Good Morning Lovely People! Before we get into day seven, I want to share this story with you that’s just been released.

Copyright Panthera

These are some incredible photos of Jaguars found on a Columbian Palm Oil plantation. These plantations are causing serious problems for the Jaguars, breaking up important tracts of their habitat, and subsequently restricting both movement and gene flow.

Click here if you would like to read the article, it’s a real eye opener.

Now on to Day 7. Not too much to report, today was filled mostly with work, and food!

Breakfast: Tea.

Lunch: A Roast Chicken Sandwich, and some delicious Carrot Cake that my sister made.

Dinner: My mum’s homemade canneloni. It’s so good, and healthy, and palm oil free!

Beberapa teman sering bertanya tentang pekerjaan baru saya:
1. “Kerjaan lo apa ka?”

2. “Gak bête lo di sono, kan di pedalaman gitu?”

3. “Enak gak tinggal di pedalaman?”

4. Bahkan ada yang dengan begonya bertanya, “Ada mall gak disono?”

Hedeuuuuhh, di Ketapang aja kagak ade mall, apa lagi di Sandai.

Well, pertanyaan nomer empat udah jelas itu adalah sebuah pertanyaan retoris. So, gak perlu dijawab lagi. Pertanyaan nomer tiga, well itu sih tergantung orangnya juga. So, gak bakalan ada jawaban tepat untuk pertanyaan tersebut, tapi so far sih oke-oke saja, karena selain saya digaji gede, saya juga dapet tempat tinggal gratis (walau untuk sementara fasilitas masih seadaanya, tapi gak beda jauh juga ama fasilitas yang  saya dapat di rumah), bahkan mungkin beberapa fasilitas malah lebih baik, setiap hari baju dicuciin, kamar berantakan gak ada yang ngomelin malah dibersihin ama para house maid disini, kopi selalu tersedia kapanpun saya mau di meja. Bête gak? Well jelas, karena memang gak ada 21 atau XXI, gak ada mall, gak ada Gramedia, singkatnya, nggak ada apapun disini selain kebun sawit. Tapi, saya sih sudah biasa, selama saya tak terpisahkan dengan laptop saya dan ada internet (walau seadaanya), I don’t mind.

Nah, tiba saatnya untuk menjawab pertanyaan pertama. Well, kalau ditanya saya kerjanya apa, saya kerja enak disini. Kalau ngomongin tentang tanggung jawab, tanggung jawab memang lumayan besar, karena berhubungan dengan segala jenis pekerjaan yang berkaitan dengan expatriates yang menjadi tanggung jawab saya, mulai dari bikin laporan harian, bulanan, claims perusahaan, booking hotel untuk keperluan travel mereka baik untuk urusan perusahaan ataupun urusan pribadi, sampai memastikan bahwa KITAS dan passport mereka masih berlaku, lucu aja kan kalo ada manajer plantation dideportasi. Tapi lebih lucu lagi, kebanyakan pekerjaan saya sifatnya jarang-jarang, seperti laporan bulanan dan claim perusahaan yang dibuatnya sebulan sekali dan beberapa pekerjaan daily rata-rata saya bisa kerjakan hanya dalam waktu beberapa jam saja atau bahkan hitungan menit, itupun udah termasuk pengecekan ulang selama berkali-kali, sisanya adalah seperti yang bisa dilihat dari daftar pekerjaan saya hari ini:

06.30     : Bangun, mandi siap-siap.

06.59     : Sarapan

07.18     : Masuk kantor, duduk manis.

07.30     : Ngadep bos, laporan soal failing.

07.40     : Duduk manis.

08.00     : Bikin surat claim pak bos yang satunya lagi.

08.05     : Duduk manis sambil ngopi.

08.15     : Dapet SMS laporan dari kebun untuk laporan harian stacking, planting, dll.

08.16     : Bikin daily report.

08.20     : Duduk manis sambil denger MP3 dan ngopi.

08.30     : Dapet inspirasi buat ngecek laporan bulanan yang sebenarnya udah kelar kemaren, just in case, sapa tau ada yang salah, sambil belajar juga, soalnya selama jadi Ghostwriter, saya gak pernah make excel.

09.00     : Duduk manis lagi.

09.10     : Pak bos lagi pergi survey harian ke kebun artinya gak bakalan ada yang suruh-suruh saya sampai nanti mereka balik setelah makan siang.

