Destruction Caused by the Farming of Palm Oil - Term Paper Example

Destruction caused by the farming of palm oil. Palm oil is an edible plant oil of which has become an ingredient in many products for consumers today. Its products are used in manufacturing products to be used at production and even consumer level. About more than 50 % of goods manufactured today contain palm oil; from bio-fuels, processed food, candles and many more other (Greenpeace 18). Due to this palm oil farming has become a major interest in agriculture practices and therefore many companies are investing in its productivity (Greenpeace 20). This palm oil farming has recently become more pervasive and causes destruction in many different ways. These palm oil plantations need a rainforest climate – high temperatures and humidity – and a lot of land too (Greenpeace 28). Due to this the farming of palm oil becomes the leading cause of destructions of rainforests and hence gives rise to problems within the environment, climate, and people and animals living in these environments mainly through deforestation of which is the main basis for these problems (Greenpeace 18) Climate change is considered basically the greatest threat to the environment, of which palm oil farming contributes in a great aspect. It is caused by mainly the buildup of greenhouse gases – from burning of fossil fuels and destruction of areas with large amount of carbon like the rainforests used in palm oil farming (Greenpeace 17). It refers to the increase in global temperatures averagely. This is caused by natural events as well as human activities such as farming of these palm oil plantations. These emissions come due to burning of land containing carbon and its compounds such as carbon dioxide and their release into the environment (Greenpeace 18). As the destruction of these forests and peat lands happen, greenhouse gases pour into the atmosphere and disrupt the balance of gases that sustain life. These gases mix up with life sustaining gases like oxygen to create a hazardous compound which is released into the environment (Greenpeace 28). These causes greater impacts such as; the disappearance of permafrost, glaciers and sea ice, rising of sea levels, dying of coral reefs, changing of seasons, and extreme weather conditions. These effects have much negative influence to the environment and living things within. The impacts already are responsible for the deaths of approximately 315,000 people each year and also the damaging of ecosystems for other forms of life (Greenpeace 10). In palm oil farming, climate change is brought forward by mainly deforestation in creating large areas for these plantations. During preparation of land for palm oil farming, valuable trees are usually cut down and removed from the field (Greenpeace 38). Whatever remains is usually cleared by burning. During the burning of these remnants greenhouse gases are released in the environment in large amounts. In many cases, these forests are usually on peat lands and therefore the land becomes drained due to the heat caused by burning (Greenpeace 38). The peat lands store vast amounts of carbon and the conversion of the land may release many tons these gases such as the carbon dioxide gas. This deforestation process becomes responsible for a large percentage of emissions these greenhouse gases, hence making it a contributor to change in climate significantly (Greenpeace 17), Even though these palm oils are still used in manufacturing food and detergent products, many countries are cultivating them as bio fuels. Even though bio fuels from palm oils are considered to make a little contribution to emissions reduction, they have been over-exaggerated (Greenpeace 21). They would produce more emissions of carbon than the burning of conventional fossil fuels. Increasing the amount of bio fuels – products from palm oils - being sold is seen as a fix to cut the emissions from other factors such as transport, but the emissions could actually increase as a result of land conversion and deforestation process (Greenpeace 12). In addition, the growth of these palm oil plantations for bio fuels look as set to also reduce global food reserves hence increasing food prices. Many governments are committing themselves in increasing the amount of biofuels being sold and therefore pushing the rise in demand. This therefore causes vast destruction of rainforests in conversion of land for its cultivation (Greenpeace 16). The farming of palm oil of which bases the palm oil international trade, would mean companies in the U.K would have a large influence on operations of suppliers. These attempts to try and reduce the effects of climate change could even worse things by releasing even more carbon emissions than burning of fossil fuels during the draining of and burning of peat lands to grow palm oil. These effects spell disaster for biodiversity, local communities and climate change, since it encroaches further into the forested areas. (Greenpeace 9) For example, the Indonesia peat lands are responsible for approximately 4% of global emissions every year despite covering only less than 0.1% of the earth’s surface. Many reports and analyses on palm oil and bio fuels show that emissions are released in the production, and distribution of the fertilizers needed for palm oil farming (Greenpeace 23). These same reports also show that transportation and the processes of refining these products also cause emissions. Since this process is continuous over years, climate change is noted eventually because large amount of these greenhouse gases would be released eventually (Greenpeace 25). Since these palm oil plantations require large area fields for their cultivation, it becomes one of the major reasons for deforestation in these areas. During clearing of these rainforests for farming palm oils, many other species of trees and vegetation’s are destroyed (Greenpeace 34). The impacts due to this process of deforestation are very significant, in that, when the land is cleared for farming, there is loss in the forest cover as a result of burning the undergrowth’s (Greenpeace 67). This eventually leads to destruction in soil compatibility in these areas. When this happens, soil erosion occurs in case of occurrence of a widespread rain event. The eroded soil moves downwind and is noted to cause damage eventually (Greenpeace 54). These damages may include loss of homes, land and even life to those communities living nearby due to landslides caused by this soil flow. The less forest cover also causes less natural filters for rain. This will lead to rain water that is compounded with harmful chemicals (Greenpeace 38). Therefore the people and