{"id":28933,"date":"2024-11-23T02:57:57","date_gmt":"2024-11-23T02:57:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gapki.id\/en\/?p=28933"},"modified":"2024-11-25T03:05:19","modified_gmt":"2024-11-25T03:05:19","slug":"biodiversity-loss-higher-by-palm-oil-or-other-oils","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gapki.id\/en\/news\/2024\/11\/23\/biodiversity-loss-higher-by-palm-oil-or-other-oils\/","title":{"rendered":"Biodiversity Loss: Higher By Palm Oil Or Other Oils?"},"content":{"rendered":"

JAKARTA \u2013 You might include among the group of people who think that the palm oil has caused the biodiversity loss higher than other vegetable oils. Then, if you think so you will find yourself wrong after reading the following facts and description.<\/p>\n

The quite rapid expansion of oil palm plantations in the last 20 years is often accused as the cause of biodiversity loss (Fitzherbert et al., 2008; Koh and Wilcove, 2008; Foster et al., 2011; Savilaakso et al., 2014; Vijay et al., 2016; Austin et al., 2019; Qaim et al., 2020). The attribution of oil palm plantations to biodiversity loss had also made palm oil and its derivative products as high-risk commodity in the European Union (EU).<\/p>\n

All activities on the surface of the earth \u00a0that convert forests into non-forests, for production of vegetable oils, cereals, livestock, settlements, and others, will certainly cause biodiversity loss. Likewise, the expansion of vegetable oil crops such as oil palm plantations, soybean crops, rapeseed crops, and sunflower crops also causes biodiversity loss. So, the question is not whether biodiversity loss occurs or not, but rather the choices to be taken that will determine the magnitude of biodiversity loss. Is biodiversity loss caused by palm oil production higher than that by soybean, rapeseed or sunflower oil production?<\/p>\n

Beyer et al., (2020) and Beyer and Rademacher (2021) conducted a comparative study on global biodiversity loss among vegetable oils by comparing the biodiversity of land cover before and after conversion to vegetable oil crops. The study applied the footprint indicator of Species Richness Loss (SRL) per liter of vegetable oil as a measure of biodiversity loss (Figure 1). The results of the study revealed that biodiversity loss caused by palm oil was lower than that of other vegetable oils (soybean oil, peanut oil, sunflower oil, and rapeseed oil). Taking the SRL of palm oil as a comparison, it shows that the SRL index of soybean oil is 284 percent, SRL index of rapeseed oil is 179 percent and the SRL index of sunflower oil is 144 percent. This means that with SRL as an indicator of biodiversity loss, palm oil is the vegetable oil with the lowest biodiversity loss, while the vegetable oil with the greatest biodiversity loss is soybean oil (PASPI Monitor, 2021a).<\/p>\n

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It is easy to understand why the biodiversity loss caused by palm oil is lower compared to other vegetable oils. The oil palm plantations are developed in tropical zones, where the earth’s surface zones are rich in sunlight and water. It is different from other major vegetable oil crops (soybean oil, rapeseed oil, sunflower oil), which are relatively small in size and are classified as seasonal plants. Oil palm is a perennial plant with a relatively large tree size. It has a production cycle (life span) of 25-30 years, grows relatively quickly, and has a canopy cover approaching 100 percent, so that along with increasing age, biodiversity in the oil palm plantations will also increase. (*) (Mitos 6-21)<\/em><\/p>\n

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