09.15     : Ada anak admin yang lagi pamer buku-nya James Petterson, Maximum Rider, akhirnya sayapun berakhir dengan ocehanku yang biasa, tentang jenis-jenis buku rekomendasi yang harus mereka baca.

09.45     : Akhirnya teringat kalau aku belum kelar baca Mockingjay-nya Suzanne Collins.

09.46     : Baca Mockingjay, dengerin MP3, ngopi, SMS-an ama pacar.

11.00     : Masih baca Mockingjay, dengerin MP3, sinyal lagi hilang jadi gak bisa SMS-in pacar, dan kopiku sudah habis.

12.00     : Istirahat dan makan siang.

12.30     : Telpon-telponan ama pacar.

13.00     : Tidur siang.

14.00     : Bangun, cuci muka, siap-siap.

14.15     : Sudah duduk manis di kantor.

14. 20    : Lanjut baca Mockingjay, dengerin MP3, kopi sudah disiapin lagi di meja, sambil SMS-an ama pacar.

15.00     : Masih baca Mockingjay sambil ngobrolin OASIS yang bubar karena Liam ama Noel berantem sama assisten GIS dan assisten CSR.

15.30     : Masih baca Mockingjay.

16.00     : Nulis postingan ini, karena jam 16.00 adalah jam pulang kantor.

Well, intinya anda tetap bisa jadi ghostwriter, kapanpun dan dimanapun, bahkan di pedalaman borneo sekalipun, selama ada internet.

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So far The Nature Conservancy and 19 other organizations including the W.W.F. have carried out a survey. The survey shows that the Kalimantan villagers, have admitted to killing at least 750 orangutans over a year. The survey also showed that a smaller number of orangutans were hunted for their meat.

In Borneo, Kalimantan, two Indonesian oil-plantation workers confessed that they killed about 20 endangered orangutans as a means of pest control to protect their crops from being raided.

The workers in the oil-plantation were offered a reward from the owners for $100 every orangutan killed.The orangutans mass murder was in the palm oil plantation that belongs to the Malaysian owned and based company, PT Khaleda Agroprima Malindo.

The workers killed the orangutans by chasing down them with dogs, and then shot, stabbed or hit them to death. Some were killed to protect crops and for having conflict with humans.

Around 43 orangutans have been rescued by the orangutan rescue team. The orangutans were taken for further medical treatment in the Central and West Kalimantan. Some of the orangutans suffered from burns and respiratory problems due to rainforest burning for the plantation.

According to the survey from the animal conservancy, 73 percent of the respondent knew that orangutans were protected under the law and killing them are illegal. However, up till  now there are only two workers from the plantation that were arrested for this orangutans mass murder.

The weak law enforcement leads to mass murder of the orangutans. To save the endangered species left in Indonesia, the government need to re-stricted the protection law of endangered species.

Carbon trading: may save a coal deposit, but farmers die, rivers run dry, and some are left homeless and poor

Perhaps this insurance costs too much?

Between Jan 2010 and March 2011, allegedly, 23 Honduran farmers have been murdered by the owners of a UN-accredited palm oil plantation.

“EU carbon trading rocked by mass killings”…

read it all, it’s shocking…

Kedepannya pengembangan industri kelapa sawit Indonesia harus memprioritaskan keseimbangan. Terutama menyangkut tiga aspek, yakni penggunaan lahan, struktur industri, dan pembangunan pasar. Ketiganya perlu dijadikan pertimbangan dalam mengelola industri perkelapasawitan, Wapres Boediono menyatakan hal ini dalam peresmian International Oil Palm Conference (IOPC) 2010 di Jogja Expo Centre.

Industri berbasis kelapa sawit memiliki masa depan yang sangat cerah, karena mampu memenuhi beragam kebutuhan, seperti bahan makanan, bahan pokok berbagai industri, dan akhir-akhir ini sebagai sumber energi terbarukan. Sehingga diperlukan jaringan Supply Chain atau rantai pasokan yang lebih lengkap untuk menjaga proses pengolahan kelapa sawit dari industri hulu hingga hilir. “Supply Chain akan menjamin keseimbangan dalam industri. Tujuannya untuk mendapatkan manfaat semaksimal mungkin dari industri kelapa sawit. Sehingga bisa diperoleh nilai tambah yang optimal bagi perekonomian dalam negeri,” katanya.

