IT'S CHRISTMASSSSS!!!!

Merry Christmas my loyal followers, I hope everyone has a fantastic day with their loved ones and gets very merry on this special day :-) :-)

I would like to apologise for my lack of blogging over the festive season and hope to be back in the new year!! 

The Socio Political Dimension

Good Morning!! Today I wanted to explore the socio political dimension of the Palm Oil Industry. I had planned to post a nice summary of the interactions between the political leaders and local people of palm oil producing countries. However, this morning I was browsing the news and found this very recent and hugely applicable article. I feel seeing as it is a true example, it demonstrates the intertwined interests of both the politicians and people as well as the huge pressures that both groups are succumb to, surrounding establishing oil palm plantations, far better than a flat narrative post. 


To read the article will take less than 5 minutes but will give you a far better insight into the situation currently surrounding the Aceh Province, Indonesia. 


                         Prime Indonesian jungle to be cleared for palm oil

Consumerism at it's Worst

           (Source: Corpwatch)


I think this cartoon is very funny and optimises this blog!! Personally I think though that the illustrator should have made more of the little bird's comment; having 'Your One Stop Ecoruination Shop' as the tagline to 'ADM. Supermarket to the World' would have been fantastic. I believe this to be a better position for the phrase as the first time I looked at this cartoon it was overlooked by the humorous shop assistants comment!


Unwillingly Aiding Palm Oil Production:
Did you know that…..

• Palm oil is used in 1 in 10 supermarket products including bread, crackers, chips, confectionary, margarine and cereals, as well as personal care and beauty products such as soap and lipstick
• It's an invisible ingredient
• You won't find Palm Oil listed on your margarine, your bread, your biscuits or your KitKat. It's just there lumped under "vegetable oil". 
• The impact of palm oil however, is very visible... well if you travel seven thousand miles from your local supermarket to its source in Indonesia or Malaysia. 

However its not all doom and glum, over the last six years, since its formation, many companies have joined the Roundtable of Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO); possibly the only organisation that has the capability to end the destruction caused by the palm oil industry. Its objective is to 'promote the growth and use of sustainable oil palm products through credible global standards and engagement of stakeholders'. It gives equal rights to each of it stakeholder categories (Hence Roundtable!?!?!) to aid the development and implementation of global standards for sustainable palm oil.

1. Oil Palm Producers
2. Palm Oil Processors or Traders
3. Consumer Goods Manufacturers 
4. Retailers
5. Banks
6. Investors
7. Environmental/Nature Conservation NGOs and Social and Developmental NGOs

Ninety-five british companies are now members of the RSPO, the largest support from any one single country beside Malaysia. The ninety-five companies encompass the majority of large british supermarkets as well as companies in other sectors such as consumer goods and environmental organisations. Below is a summary table I created from the larger one on the RSPO website to highlight just a handful of the british companies that are members. 

Company	Category	Member Since
Allied Bakeries	Consumer Goods Manufacturers	12/07/2010
Associated British Foods plc.	Consumer Goods Manufacturers	07/10/2010
Birds Eye Iglo Group Ltd.	Consumer Goods Manufacturers	22/03/2010
BP plc.	Palm Oil Processors and Traders	10/05/2006
Cadbury plc.	Consumer Goods Manufacturers	18/10/2004
Dairy Crest Group plc.	Consumer Goods Manufacturers	22/04/2010
H J Heinz Company Ltd.	Consumer Goods Manufacturers	09/01/2007
J Sainsbury Plc.	Retailers	22/05/2006
Kellogg Company	Consumer Goods Manufacturers	29/07/2008
Margarine and Spreads Association	Organisations	08/11/2005
Marks and Spencer	Retailers	08/05/2006
Royal Dutch Shell Plc.	Palm Oil Processors and Traders	28/02/2007
Sumatran Orangutan Society (SOS)	Environmental or Nature Conservation Organisations (NGOs)	25/05/2009
Tesco Stores Ltd.	Retailers	07/08/2006
The Body Shop International	Retailers	18/05/2004
The Boots Group Plc.	Retailers	19/01/2006
The Co-operative Group	Retailers	1411/2005
The Zoological Society of London	Environmental or Nature Conservation Organisations (NGOs)	01/08/2011
Waitrose Ltd.	Retailers	06/03/2006
Walkers Shortbread Ltd	Organisations	22/03/2010
Warburtons Ltd.	Consumer Goods Manufacturers	03/03/2010
WM Morrison Supermarkets Plc.	Retailers	05/09/2006
WWF International	Environmental or Nature Conservation Organisations (NGOs)	03/03/2008

Despite the fact that currently seven hundred and twenty three companies across forty nine countries are members of RSPO, there is still a desperate need for more companies to join the RSPO globally, in order to really start minimising the costs of palm oil plantations. Have a look at the list of members on the RSPO website and think of how more companies you know of that could become a member. Maybe you could pester them next time you are in store….mentioning no companies in particular!!!!

