By Veroli Zhimo
Just a few days ago, a Nagaland forest department official dismissed news reports on the adverse effects of oil palm plantation on the environment as “factually incorrect.” He said “the matter needs further investigation,” which is a fair enough observation, but went to make a rather incongruous claim that, “As of now, there is no record or findings that palm oil trees are not good for the eco-system.”
Such a claim sounds are grossly irresponsible, especially when it comes from the state’s Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF) and Head of Forest Force (HoFF) Dharmendra Prakash—an official who should be well aware of the fact that palm oil production has affected at least 193 threatened species, according to The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species TM.
The IUCN or the International Union for Conservation of Nature is a membership Union composed of both government and civil society organisations which harnesses the experience, resources and reach of more than 1,400 Member organisations and the input of more than 18,000 experts, making it the global authority on the status of the natural world and the measures needed to safeguard it.
According to an IUCN ‘Palm oil and biodiversity’ document, it has been estimated that oil palm expansion could affect 54% of all threatened mammals and 64% of all threatened birds globally.
It further noted that oil palm expansion is a “major driver of deforestation and degradation of natural habitats in parts of tropical Asia and Central and South America...” (and) “...On the island of Borneo, at least 50% of all deforestation between 2005 and 2015 was related to oil palm development.”
Pointing out that the tropical areas suitable for oil palm plantations are particularly rich in biodiversity, the IUCN further underscored that its development has “significant negative impacts on global biodiversity, as it often replaces tropical forests and other species-rich habitats.”
While acknowledging that oil palm plantations provide jobs and drive national economic development, the IUCN also noted that, “The oil palm industry also often has negative impacts on local communities. Some communities suffer economically from oil palm development because their loss of access to forests is not sufficiently compensated by economic gains from oil palm cultivation.”
Similarly, UNEP Global Environmental Alert Service (GEAS) published the ‘Palm Oil Paradox: Sustainable Solutions to Save the Great Apes (2016),’ a two-year study of palm oil development in Southeast Asia observed that the conservation community should collaborate more closely than ever with oil palm developers if a global sustainable strategy is to be achieved and fragile ecosystems are to be saved. It also made recommendations on the steps required to ensure that the loss of biodiversity that occurred in SE Asia is not repeated as the crop expands into Africa.
Another organisation, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) also underscored that “Palm oil has been and continues to be a major driver of deforestation of some of the world’s most biodiverse forests, destroying the habitat of already endangered species like the Orangutan, pygmy elephant and Sumatran rhino.” This forest loss coupled with conversion of carbon rich peat soils are throwing out millions of tonnes of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and contributing to climate change, it added.
Along these lines, the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil was formed in 2004, in response to increasing concerns about the impacts palm oil was having on the environment and on society. Stating that oil palm cultivation has caused – and continues to cause – deforestation in some regions, the RSPO also underscored that land, which was once predominantly covered by primary forest (forest that has never been touched by man) or which housed protected species and biodiversity, was cleared in order to be converted into palm oil plantations. As a result, the RSPO set production standards that laid down best practices producing and sourcing palm oil, and it has the buy-in of most of the global industry.
In order to address these adverse impacts of palm oil, the Sustainable Palm Oil Coalition for India (India-SPOC) was also launched in 2018 as a collaborative effort between Centre for Responsible Business (CRB), WWF – India, RSPO and Rainforest Alliance (RA).
The India-SPOC also noted that the factors that have made palm oil a success have also brought with it well-documented environmental and social challenges. “Most prominent among these are links to deforestation, labour rights, and damaging effects on nature and the environment, particularly when grown unsustainably,” it affirmed, while adding that the coalition would work towards addressing barriers and challenges to sustainable palm oil production.
Bringing the matter home to Nagaland, the matter was also highlighted in a two-part series ‘Nagaland’s tryst with oil palm production-I & II’ published by The Morung Express on August 30 and 31, where experts, including State’s former PCCF & HoFF shared concerns on the push for monoculture and oil palm plantation in the State and cautioned policymakers to take into account the vulnerability of the land towards ecological disturbances.
As mentioned in this column on August 25, palm oil might appear like easy source of income for farmers but unless the government can come up with an extremely responsible, robust and highly inclusive framework for oil palm expansion, an ecologically-sensitive state like Nagaland could easily follow in the uncertain footsteps of other countries that are facing the fallouts of injudicious and aggressive oil palm expansion.
In this context, perhaps the PCCF & HoFF should consider using a different approach to address concerns around the push for oil palm, instead of making rather ‘factually incorrect’ claims and discrediting research and findings from some of the world’s reputable wildlife conservation groups.
One way to begin would be by framing a state policy and putting in place checks and balances or punitive measures for socially disruptive and ecologically destructive practices in the process of oil palm expansion, instead of simply pushing ‘one-size-fits-all’ schemes formulated without taking socio-cultural realities into consideration.
Comments can be sent to vzhimolimi@gmail.com