Boediono pun menjelaskan bahwa penggunaan lahan yang sustain tidak hanya dilihat dari aspek birokratis saja, tetapi juga mempertimbangkan harga di pasar sebagai alasan penggunaan lahan. Namun penggunaan lahan secara seimbang tetap harus diperhatikan. Sesuai dengan sasaran nasional, yaitu lingkungan hidup yang terpelihara, termasuk mengantisipasi pemanasan global. Sebagai negara yang terletak di wilayah tropis, Indonesia akan mendapat pengaruh yang luar biasa dari climate change. Sehingga industri kelapa sawit mendatang akan diarahkan pada pengelolaan yang ramah lingkungan, tetapi tetap mampu memenuhi permintaan pasar.

Di sisi lain, yang tidak kalah penting industri ini juga perlu memperhatikan kebutuhan masyarakat demi menjaga kestabilan ketahanan pangan. Untuk mewujudkan kesinambungan tersebut, negara bersedia memberikan insentif khusus bagi perusahaan yang berperan dalam memperkokoh struktur industri.

“Pemerintah akan terus mendororong investasi, tidak hanya untuk industri hulu tapi juga industri hilirnya. Investasi akan dioptimalkan dengan review dan reformasi di berbagai aturan maupun kebijakan mengenai investasi. Reformasi di bidang investasi ini akan dikomandani oleh Menteri Perekonomian. Investasi berfungsi untuk memperlancar dan menurunkan biaya usaha,” ujar Wapres.

Sementara itu, keseimbangan pasar berkaitan dengan dua hal, yaitu kecukupan kebutuhan dalam negeri dan kestabilan harga. Terpenuhinya kebutuhan industri dan konsumsi rumah tangga merupakan prioritas pemerintah. Dengan produksi yang mencukupi kebutuhan, maka diharapkan kestabilan harga dapat terjaga.

Boediono menambahkan bahwa kerjasama antara pihak pemerintah dan swasta sebagai pelaku industri perlu disinkronkan melalui suatu tema. Secara bersama-sama melaksanakan tugasnya bersadarkan prosi masing-masing dalam satu tujuan yang sama. Sehingga pengelolaan sumberdaya yang ada bisa dilakukan secara efektif dan efisien.

Tony Liwang, Kepala Divisi Produksi Tanaman dan Bioteknologi Sinarmas, meyampaikan bahwa salah satu solusi yang bisa diandalkan yaitu bioteknologi. Mengapa menggunakan bioteknologi? Karena teknologi ini mampu menghasilkan benih berkualitas yang seragam. Ketidakseragaman benih membuat panen yang semula diprediksi sekitar 30 ton sering meleset menjadi 20 ton. Berbeda dengan breeding biasa, bioteknologi bisa menjamin benih yang dipanen akan sesuai dengan harapan, sebab bioteknologi memproses genome agar lebih homogen.

“Dengan benih yang lebih terjamin kualitasnya, tentu produktivitas sawit yang dipanen nantinya akan lebih terjamin. Bioteknologi tidak hanya meningkatkan produktivitas, namun juga mutu minyak sawit yang dihasilkan. Masalah lahan sebenarnya perlu diselesaikan dengan intensifikasi, yaitu menggunakan lahan yang sama tapi bibitnya lebih bagus,” kata Liwang.

Menurutnya, produktivitas sawit yang rendah dipengaruhi oleh berbagai kendala, seperti benih yang digunakan tidak seragam, bukan benih unggul, dan 30-40%-nya masih benih palsu. Sehingga berdampak buruk terhadap Tandan Buah Segar (TBS) yang dihasilkan. Bioteknologi merupakan salah satu cara untuk mencari karakteristik-karakteristik tertentu yang perlu dimiliki oleh industri.

Beberapa tahun kedepan, lahan yang tersedia akan semakin kering, maka industri membutuhkan tanaman yang produktivitasnya tinggi. Selain itu, ada juga lahan yang endemik penyakit seperti Ganoderma, jadi perlu dilakukan riset bioteknologi yang tahan terhadap Ganoderma. Ada pula lahan yang pasang surut, sehingga harus dicari tanaman yang tahan terhadap kondisi pasang surut. Jika dilakukan dengan bioteknologi maka akan lebih efisien dari segi waktu, sehingga biaya yang dikeluarkan akan sedikit daripada lewat breeding konvensional membutuhkan waktu lebih lama.

