dall’altra le aziende alimentari che lo utilizzano in produzione lo hanno sempre difeso, sebbene fino al 2014 non venisse riportato in etichetta. Difficile inoltre dimenticare il caso scatenato dal ministro dell’Ecologia francese, Ségolène Royal, che ha invitato a non mangiare Nutella, per salvare il pianeta dalla deforestazione.

Insomma le pressioni dell’opinione pubblica e la campagna mediatica portata avanti principalmente da Il Fatto Alimentare, che ricordiamo ha lanciato la petizione contro l’olio di palma, hanno portato a un allarmismo e a una confusione generale. Ricordiamo però che bandire l’olio di palma dal mercato, come auspicavano in molti, alimentare non è così facile considerando che contribuisce in maniera significativa all’economia: in Italia le sue importazioni generano oltre 14mila posti di lavoro; per non parlare dei Paesi in via di sviluppo, dove è garanzia di occupazione e reddito.

Cerchiamo di fare chiarezza interrogando un esperto in materia, Guy-André Pelouze (nella foto), chirurgo toracico e cardiovascolare all’ospedale Saint Jean di Perpignan, in Francia. Relatore in varie conferenze mondiali sull’olio di palma e autore di vari articoli in merito, Pelouze sostiene che non vi sia alcun fondamento scientifico che provi la dannosità dell’olio di palma sulla salute dell’uomo.

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Authors Dr Guy-André Pelouze

Fats and Mortality: Beginning of the End of a Myth

The conventional wisdom that saturated fats are problematic for human nutrition is simply not credible any more, in the face of increasing scientific evidence. The latest evidence comes from De Souza et al, who have published in the British Medical Journal (http://www.bmj.com/content/351/bmj.h3978) looking into saturated fat consumption. I will examine the scientific details in this blogpost – but the important headline is that we, as medical professionals, media, society, need to challenge the previously assumed link between saturated fats and CVD. The evidence now shows that the old advice was wrong.

Palm oil is one saturated fat that has suffered from this misperception: my hope is that the more evidence emerges, the more difficult it will be for anti-palm oil activists to persist with their erroneous negative claims.

Saturated fat consumption, scientific interest and political issues

Fat consumption has been scrutinised by researchers and government agencies since the aftermath of World War 2. This is mainly the consequence of the lipid heart hypothesis formulated by the scientist Ancel Keys, in the 1950s, which was never confirmed but has passed into dietary guidance ever since. This study suffered all the bias of retrospective or prospective non-interventional epidemiological studies about diet and CVD. Particular weaknesses include –

  • Very poor quality of diet analysis and questionnaires
  • No control group and a lot of confounding parameters
  • Weak correlations and very low absolute risk differences
  • Wide range of metabolic responses among individuals to intake of carbs / lipids / proteins
  • Ignorance of the type of fat and especially the amount of industrially produced trans fats
  • Selection of countries and/ or avoidance of those with high intake of saturated fats and low CVD rates like France or Spain.

To illustrate this, let me review the selection process of the studies as shown in Figure 1 of the paper (http://www.bmj.com/content/351/bmj.h3978). THE BMJ paper finds that os much of the literature on saturated fats following Ancel Keys was not of sufficient scientific quality. From 20,413 studies in the database, only 41 were selected (because of lack of information, low quality, and other insufficiencies). For instance, from the 445 studies resulting of a process of eligibility based on the full text, 372 were excluded because:

  • They did not assess saturated fat exposure
  • They did not measure outcomes of interest
  • They duplicate data from previous publications
  • They did not present a measure of associations
  • They have an inappropriate study design.

There is more, the GRADE (http://www.gradeworkinggroup.org/index.htm) evidence profile of quality is very low for all the comparisons done in the selected studies in the past around saturated fats, as found yb the BMJ (http://www.bmj.com/content/bmj/suppl/2015/08/11/bmj.h3978.DC1/sour025275.ww5_default.pdf).

What are the findings?

Once more, I have to insist on a critical point in human observational studies about diet: mortality is crucial. Without any effect on mortality, observational studies should be taken with extreme precautions for further conclusions. Figure 2, which is displayed below, illustrates very precisely how saturated fat are neutral on different risks and the great heterogeneity of studies on CHD and saturated fats.

 

Untitled

Untitled2

Recently the number of papers by nutrition specialists who doubt or challenge results of studies about saturated fats and CVD has increased because the statistical reality as assessed by meta-analysis or recalculating old data is indeed against any detrimental effect of saturated fats on cardiovascular health.

