There have been many wrong narratives fabricated by certain groups in their global campaigns against palm oil. Prominent among them is the issue that palm oil is the main cause of global deforestation.
Actually, it is not accurate and against the real facts of palm oil as have been also reflected in the official data reported by global institutions, such as FAO, European Commission and the Global Forest Watch.
As a matter of fact, oil palm is not the main cause of global deforestation.
Global deforestation has occurred long before oil palm cultivation
The FAO Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA) report shows that the peak of global forest loss occurred long before modern cultivation and expansion of oil palm plantations.¹
During the period of 1990–2000, the world lost approximately 17.6 million hectares of forest per year.¹ In fact, historically, large-scale deforestation has occurred in North America and Europe since the 17th century for agricultural and industrial development.²
It means that global deforestation is a long-term and transcontinental phenomenon, and it is not due to the developments of oil palm plantations in Southeast Asian region.
Overall Agriculture and husbandry as biggest cause
The data from the FAO has confirmed that nearly 90% of global deforestation is caused by agricultural expansion³.
However, it is important to note that the most dominant cause is cattle ranching and large-scale cultivation of food crops like soybeans³ ⁴.
Deforestation data based on a European Commission study (1990–2008)⁴ is as follows:
- Cattle farming: ±24%
- Cereals: ±8%
- Soybeans: ±6%
- Palm oil: only ±2–5%
It means that the global contribution of palm oil is much smaller than that of livestock and soybeans.
If palm oil is accused as the main cause of global deforestation, then logically and statistically, the livestock sector has a far greater impact.
Most efficient in land use
The fact that is often overlooked about oil palm is that it is the world’s most productive vegetable oil crop.
Data from Oil World shows the following facts ⁵:
- Palm oil produces approximately 3–4 tons of oil per hectare
- Soybeans only about 0.4 ton per hectare
- Sunflowers approximately 0.7 ton per hectare
It means that if the world replaces palm oil with other vegetable oils, land requirements will increase by 5–8 times⁵.
In other words, replacing palm oil with other alternative oils has the potential to increase pressures on global forests.
Palm-related deforestation declines
Based on Global Forest Watch monitoring, in recent years tropical primary forest loss has been driven more by fires and extreme climate factors, rather than solely by commodity expansion.⁶
In Indonesia itself, annual deforestation rates have shown a declining trend in recent years, according to official government reports and independent satellite data.⁷
This indicates that the moratorium, certification, and sustainable palm oil governance policies have been yielding results.
Global Double Standard?
It is also important to remember that:
- Massive deforestation occurred in Europe and America long before the palm oil issue emerged².
- Livestock and soybeans for the global market contribute significantly higher⁴.
- However, the spotlight of international campaigns often focuses on palm oil.
Global data does not show palm oil as the primary cause of global deforestation. It is a regional factor, but not the dominant factor globally.
Based on international data through 2025:
- Global deforestation is a historical phenomenon across continents¹².
- Agricultural expansion in general is the largest cause³.
- Livestock and soybeans contribute significantly higher than palm oil.
- Palm oil contributes only a small portion of global deforestation.
- Palm oil is the most efficient vegetable oil in terms of land use.
Accusing palm oil as the primary cause of global deforestation is inconsistent with global scientific data.
On the other hand, if managed sustainably, palm oil can be a solution to problems related to land efficiency and part of an energy transition strategy, as well as poverty reduction in tropical countries. (*)
References:
¹ FAO. Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020. FAO Forestry Paper No. 188. Full report (PDF): https://www.fao.org/3/ca9825en/ca9825en.pdf Halaman resmi FRA: https://www.fao.org/forest-resources-assessment/en/
² FAO Historical Forest Change Data & European Historical Land-Use Transition Studies. FAO FRA Historical Data Portal: https://fra-data.fao.org/ European forest transition literature (overview): https://www.fao.org/3/y1997e/y1997e.pdf
³ FAO. 2021. The State of the World’s Forests (SOFO): Drivers of Deforestation and Forest Degradation. PDF resmi: https://www.fao.org/3/cb9360en/cb9360en.pdf Bagian kunci: ekspansi pertanian ±90% penyebab deforestasi global.
⁴ European Commission. 2013. The Impact of EU Consumption on Deforestation. Technical Report 2013-063. https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/c1d3ef3e-d07e-4229-91e5-41001b47dba8/language-en PDF resmi: https://ec.europa.eu/environment/forests/pdf/1.%20Report%20analysis%20of%20impact.pdf. Bagian kontribusi komoditas (1990–2008).
⁵ Our World in Data. 2023. Land Use for Vegetable Oils. Halaman data interaktif + sumber penelitian: https://ourworldindata.org/palm-oil. Berisi grafik produktivitas minyak per hektare.
⁶ Global Forest Watch (World Resources Institute). 2024. Primary Forest Loss Update. Portal data resmi: https://www.globalforestwatch.org/dashboards/global/ Laporan analisis terbaru: https://research.wri.org/gfr/latest-analysis-deforestation-trends
⁷ Kementerian Lingkungan Hidup dan Kehutanan (KLHK). Data Deforestasi Indonesia 2023–2024. Rilis resmi KLHK: https://www.menlhk.go.id/ Publikasi statistik kehutanan: https://www.menlhk.go.id/site/single_post/