Bioteknologi memungkinkan produsen untuk mengetahui hasilnya sejak dini, tanpa harus menunggu sampai 5 tahun untuk melihat benih sawit yang sekarang ditanam. “Bioteknologi bisa menemukan marka-marka DNA dan pola molekuler. Sehingga bisa dipastikan bahwa investasi jangka panjang tersebut tidak akan merugikan,” tegas Liwang.

Ditengah persaingan pasar yang terus meningkat, industri mau tidak mau harus mengembangkan produk yang lebih efisien. Dalam kompetisi, tentu pembeli akan melihat yang semakin berkualitas, murah dan efisien. Jika dengan lahan dan energi yang sama, namun produktivitas yang dihasilkan lebih banyak, maka otomatis hasilnya akan lebih maksimal.

“Saya harap pengembangan industri kelapa sawit jangan dilihat dari CPO-nya saja, tapi mulai dari hulu hingga hilir. Suatu keterikatan yang sangat panjang sekali, sebab proses pembuatan minyak yang kualitasnya bagus tidaklah singkat. Tidak bisa diibaratkan sebagai pabrik artificial yang dapat diganti-ganti inputnya, melainkan apa yang dihasilkan selama 10 tahun terakhir. Apa yang ditanam sekarang adalah apa yang dihasilkan selama puluhan tahun kedepan. Perkebunan sawit tidak bisa dipandang secara linear, melainkan sigmoid supaya dapat tercapai suatu kelayakan yang betul-betul cukup,” ujarnya.

Peran kelapa sawit cukup vital bagi percepatan pembangunan, peningkatan kesejahteraan petani, pemberantasan kemiskinan, dan penyediaan lapangan kerja terutama di daerah pedesaan. “Di daerah pengembangan sawit rakyat, jumlah penduduk miskinnya hanya 2-7%, jauh dibawah angka nasional yang mencapai 14%,” kata Wapres Boediono saat peluncuran PROWITA pada IOPC 2010.

Boediono menegaskan bahwa apapun yang dilakukan, dibangun dan dikembangkan dalam industri kelapa sawit, pemanfaatan lahan tetap diutamakan untuk memenuhi kebutuhan pangan jangka panjang. “Saya gembira melihat bahwa sekarang ini 42% dari kebun kelapa sawit dikelola oleh rakyat. Mudah-mudahan angka ini bisa berkembang sebagai sumber mata pencaharian rakyat, sehingga kemandirian pekebun rakyat juga bisa terpelihara,” jelas Wapres.

Pemerintah sudah memikirkan berbagai upaya untuk mempertahankan keseimbangan itu. Misalnya dengan mendukung sistem inti-plasma yang sudah berjalan di berbagai tempat. Pemerintah juga sedang mengembangkan sistem terintegrasi antara perternakan dengan usaha kebun milik rakyat.

Penelitian menjadi sangat penting bagi Indonesia, sebab masa depan yang lebih baik dari industri kelapa sawit tergantung pada kemampuan pemerintah dan stakeholders untuk meningkatkan kapasitas riset dan pengembangan saat ini. Karena itu, jejaring yang kuat antar lembaga riset dan industri untuk menuju paradigma baru industri kelapa sawit yang berkelanjutan perlu diperhatikan,” katanya.

Melalui forum pertemuan tingkat dunia seperti International Oil Palm Conference (IOPC) 2010, Indonesia berusaha mendapatkan pengetahuan dan tukar pengalaman dalam pengelolaan industri sawit. Terutama yang mengusung nilai tambah bagi ekonomi dan sesuai dengan skema yang ramah lingkungan. Indonesia sendiri ingin menunjukkan pada dunia tentang beberapa pencapaian, di antaranya pemenuhan industri yang berkelanjutan sesuai standar RSPO,” ujarnya.