Atheroma and CVD are complex issues, which are not caused by fat (or cholesterol) in your plate, and therefore not caused by palm oil.

Without a doubt, we are near the end of a myth. The only surprise is the slowness of the process i.e. the extraordinary conservatism of the scientific community about the diet heart hypothesis. No doubt that economic interests (the low-fat industry, the sugar industry and at large the agro-food industry) and the traditional reluctance to change of highly centralised bureaucracy are key explanations for exceptional lasting of this myth. But enough is enough because this advice is not neutral and even deleterious to populations following it and consequently do not engage in actual and efficient prevention of CVD.

 

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Pieter-Jan Hannes The Oil Palm

Pourquoi j’utilise l’huile de palme lorsque je sers mes amis?

C’est une question qu’on me pose souvent, étant donné que je reçois souvent mes amis pour le dîner, et que je cuisine pour eux (vous pouvez le voir dans une vidéo sur le palmier à huile).

Lorsque nous sommes en train de dîner, ils sont toujours un peu déstabilisé quand ils aperçoivent la poitrine de poulet de couleur légèrement orangée dans leurs assiettes, se demandant probablement ce que c’est! Ils veulent savoir ce qui est responsable de cette couleur. Il s’agit bien entendu de l’huile de palme rouge qui lui donne cette belle couleur. La conversation passe de «wow, je ne savais pas que cela pouvait être effectivement délicieux» à «mais l’huile de palme n’est elle pas mauvaise pour nous et l’environnement?» Ou «j’ai lu qu’elle contenait beaucoup de graisses saturées.”

C’est à ce moment que l’étudiant en chimie/athlète/expert culinaire en moi intervient:

  • Ils sont mieux portants avec des graisses saturées, qu’avec tous ces glucides et sucres qu’ils mangent tout le temps.
  • Ajouté à cela, l’huile de palme est en faite un produit sain. Parce que, par exemple, l’huile vierge extraite des fruits rouge du palmier est une meilleure source de bêta-carotène (vitamine A) et de vitamine E, comme les tocotriénols, que la plupart des légumes. L’huile de palme, par exemple, contient 10 fois plus de bêta-carotènes que les carottes, et 30 fois plus que les tomates.
  • Pour les rassurer qu’ils ne doivent pas se sentir coupable de manger ce repas, nous pouvons garantir qu’aucuns animaux n’ont été blessés (à part le poulet qu’ils ont mangé, évidemment). Nous cuisinons toujours avec l’huile de palme de marques qui garantissent la durabilité. La Malaisie, par exemple, a même créé sa propre norme de durabilité à l’échelle nationale pour donner une assurance sur les produits.
  • En ce qui concerne l’environnement, je pense que la meilleure façon de garder un bon équilibre entre la nature et l’humanité est d’enseigner aux consommateurs ce qui est juste. Et qu’il existe des méthodes de production durables pour aider l’environnement d’un côté et de l’autre côté améliorer la vie des petits agriculteurs (comme en Malaisie, mais aussi en Afrique par exemple). Il y a des millions de petits agriculteurs qui produisent de l’huile de palme dans le monde.
  • Plutôt que de ne pas manger/utiliser des produits contenant de l’huile de palme, il est préférable de soutenir ces agriculteurs, et de connaitre la réalité à propos de l’huile de palme durable. Ce serait la même discussion avec tout autre produit alimentaire, après tout. Mais je suis heureux et confortable d’être en mesure d’acheter des produits naturels au super marché (ou comme mon huile de palme dans un magasin bio) en échange d’un peu plus d’équilibre entre la nature et l’humanité.

Et maintenant que la plupart de mes amis ont eu plus qu’assez de cette conversation sérieuse pour la soirée, nous continuons à profiter de notre fantastique dîner. Préparé avec de l’huile de palme, bien sûr.

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Authors Pieter-Jan Hannes

Why do I serve palm oil to my friends?

This is a question I get asked a lot, as I play host to my friends for dinner, including cooking for them (which you can see in my video on The Oil Palm).

When we’re eating dinner, they are always looking a bit confused when they see the slightly orange coloured chicken breast on their plate, probably wondering what this is! They want to know what is responsible for this colour of the food. It is of course the red palm oil that gives it the lovely colour. The conversation switches from “wow, I had no idea it could actually be delicious” to “but isn’t palm oil bad for us and the environment?” or “I read that it contains a lot of saturated fats.”