BBC's Orangutan Diary Series

Back in 2009 the BBC's Orangutan Diary series, highlighted the importance of sanctuaries and rescue centres, in addition, the battle for the creation of new habitats for Orangutan's orphaned by deforestation, principally from palm oil.  Orangutan Diary was a fantastic series, presented by Michaela Strachan and Steve Leonard and focused on the Nyaru Menteng rescue centre. Unfortunately, due to the age of the documentary it can no longer be viewed on BBC iplayer, however, it is still possible to few small clips on youtube. I highly suggest you take a few minutes to watch one or two!!! 

The above clip is one I chose on the basis that it encompasses so much that this blog has previously discussed and in addition, it visually displays for those who have never seen a plantation, the start of a new palm oil plantation. Inevitably the plantation will expand, further destroying the natural habitats of Orangutans and other species. 


I believe that Michaela makes a very worthy comment about palm oil plantations being 'consumerism at it's worst', with the majority of indonesians not benefitting from the foreign owned plantations, established to satisfy demand from the rest of the world for cheap products. 


Stay tuned for my next post entitled 'Consumerism at it's Worst'       Ahhhhhhh!

Orphaned Orangutans

Hey! I just thought I would draw your attention to my flicker account. I've uploaded some pictures of the time I spent in Batu Puteh and just today have added pictures of the orphaned Orangutans at the local sanctuary. The young Orangutans are not yet old enough to fend for themselves and if they were not rescued, it is highly unlikely they would still be alive today.

I think the most sad part of visiting the sanctuary was being told that the sanctuary is quickly running out of funding to keep the Orangutans. Without funding the sanctuary cannot support the orphans, nor transport them to other sanctuaries, when they are older where they can begin rehabilitation and be introduced into
a semi-wild habitat. It is this freedom that allows the Orangutans to live a happy and fulfilled life!

Orangutans Back in the Limelight…Flying BA (Wouldn't Mind If I Do!!)

Monday: Love at first sight

I was quietly minding my own business, sitting exhaustedly on a bench at Oxford Circus…(Jeeze! I can't take these 5 hour shopping sprees in my old age!!) when I looked up and saw this incredibly cute guy staring me in the face! Result!

Finally media attention is being drawn to the dwindling populations of Orangutans caused by 'shrinking habitats'. Although this BA advert didn't mention the part that the palm oil industry plays, it raises awareness and will hopefully lead to londoners and tourists finding out more about Orangutans and other endangered species!

Tuesday:  Right….I think he just might be my new stalker!

After a long day of work, I decided to have a relaxing bath before I clambered into bed to drift off to sleep. My housemate had kindly left the Evening Standard in the bathroom so I thought I would have a little flick through, to update myself on the rollercoaster of events in the eurozone and the phone hacking scandal... I certainly didn't expect another encounter with the 'incredibly cute guy' from yesterday, especially seeing as they are such a rare species!! :-)

Well done BA for highlighting this issue!!!

Rhino Crash With Palm Oil

Firstly a fun fact for you...a group of rhinos is called a 'Crash' !! Did you know that?? If you didn't, visiting this blog might have just led you to be the winner of Christmas Cracker Trivia this year :-)

On a more serious note, I am currently writing a piece on the successes and failures of the conservation efforts surrounding the three remaining Asian Rhinos; Indian, Sumatran and Javan.  A number of African and Asian Rhinos have recently become extinct, with the Javan Rhino becoming extinct in Vietnam and its population numbers are down to 50 worldwide :-(. The IUCN has classified the rhino as critically endangered since 1996. Through strong conservation efforts there has been no evidence of poaching since the mid 90s. However, the main threat to their survival now, is habitat destruction through deforestation, caused by illegal logging and the creation of palm oil plantations!!! Its huge relevance provoked me to post this article and raise awareness of the impacts that the palm oil industry is having on not only Orangutans but on many endangered species.

Javan Rhino Now Extinct in Vietnam

So what does the literature say??

Afternoon! After reading that article yesterday I thought there couldn’t be a more appropriate time to blog about a few interesting journals that I have come across over the last month surrounding carbon budgets.