Meskipun industri sawit negara ini dikenal cukup kuat dengan posisi sebagai pemasok CPO terbesar dunia dengan total produksi 21,14 juta ton. Sebanyak 4,86 juta ton, diantaranya memenuhi konsumsi dalam negeri dan sisanya untuk kebutuhan ekspor. Total nilai ekspor CPO berikut derivatif atau produk turunannya mencapai lebih dari 11,28 milyar USD. Ini menjadikan posisi CPO sebagai andalan devisa selain migas.

Namun tidak dapat dipungkiri bahwa industri ini juga berhadapan dengan isu negatif. Kampanye yang beroposisi dengan industri ini seputar isu lingkungan, semakin hari semakin gencar. Industri sawit juga sering dikaitkan dengan emisi gas rumah kaca, penyebab utama perubahan iklim global.

“Isu negatif yang selama ini melekat dengan industri sawit menjadi tantangan tersendiri. Walaupun faktanya, secara ekonomi industri sawit Indonesia telah menjadi tumpuan lebih dari 4 juta kepala keluarga. Bahkan mampu memenuhi sendiri kebutuhan minyak nabati dalam negeri. Untuk itu, sudah ada program redesaign pengembangan industri kelapa sawit yang sesuai dengan lingkungan kehidupan sosial di Indonesia,” katanya.

Menurut Pakpahan, banyak riset yang telah dihasilkan. Satu diantaranya yaitu langkah pemanfaatan kayu pohon sawit untuk bahan produksi plywood dari lahan seluas 7 juta ha. Jika terealisasi, berarti kebutuhan bahan baku tidak perlu tebang hutan alam. Bahkan sekarang sudah ada kerja sama dengan kebun sawit seperti di Inhutani IV.

Kau memang bukan tanaman asli Indonesia
Konon datang jauh dari benua Afrika
Namun sangat sesuai dengan iklim Nusantara
Sebagai anugrah Tuhan bagi masyarakat dan Bangsa

Kini kau dijumpai di seluruh pejuru tanah air
Membawa Indonesia sebagai produsen terbesar
Menghilangkan pamor minyak nabati lainnya
Membuat iri semua negara terutama Eropa

Kau telah menghidupi ±4 juta kepala keluarga
Membawa masyarakat miskin jadi sejahtera
Merubah wajah pedesaan menjadi kota
Memberi devisa terbesar non migas bagi negara

Namun saat ini kehadiranmu mulai dipersoalkan
Berbagai negara dan NGO memfitnahmu
Penyebab utama deforestasi dan kerusakan lingkungan
Seakan dunia akan kiamat karenamu

Saatnya kini kita harus bersatu padu
Menyatukan langkah untuk membelamu
Mengedepankan ISO sebagai perisai
Demi kemaslahatan dan kesejahteraan ibu pertiwi ini

Director of the Intellectual Property and Free Trade Unit at the Institute of Public Affairs, Tim Wilson said that the evidence is clear that if you want to reduce environmental degradation the best option is poverty reduction by giving allowing people, especially in poor rural communities, a sustainable livelihood. Sustainable development is delivered through environmental, social and economically sustainable policy solutions, not cutting off people’s livelihoods.

Palm oil is the world’s most produced oil seed and all-round one of the world’s most produced agriculture commodities. Nearly 90% of the world’s palm oil is currently grown in Indonesia and Malaysia. It is a valuable commodity because the price is inexpensive, high yield oil crop that is in demand in the lucrative export market because it is used as an ingredient in many common household products including margarine, potato chips, chocolate, margarine and soap. It also popular in developed country markets because is it trans-fat free. Global production of palm oil has risen from 16.9 million tonnes in 1995 to 43.1 million tonnes in 2008 and is the world’s most traded edible oil. Since December 2007 Indonesia has overtaken Malaysia as the world’s largest producer of palm oil, with around 40% of plantation run by small holders in Malaysia, and 45% in Indonesia. Earlier this year, Indonesian government announced plans to double its palm oil output by 2020, but only 20% of that growth is expected from increased plantations.

The problem is those campaigns have been built on false foundations. The principle claim by anti-palm oil activists is that it causes deforestation and loss of habitat for orang-utans. But what activists miss is the core driver for the demand for increased agriculture land. It isn’t palm oil specifically, but the development of primary industries to help lift rural communities out of poverty. In 2004 palm oil industry established RSPO (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil) to develop and enforce private certification standards. Part of RSPO criteria for certification is that new plantations not replace land with a high conservation value and damage to high conservation value habitat is avoided. And under the GreenPalm program consumers can buy GreenPalm certified palm oil products and make a contribution to farmers who voluntarily choose to have their product independently certified. Industry has also partnered with civil society in projects like the Borneo Conservation Trust and the World Wildlife Fund to develop programs that ensure endangered wildlife are not threatened.