It’s here where the chemistry student/athlete/food expert in me comes up:

  • They are much better off with saturated fats, than with all those carbohydrates and sugars that they are eating all the time.
  • Added to this, palm oil actually is a healthy product. Because for instance the virgin oil extracted from the red palm fruits is a better source for beta-carotenes (precursor for vitamin A) and vitamin E, such as tocotrienols, than most vegetables. Palm oil for instance contains 10 times more beta-carotenes than carrots and 30 times more than tomatoes.
  • Just to make sure they don’t have to be guilty about eating our meal, because we can guarantee there were no animals harmed whatsoever (besides the chicken they’ve eaten, obviously). We always cook with palm oil from brands that guarantee sustainability. Malaysia, for example, has even created its own countrywide sustainability standard to give assurance about the products.
  • When it comes to the environment, I think the best way to keep nature and mankind in balance is to teach consumers what’s right. And that there are sustainable production methods to help the environment on one side and on the other side improving the lives of small farmers (like in Malaysia, but also in Africa for example). There are millions of small farmers producing palm oil across the developing world.
  • Rather than not eating/using products containing palm oil, it is better to support those farmers, and to know the reality about sustainable palm oil. It would be the same discussion with any other food product, after all. But that I’m happy and comfortable to be able to buy natural products in the super market (or like my palm oil in the bio-shop) in exchange for a bit more balance between nature and mankind.

After which most of our friends have had more than enough serious talk for one night and we continue enjoying our fantastic dinner. Cooked in palm oil, of course.

 

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Dr Guy-André Pelouze The Oil Palm

L’Huile de Palme est une excellente huile pour cuisiner : résistante à la chaleur et saine

Dans un article publié récemment, le journaliste du UK Daily Telegraph, Robert Mendick explique comment les huiles végétales peuvent devenir toxique lorsqu’elles sont chauffées, car elles libèrent des “produits chimiques cancérigènes toxiques”. Dans cet article, cinq graisses différentes sont comparées: deux graisses saturées (huile de noix de coco et le beurre) et trois végétales, des huiles hautement insaturées (huile d’olive extra vierge, de maïs et d’huile de tournesol).

Il est vrai que toutes les graisses ne sont pas identiques. Il est également vrai qu’aucun gras n’est parfait. Ce qui est important de comprendre est que certaines graisses, animale ou végétale, sont bonnes lorsqu’ elles sont utilisées à froid, comme vinaigrettes ou marinades, par exemple; tandis que d’autres sont mieux adaptées pour la cuisson, faire sauter ou frire. La chaleur peut être rude sur certaines graisses, en particulier les huiles végétales, comme l’a indiqué l’article du Telegraph.

L’huile végétale ne signifie pas gras insaturé

Le journaliste a comparé des huiles végétales souvent considérées comme saines (maïs, tournesol) à d’autres matières grasses riches en acides gras saturés, tels que l’huile de noix de coco ou du beurre. Les huiles et les graisses saturées sont plus stables lorsque la chaleur est appliquée. Par conséquent, comme le montre l’étude citée dans cet article, elles sont une alternative plus saine en ce qui concerne la cuisson. Donc, l’huile de noix de coco est idéale, car elle contient environ 85% d’acides gras saturés, tout comme le beurre avec 65% d’acides gras saturés.

Ce qui est étrange, cependant, c’est que l’huile de palme ne soit pas mentionné. Avec une composition équilibrée (50% saturés et 50% insaturés), l’huile de palme est parfaite pour la cuisson, y compris pour frire, car elle est très résistante à la chaleur. Elle ne se décompose pas lorsque utilisée pour la friture. Elle est aussi naturellement sans gras trans et sans cholestérol.

Une alternative saine et équilibrée

Un article vraiment précis aurait établi l’huile de palme comme l’une des meilleures alternatives aux huiles de mais et tournesol pour la cuisson. L’excellente résistance de l’huile de palme à la chaleur et sa composition équilibrée en fait une des options disponibles les plus saine.

L’éducation sur l’alimentation et la cuisine est essentielle si les Européens veulent améliorer leur régime alimentaire et leur santé. L’utilisation de l’huile de palme comme une huile de cuisson, à la place des huiles insaturées potentiellement dangereuses (tournesol, maïs) est un excellent exemple de cela.

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Pierre Bois D’Enghien The Oil Palm

Protéger la biodiversité et les ressources naturelles

La biodiversité et les ressources naturelles sont-elles bien protégées au sein de la filière huile de palme ? Les petits producteurs, premiers sur le terrain, avancent-ils efficacement vers davantage de durabilité ?

Tout d’abord commençons par resituer le contexte. En termes de gain de productivité, il est utile de rappeler que pour une même quantité d’huile végétale produite, le palmier à huile a besoin de 8 à 10 fois moins de superficie qu’une autre culture oléagineuse annuelle.