animals living in these environments will have to consume dirty water which will cause hazardous impacts on their health. This process of securing land for palm oil farming also has effects on the water cycle (Greenpeace 78). The trees that are cut to provide land for the palm oils play an important role in the water cycle by grounding water in their roots into the atmosphere. This grounding process ceases and water drains deep into the earth for lack of upholding done by root (Greenpeace 54). Without this water, the area eventually may become dry and experiences drought. Drought will cause lack of vegetation growth leading to lack of enough food for the inhabitants of such environments (Greenpeace 88). The palm oil plantations farming process is largely controlled by governments and companies that base their income from palm oil. Therefore, these farms and plantations are usually put in place even without consulting local communities, who depend on the forest land for their livelihoods (Greenpeace 89). This leads to displacement of people from their homes hence change in their lifestyle too. In countries like Indonesia, over 45 million people live in these forests and therefore the palm oil industry is responsible for more than 5,000 human rights and land conflicts (Greenpeace 90). In case of the people resisting to vacate the land, they are displaced forcibly. This even leads to loss of properties and life by fighting. A clear example is an Indonesian village - Sungai Beruang whose villagers were shot at by forces working for Wilmar as they protested over the destruction of their homes (Greenpeace 90). It also affects even the people living in adjacent settlements of the plantations who lose their livelihoods frequently. These people rely on these forests as sources of food, natural water reservoirs, and also for protection against floods and landslides (Greenpeace 64). After deforestation these factors – floods and landslides – may occur hence causing life threatening effects on them. The chemicals that are used in palm oil plantations pollute water and the soil making other agricultural forms impossible. All these factors have effects even on local economies (Greenpeace 57). Lack of good quality water, increased flooding, and the inability for them to produce their own food causes many local communities to migrate to areas that lack proper infrastructure for them. This affects their lifestyles due to change in environments making survival hard for them. Some of them even decide to stay and work on the palm oil plantations and at times they may be subjected to inhumane conditions associated with the farming of palm oil (Greenpeace 90). The palm oil that is cultivated to be used in manufacturing consumer products may also have negative impacts on the environment and people depending on them. Palm oil is extracted from the plant and used in different industries to manufacture different commodities both for consumption and other necessary products such as detergents (Greenpeace 43). Palm oil is known to consist by half, saturated fats which is commonly proven to cause heart disease and high cholesterol level that generally causes obesity. Products such as the palm kernel oil, used for making ice cream, caramel and cocoa icings contain as high as up to 80% saturated fats (Wallace 24). Other such products from palm oil farming contain fatty acid esters that are known to be carcinogenic. Concentration of these harmful and hazardous substances is high in refined palm oil which is an ingredient in infant formula. High intakes of such products hinder the general body function of the consumer causing health problems (Wallace 26). Children are vulnerable to this because of their low body weight in relation to the amount of harmful substances they consume. A major concern in the public health is the consumption of excess dietary fats such as these palm oils in particular (Wallace 27). The public may not be able to suspect this since in the recent years, palm oil has become very competitive and has even gained a large share of the world’s edible oils market. This makes its products to be distributed worldwide and therefore consumer chances are high (Wallace 30). Since palm oil farming requires environments like the rainforests, many forests are destroyed. These rainforests are species-rich and habitat to many endangered animals and plants, such as the Bornean rhinos, Sumatran tigers, Sumatran elephants and even orangutans. The destruction of these habitats for farming of palm oil deprives the animals on the basis of their existence, hence causing a loss of biological biodiversity (Greenpeace 55). Many such animals are dependent on these large contiguous forests and during search for food; they get lost within the forests and therefore are regarded as pests. Deforestation for this palm oil plantation establishment therefore becomes responsible for habitat loss of this endangered and threatened species (Wallace 34) During the past decade, it has been recorded that about 50% of the orangutan species population has decreased. This is basically due to these activities to destroy the rainforest for palm oil plantations (Wallace 37). The development of these oil palm plantations also causes forest fragmentation of which reduces the natural habitats of these species. In these areas where forests are converted for the farming of palm oil, poaching is very prevalent for the illegal pet trade (Wallace 78).This corresponds with WWF and TRAFFIC reports that show the increase in the trade for baby orangutans recently over the last decade. Also, forest fires that are deliberately set to clear land for planting these oil palms destroy large areas for these species’ habitats or even burn those that are unable to escape fire to death. Some are even shot as pests by farmers (Wallace 90). There are many ways that these destructions caused by the palm oil farming can be reduced. The first thing is to make people living in these areas experiencing effect aware of the cultural, social and economic importance of these forests. These people after being aware may be able to campaign against this destruction caused by this process (Wallace 54). Secondly there should be a well suited forest management system at local and national levels and should be properly disseminated to the user groups and other stakeholders. Finally palm oil plantation should be promoted in bared land by developing a mechanism that would cater for the needs of proper development of the plantation to avoid deforestation (Wallace 79) Works Cited Greenpeace. Greenpeace UK. 2012. 12 3 2014 . Wallace, Wayne. "Palm oil and deforestation." 2013. Say No to Palm oil. 12 3 2014 . Read More