Lost forest and the impact that may have on endangered species is not a consequence of growing palm oil, but the consequence of the developing world’s process toward economic development. Contrary to the claim of anti-palm oil activists, because it is a high yield crop, palm oil may actually be limiting any deforestation needed by farmers to expand holdings and increase usable land. And recent significant increases of output by the industry have not been driven by increased yields which have progressively grown. Reducing demand in developed world markets may make consumers feel good, but it will not be cost free. An essential crop, it provides nearly one million workers in Indonesia with a sustainable livelihood and is also a vital dietary supplement in these countries to boost immune system and stave off developing world diseases that can kill millions each year.

“Palm oil is high demand around the world, including in other poor countries. Reduced consumption in developed countries will only lead to increased availability and consumption in the developing world, but poor farmers will simply get a smaller return. If palm oil is blocked other lower yield seeds will simply be produced, and they will take up more land to produce less. If developed world activists want to attack the cause of deforestation and the loss of orang-utan populations they should attack poverty, not its solution—sustainable development,” says Wilson.

One of the core reasons that palm oil is grown in Indonesia is because the government is seen as ‘aware of the need to alleviate poverty and to provide food and employment on an economically sound and sustainable basis to an already large and rapidly increasing population’, and holds the belief that ‘labor and land remain plentiful’ for production.

Palm oil is an essential crop in the developing world, but most importantly for the world’s largest producer. The campaigns against palm oil by developed country activists may appear to be well intentioned to promote the best interests of communities and wildlife in our country. Internationally environmental non-government organizations and activists are campaigning against industry and consumer use of palm oil. Their opposition to is driven by claims that it is unsustainable promotes deforestation and reduces orang-utan populations.

In fact, palm oil is in demand in the developing world. If palm oil isn’t consumed in developed countries, developing countries will simply be flooded with cheaper product, and other lower-yield agriculture products may be grown to replace it. And in contrast to the activist campaigns, because palm oil is a high yield oil seed in comparison to its competitors, its use is likely to cause less deforestation and keep more forests intact. In recognizing the impact that the industry is having, private certification regimes, like the RSPO, have developed to give consumers confidence that palm oil is produced sustainably. Rather than being a campaign to help conserve animal and plant life in Indonesia, opposing palm oil is a misguided campaign that will alleviate developed world consumers of guilt, at the expense of the world’s poor.

“Indonesian society, especially oil palm stakeholders have to think clearly and proportionally based on a strong will to develop the nation. Clear thinking carries us that oil palm industry is an Indonesian superior industry today and in the future, which can be the source of welfare for the nation. Thinking proportionally will make realize that the development of oil palm industry is indeed still has some shortcomings and excess,” says Director General of Plantation, Achmad Mangga Barani.

The development of oil palm has been showing every important roles of the plant as an economic driver of the nation, not only in terms of the country’s income from export and tax, but also its ability to become a source of income for millions of farmers and labors in plantation sector, to provide industrial raw material and to support regional development. Therefore palm oil has a strategic role, not only in economic significance, but also in social, ecological and political point of view. Its industry is a source of economic growth, a significant provider of job opportunity, a source of foreign exchange and state income. It was a provider of basic food so that it relates directly with inflation. Furthermore, the industry is also playing a role as the leading sector in Indonesian economy which will continue to become one of the drivers of Indonesian economy.

Exerting pressure to restrict production of palm oil will simply increase demand for other crops which are less efficient producers of vegetable oil. Palm oil is uses land than crop-based oilseeds. Palm oil producers also expect to increase their yield per hectare. The world’s leading palm oil producers now are beginning to provide independent certification for sustainable production of palm oil.

Green groups in Europe (principally Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth) are campaigning to denigrate palm oil by pressuring processors and consumers to boycott it and EU governments to block imports. The EU Renewable Energy Directive restricts the availability of palm oil. The campaign is based on contentions that palm oil damages the environment and is endangering threatened species, such as the orang-utan.

