The continued expansion of oil palm plantations in tropical countries will worsen the environmental crisis of biodiversity loss, unless rainforests are better protected, warn scientists in the most comprehensive review of the subject to date.

Palm oil, used in food, cosmetics, biofuels and other products, is now the world’s leading vegetable oil. It is derived from the fruit of the oil palm, grown on more than 50,000-square miles of moist, tropical lowland areas, mostly in Malaysia and Indonesia. These areas, once covered in tropical rainforest, the globe’s richest wildlife habitat on land, are also home to some of the most threatened species on earth.

The review study, published today in one of the leading scientific journals, Trends in Ecology and Evolution, singles out deforestation associated with plantation development as by far the biggest ecological impact.

Oil palm looks set to spread further. Demand is increasing rapidly. There is little potential to maintain wildlife populations within the plantations, so ensuring that new plantations do not replace forest areas is a top priority. A second priority is to ensure sustainable management of what forest is left in and around the plantations.

International standards demanding evidence of environmental responsibility, in particular that land of high conservation value is not converted to oil palm, can help. The European Parliament recently decided to reduce the steep EU targets for biofuel sales. Nevertheless, there will still be an increase in the demand for biofuel. The UK’s Renewable Fuels Agency has revealed that more than 80 per cent of UK biofuels were not meeting even very basic environmental standards.

While increases in biofuel use will almost certainly add to pressure on tropical forests, the study highlights how those pressures might be reduced.

In a recent initiative, the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil has encouraged 40 per cent of the palm oil industry to commit to saving wildlife in and around plantations. The scientists hope that the Roundtable will continue to attract many of the remaining 60 per cent.

In Indonesia, local organisations are using satellite technology and the internet to investigate illegal forest clearance by oil palm companies and to put public pressure on them to improve. These initiatives will help, but unless they are scaled up, loss of rain forests and their unique wildlife will continue.

The study was undertaken by an international group of researchers involving staff of NORDECO.  A pdf of the report is available here.