I think it would be fair to say that we are living in a world today, where organisation’s through to individuals are experiencing increasing pressure to curb greenhouse gas emissions, as a result of the accelerating risks posed by climate change. The need for greener, cleaner energy couldn’t be greater, with many people turning to biofuels as the answer. But is it really ‘green’ energy or are we actually sending ourselves further into the red??

Much of the academic field agree that the answer to this question is not straightforward, being highly dependant on the location of the plantation. This concept was touched upon in the summary table below, highlighting the potential for increased carbon dioxide emissions through loss of biomass, slash and burn techniques and draining peatlands. A study by Fargione et al. (2008) addressed in greater depth the so called ‘Biofuel Carbon Debt’ that is generated as a result of the concentration of CO₂ released during the first 50 years after land conversion has occurred to create plantations. Emphasis is placed on the release of carbon from the two largest biologically active stores of terrestrial carbon: soils and plant biomass.

The graph highlights the impacts that exposed soils and foregone plant biomass has on the carbon budget, concisely and clearly displaying the time taken to repay the carbon debt in various geographical locations. In regard to the specific focus of this blog, I feel it important to stress the figures related to palm oil plantations in Southeast Asia. According to Fargione et al. (2008) converting tropical rainforest to palm oil plantations would lead to a carbon debt of ~610 Mg of CO₂ ha^-1 that would take circa 86 years to repay! However if that isn’t shocking enough from a crop that is supposedly carbon neutral and the future of energy markets, let me draw your attention to the disastrous consequences of converting peatlands. It takes a palm oil plantation located on a previous peatland area, approximately 420 years to repay one hefty carbon debt! Seeing as the study goes on state that 27% of new palm oil plantation are being located on tropical peatlands, the future is bleak for Southeast Asia to supply a greener energy solution.  

Other recent works by the likes of Gibbs et al. (2008) and Danielsen et al. (2008) concur with the conclusion drawn by Fargione et al. (2008) that biofuel expansion into natural tropical ecosystems will lead to net carbon emissions for decades to centuries. However despite the underlying conclusion being the same, there is discrepancy in the figures and focus in both the articles. Gibbs et al. (2008) paper predicts the carbon debt derived from plantations situated on previous peatlands to be more than double than that stated by Fargione et al. (2008), taking a supposed 900 years to repay! The study also addresses the potential benefits of forming plantations on degraded agricultural lands, thats productivity in regard to food crops has fallen, highlighting that within under two decades carbon sequestered in plant biomass and the concentration of carbon saved through the use of the biofuel would be outweigh the carbon released during its production. The article brings to light that if marginalized land can be found and ultilised it could reduce the implementation costs of establishing biofuel production and therefore allow population to reap the benefits more rapidly. However rather grimly states that even with modifications to the biofuel industry, technological advances of feedstocks provoking a doubling in ethanol yield from the most productive feedstock; sugarcane, more than three decades would be required to replace lost rainforest carbon.

The study by Danielsen et al. (2008) also looks to the future with close examination of the impacts on biodiversity, in addition to climate. It states the huge importance of tropical rainforests for endangered and rare species as well as its significance as a store of around 46% of world terrestrial carbon. Current deforestation is accordingly accounting for 25% of total net carbon emissions. The paper puts emphasis on the fact that as countries strive to meet obligations to reduce carbon emissions under one international agreement (Kyoto Protocol), they may not only fail to meet their obligations under another (Convention on Biological Diversity) but may actually hasten global change.

This provides some food for thought surrounding the complexities of ultilising palm oil as a suitable biofuel today and into the future.

Environmental Impact of Palm Oil Hits Headlines!!

Just found this article whilst browsing the web, thought it was super relevant, so have a little read :-) !!!
Enjoy!!

Study finds biofuels produce as much carbon as fossil fuels

Putting the facts in a table ...

Hey followers!! I hope you are all experts now on palm oil since reading my table! I thought in todays post I would give you a little insight into how I went about composing the table for you readers!


Simplifying the complex range of benefits and costs in the categories of social, economic and environmental was provoked by searching for a suitable table to post within this blog and not having much luck!! I embarked on finding journals with the help of google scholar and my university e-journal search facility, so that I could compose a table of my own. Through the time I spent in Borneo and the modules I have studied at university, I had an initial understanding of the main impacts palm oil was having on a social and environmental level, therefore I began my search with addressing issues of biodiversity, livelihoods and the release of carbon from drained peatlands. The articles I found regarding these issues, raised a vast number of other benefits and problems, provoking me to think about other aspects within these categories. In turn this led me to a wider range of literature,  encompassing facts and figures surrounding the impacts of palm oil, particularly its economic benefits and losses.