Restricting palm oil production worldwide and limiting access to European markets would limit an important opportunity for developing countries to raise living standards and reduce poverty. Restricting palm oil imports from developing countries restricts their capacity to grow and reduce poverty.

Chairman of the US-based World Growth, Alan Oxley says that the NGO perspective ignores the key question: why do poor communities clear land? It is because they are poor. Good environmental management requires money; the volumes of environmental aid flowing into developing countries are a clear indication of this.

World Growth as a non-profit, non-governmental organization established to bring balance to the debate over trade, globalization, and sustainable development. This organization key missions is to assist in ending the cycle of poverty that keeps a billion people locked in conditions of misery and despair. It is necessary to realize changes in institutions and policies that permit growth and human flourishing. Instead of aid and handouts, what the populations of developing countries need are social and political institutions and infrastructure that foster productive economic activity and generate robust economic growth. These include property rights and protections, the rule of law, free markets, open trade, government accountability and transparency.

The palm oil industry is not destroying forest biodiversity in developing countries. In Indonesia, one of the world’s largest producer of palm oil, 25% of the country has been set aside for forest conservation. Palm oil is only cultivated in areas set aside for commercial production. In both countries, the palm oil industry is an important contributor to programs to protect endangered species, such as the orang-utan.

“How many developing countries would willingly agree to limit successful business sectors which produce jobs, taxes, prosperity and food security, and instead increase dependence on environmental aid grants, turning their workers into welfare dependents funded by industrialized world? The solution, then, would be to focus on economic growth for the forest and agricultural sectors, leading to better management and less haze,” says Oxley.

Palm oil industry also has a positive impact on the reduction of GHGs. The oil palm is an effective carbon sink. Its performance is superior to many established forest species. The oil palm consumes fewer carbon emitting inputs than other oil seeds and has a comparatively smaller carbon footprint. Palm oil can serve as a very effective biofuel and can make a good contribution to efforts in Europe to reduce consumption of fossil-fuel based energy by substituting palm oil-based biofuel.

Until recently, climate scientists thought that trees, and the biodiversity they support, could withstand a temperature rise lower than 3C. New findings, announced at last month’s Copenhagen “Congress” to discuss climate issues, estimate that a 3C temperature rise will result in a 75% loss of forests. The report’s sponsoring organization, the UK Meteorological Office‘s climate change research division, has said that a 4C temperature rise – consistent with current human activities – will cause 85% of trees to disappear.

Under even the most conservative climate change scenario – a 1C temperature jump – will kill off one third of Amazonian forests, which alone contain one tenth of total carbon stored in land ecosystems.

Scientists now estimate that the chance of staying below a 2C temperature rise are only 50%, even if drastic cuts in emissions take place over the next ten years. Already, a .75C temperature rise above pre-industrial has been locked-in, with another .6C expected, based solely upon current levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.

The rise in temperatures so threatens the trees because, as forests warm up, evaporation occurs more quickly and trees dry out. Whether through ensuing forests fires or lack of water, the trees can not survive such conditions.

Some have described rainforests as the “Heart of the Planet,” responsible for generating winds that pump water to all parts of the earth. The implication of compromising the operations of forests – a literal “biotic pump“, according to another recent report by a pair of Russian meteorologists – is increased climate change.

These reports suggest such positive feedback mechanisms are already in place, which may be the most troubling aspect of all. Positive feedback is literally a vicious cycle manifested. As forest coverage decreases, more carbon is released into the atmosphere, which will then decrease forest coverage, and so on.

Tim Lenton, a climate expert at the University of East Anglia, said: “When I was young I thought chopping down the trees would destroy the forest but now it seems that climate change will deliver the killer blow.”

Mmmm, not quite. While climate may pose the most severe long-term threat to forestlands, current deforestation is putting trees at great risk right now, begging the question of whether the forests will even be around once the temperature rises enough to kill them off.

At the moment, clearing trees to plant palm plantations, to produce palm oil – a major biofuel feedstock – represents the greatest threat to tropical forests. Just this week, a new study concluded that it would take 75 years for the carbon emissions saved through the use of biofuels to compensate for the carbon released into the atmosphere when forests are converted into palm plantations.

So, whether it’s the climate or the cutting that is killing the forests, the onus of responsibility remains the same. Either way you slice it, it’s not you [trees], it’s us.