Why is Sustainable Palm Oil Important?

Humans use a wide variety of edible oils. The best known are olive oil and corn oil, but none of them are as important as palm oil. Companies focus their efforts on producing sustainable palm oil, because it is one of the most widely used oils in the world; not only because of its versatility but also because of its high yield. One plant can produce around 40 kg of palm oil every year. If you compare it to other types of oil plants, that is 4 to 10 times more. In addition, palm oil does not need to be hydrogenated for food or snack production. This makes it a healthier alternative. But how does the production of sustainable palm oil take place? Organisations and producers have joined forces to maximise the production yield of each hectare planted, eliminating the need for new areas for planting,

Deforestation reduced to zero

For a product to be “sustainable”, it has to live in harmony with the other elements of the ecosystem. In this respect, palm oil plantations are regulated by a European body that ensures that protected areas are not deforested. The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) is an organisation that protects the interests of all parties involved in the production, transport, and marketing of palm oil. RSPO supports farmers with training in new technologies so that they can improve their production capacity without needing more land. These initiatives have halted the deforestation of hectares for oil palm plantations. It has also helped protecting the natural habitat of species such as the orangutan. Next time you buy a product containing palm oil, make sure it is RSPO certified. With this simple action, you can help more and more orangutans to have a safe place to live.

Why are palm oil plantations increasing?

When you check the statistics on palm oil plantations, you can find that they have been increasing. This makes many people fall into the trap of thinking that deforestation is taking place when the reality is different. Over the years, producers of rubber and other products used their land to grow palm oil. The high demand for palm oil because of the relative ease with which it can be harvested motivated this. As a result, no more green areas need to be deforested. It is also worth noting that over the years, new ways have been discovered to increase the production of oil palm. When you see palm oil production has increased, it is most likely because more farmers have used these new production techniques.