La conséquence directe étant que parce qu’elle nécessite moins d’espace, la culture de du palmier à huile permet au petit producteur de préserver plus d’espaces naturels et, par cela, plus de biodiversité.

Ensuite si on s’attache à la plantation elle-même et qu’on la compare aux autres cultures, il est clair que le palmier à huile héberge plus de biodiversité. Comme plante arborescente, elle crée un habitat pour plusieurs dizaines d’espèces végétales et animales. Les plantes épiphytes s’y développent harmonieusement et beaucoup d’insectes (fourmis, etc.) y trouvent des zones favorables à leur développement. C’est loin d’être un désert de biodiversité, comme peuvent l’être les cultures de soja ou de colza.

Enfin si on en vient maintenant aux mesures conservatoires, on constate que la filière industrielle a développé un process unique et fait des efforts considérables pour la préservation et le développement de la biodiversité. Les Principes et Critères RSPO apportent une attention importante à la préservation de la biodiversité et des ressources naturelles (sol, énergie, air, eau).

La couverture du sol par les plantes légumineuses et l’interdiction de planter sur les pentes trop fortes, limite l’érosion et la destruction des sols.

L’utilisation de biocombustibles (coques et fibres provenant de l’usinage lui-même) pour produire électricité et vapeur, limite le recours aux énergies fossiles au strict minimum.

La plantation de palmier à huile n’a besoin que de très peu de produits phytosanitaires et d’engrais chimiques pour être saine et rentable; la production d’huile « issue de l’agriculture biologique » est aisée et permet de protéger les ressources en eaux de surface et souterraines.

Un rendement élevé qui permet de concentrer la productivité sur de faibles superficies, une culture qui héberge naturellement de nombreuses espèces, des mesures conservatoires très strictes mises en œuvre par la filière… la biodiversité et les ressources naturelles sont entre de bonnes mains, celles de petits producteurs soucieux de préserver leur environnement.

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Authors Pierre Bois D’Enghien

Protecting Biodiversity and Natural Resources

As an expert in environment and agriculture, I have been studying and working with oil palm for many years. I have worked with the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) and many other sustainability-focused initiatives, and the question of protecting biodiversity is always at the top of people’s minds.

A question many people ask me is whether biodiversity is well-protected within the palm oil industry? Are the small producers, for example, advancing effectively towards greater sustainability?

First, we must start by looking at the context. In terms of productivity gains, it is worth recalling that for the same amount of vegetable oil produced, oil palm needs 8 to 10 times less surface area than other perennial oilseed crops.

The direct consequence is that because it requires less space, the cultivation of oil palm allows small producers to preserve more natural areas, and therefore, more biodiversity.

Then, if one focuses on the plantation itself compared to other crops, it is clear that oil palm hosts more biodiversity. As a tree plant, it creates a habitat for dozens of plant and animal species. Epiphytic plants develop there harmoniously and many insects (ants, etc.) find en environment there, which is favourable to their development. This is far more biodiverse than crops such as soy or canola.

There have been numerous studies examining biodiversity on oil palm plantations.

In Africa, for example, it has been well documented that oil palm provides edible resources for: chimpanzee species,[1] Thomas’s rope squirrels ; white-throated bee-eaters (Merops albicollis); southern yellow-billed hornbills ; and oil-palm vultures.

In Latin America, black vultures (Coragyps stratus)[2] and white-faced capuchins (Cebus capucinus)[3] are among the species living around and within oil palm plantations.

In Southeast Asia, the plant also provides a range of uses and habitats. According to one study in Sumatra, 38 non-domesticated mammals were found using palm oil plantations.[4] The report also noted that almost two-thirds of these have an important conservation value or are protected under national law, and 25% are listed as vulnerable or higher on IUCN red lists.

A study on the Malaysian peninsula suggested a thriving population of the banded pig (Sus scrofa vittatus[5]. Other animal life includes long-tailed (Macaca fascicularis) and pig-tailed (Macaca. nemestrina) macaques[6].

Bird species such as Pycnonotus goiavier, Prinia spp., Parus major, Copsychus saularis, and Halcyon smyrnensis are all visitors to oil palm plantations (Desmier de Chenon and Susanto, 2006), as well as threatened species such as blood pythons (Python brongersmai) and short-tailed pythons (Python curtus).

Even the most recent report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change noted that: “When combined with agroforestry, palm oil plantations can increase food production locally and have a positive impact on biodiversity.”