In addition to the searches I carried out, I have a keen interest in commodities and are hoping to secure a graduate commodity trading position and therefore regularly follow changes in demand for different commodities. By doing so, I am aware of the economic importance of palm oil as a commodity and the scale at which is traded from week to week.

I hope this gave you a little more insight into the how and why of composing the table below!

Tables Up!!

Here is a table I synthesised to make everything a lot more clearer for all you reader out there!! It took me a very long time to read and digest all the articles and then organise them into some sort of comprehendible format, so please appreciate it!! :-) Feel free to comment on this post if you would like any further information on any of the points raised!!

	BENEFITS	COSTS
Social	o   Provides employment for local communities ·      Few other economic options for locals eking a living off rubber cultivation, subsistence rice farming, and fruit gardens	o   Small plantation owners commonly become completely dependant on the large agricultural firms that dominate the palm oil industry ·      Eager community members acquire 2-3ha of land, from large firms and borrow money (approx $3000-6000) to buy seedlings and fertilizers.  However, the oil palm does not bare fruit for 7 years and therefore locals have a low level of income. ·      This combined with the large start-up costs and high interest payments of approximately 30% virtually ensures that small holders will be perpetually indebted to the oil palm company. ·      Dr Lisa Curran who has carried out a number of studies into the impact of palm oil in Borneo suggests that this has profound psychological impact on communities.
Economic	o   Higher yields than other crops leading to increased profits: ·      2.8 tons per hectare, on average. ·      Seven times soybean yield o   Palm oil has the ability to generate much needed foreign exchange ·      Increasing the value of the currency ·      Encouraging foreign direct  investment (FDI) o   The industry is labour-intensive and can provide employment opportunities for locals who may have lost their jobs in diminishing sectors. o   Crude palm oil is a strategic commodity that is the most widely traded edible oil, accounting for more than half of foreign trade in edible oils. In turn creating huge potential for economic growth within host countries  ·      Versatile nature of palm oil makes it practically attractive to food processors ·      A decade ago, palm oil generated more than $2.1 billion in export revenues for Indonesia and more than $3.8 billion for Malaysia, these figures have hugely risen since then	o   Unnecessary expenditure in the instance of food shortages that require the import of food. ·      The attraction of palm oil has not only led to extensive deforestation but also has provoked the conversion of land from producing food crops to producing energy crops, in some cases leading to food shortages ·      Imported food from other regions tends to be far more expensive than local produce. ·      Puts food security under severe threat   o   Host countries could not benefit from the revenue generated from the palm oil if it leaves the country ·      If governments do not implement tight regulations and keep the large agricultural firms under a close watch, revenue may disappear out of the country to another, through foreign owners or affiliation the company may have. ·      Host countries experience all the negatives impacts of palm oil and reap little benefits.
Environmental	o   The use of palm oil as bioenergy is generally regarded as environmentally friendly ·      Regarded as CO2 neutral ·      Saves fossil raw materials, since it substitutes fossil energy sources.	The majority of negative environmental factors occur as a consequence of the deforestation palm oil plantations cause. o   Shifts in biodiversity: ·      Sumatra: Less than 10% of birds and mammals found in primary forests live in plantations ·      Thailand: Only 41 out of 108 birds of the near by rainforest inhabit plantations  o   Contributes to Sumatran and Bornean Orangutan Extinction: ·      Orangutans depend on tropical forests for food and nesting sites ·      Degraded habitats lead to Orangutans migrating to less suitable areas. As a result the death rate increases and the birth rate falls  o   Land use change contributes to climate change in a number of ways. ·      Most simply virgin forests sequester large volumes of CO2. Deforestation leads to less trees standing, therefore reducing the earth natural ability to sequester CO2. ·      Oil palm plantation store significantly less carbon than forest areas prior to conversion. ·      Slash and burn, is commonly used to convert rainforest into fields suitable for palm oil plantations. Through the act of burning, high volumes of CO2 are released into the atmosphere, once again contributing to climate change. ·      As locals protest, against the destruction of virgin forests, large numbers of South East Asia peatlands are being drained to convert into plantations. Peatlands emit CH4 and sequester carbon. Once drained, the carbon stored within the peatlands becomes oxidized and is released into the atmosphere adding further to climate change.  In addition to this, drained peatlands are highly flammable due to the high volume of partially decomposed matter it consists of. If fires break out, just like the slash and burn technique, an even greater volume of greenhouse gases is released into the atmosphere. ·      Draining  peatland hugely increases the fire risk.  If forest fires transpire, further damage would occur to ecosystems and through combustion further CO2 would be released.