When it comes to precautionary measures now, we see that the sector has developed a unique process and made considerable efforts for the preservation and development of biodiversity. RSPO’s Principles and Criteria for example, pay significant attention to the preservation of biodiversity and natural resources (land, energy, air, water).

Soil cover by leguminous plants and the planting ban on slopes that are too steep, limiting erosion and soil destruction, are examples. The use of biofuels (shells and fiber from the processing itself) to produce electricity and steam, limits the use of fossil fuels to a minimum.

Oil palm plantations need few pesticides and chemical fertilizers to be healthy and profitable; in addition, farmers have developed integrated pest management techniques (pheromones to trap insects, creating attractive hedges and bushes that can serve as habitat for pest predators, maintaining an owl nest every 25 ha to promote the circulation of birds of prey that feed on rats, etc.). Thus, oil production helps protect surface water and groundwater resources.

High efficiency levels allow the industry to focus productivity in small areas, a culture that is naturally home to many species, with strict protective measures implemented by the sector … biodiversity and natural resources are in good hands, those of small and large palm oil producers anxious to preserve their environment.

I’ll be visiting Malaysia in the first part of 2016 to conduct further field research on the biodiversity in oil palm plantations, and the wider environmental conservation efforts undertaken in the country. I’ll be talking to companies, NGOs, officials, and other stakeholders, and I will be updating this blog with details of my findings.

 

[1] Humle T and Matsuzawa T (2004) Oil palm use by adjacent communities of chimpanzees at Bossou and Nimba Mountains, West Africa. International Journal of Primatology 25: 551–581; Leciak E, Hladik A, and Hladik CM (2005) The oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) and the cores of high biodiversity in gallery forests of Guinea in relation to human and chimpanzees commensalism. Revue d’Ecologie-La Terre et la Vie 60: 179–184; Sousa J, Barata AV, Sousa C, Casanova CCN, and Vicente L (2011) Chimpanzee Oil-Palm Use in Southern Cantanhez National Park, Guinea-Bissau. American Journal of Primatology 73: 485–497.

[2] Elias DJ and Dubost DVG (1982) Unusual feeding behavior by a population of Black Vultures. Wilson Bulletin 94: 214.

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[5] Ickes K (2001) Hyper-abundance of native wild pigs (Sus scrofa) in a lowland dipterocarp rain forest of Peninsular Malaysia. Biotropica 33: 682–690.

[6] Meijaard Erik, and Sheil Douglas (2013) Oil-Palm Plantations in the Context of Biodiversity Conservation. In: Levin S.A. (ed.) Encyclopedia of Biodiversity, second edition, Volume 5, pp. 600-612. Waltham, MA: Academic Press.

 

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Authors Dr Guy-André Pelouze

Palm Oil is an Excellent Cooking Oil: Heat-Resistant and Healthy

In an article published recently, The UK Daily Telegraph journalist Robert Mendick wrote about how vegetable oils become toxic when heated, because they release “toxic cancer-causing chemicals”. In this article, five different fats are compared: two saturated fats (coconut oil and butter) and three vegetable, highly-unsaturated oils (extra virgin olive oil, corn and sunflower oil).

It is indeed true that not all fats are equal. It is also true that no fat is perfect. What is important to understand is that some fats, whether animal fat or vegetable oil, are good when used cold, in salad dressings or marinades for instance; while others are better suited for cooking, sautéing or frying. Heat can be harsh on some fats, especially vegetable oils, as was stated on The Telegraph article.

 

Vegetable oil doesn’t mean unsaturated fat

The journalist compared vegetable oils often considered healthy (corn, sunflower) to other fats rich in saturated fatty acids, such as coconut oil or butter. Saturated oils and fats are more stable when heat is applied. Therefore, as shown by the study quoted in the article, they are a healthier alternative when it comes to cooking. So coconut oil is ideal, as it contains roughly 85% of saturated fatty acids, so is butter with 65% saturated fatty acids.

What is odd, though, is that palm oil is not mentioned. With a balanced composition (50% saturated and 50% unsaturated), palm oil is perfect for cooking, even frying, as it is very heat-resistant. It doesn’t break down or mutate when used for frying. It is also naturally trans-fat free and cholesterol free.

 

Healthy, balanced alternative

A truly accurate article would have established palm oil as one of the best alternatives to corn or sunflower oil for cooking. Palm oil’s excellent heat resistance and balanced composition make it one of the healthier options available.

Education about food and cooking is essential if Europeans are to improve their diets and overall health outcomes. Using palm oil as a cooking oil, in place of the potentially-hazardous unsaturated oils (sunflower, corn) is a prime example of this.