Palm Oil Health Craze A Major Threat To Africa's Forests

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) warns that a palm oil boom is threatening the habitats of great apes in Africa and Asia, and says consumers can stop the destruction by adapting responsible shopping practices. Orangutan habitats inIndonesia have already been largely wiped out by palm oil cultivation.

 MONROVIA, LIBERIA  (REUTERS) -  When Turkish-American television personality Dr. Mehmet Oz declared red fruit palm oil a "miracle find for 2013" on a recent episode of his syndicated programme, "The Dr. Oz Show," he helped spur a global buying frenzy for the product.

The Dr. Oz Show currently airs in 188 countries and earns some of the highest ratings in syndicated programming.His endorsement is good news for palm nut farmers across the globe and suppliers have already announced record sales of red fruit palm oil in the first month of 2013.

But like in southeast Asia, where more than 80 percent of orangutan-habitat in Borneo and Sumatra has been lost to agricultural conversion in the past 20 years, predominantly for the production of palm oil, experts warn that Africa's forests are at risk.

"As with any item that becomes a fad or a luxury item, especially in the developed world, red fruit palm oil has taken off very quickly - really in 2013 only - because it's been endorsed by several high-profile personalities as a medical cure-all. It's been given credit for being a weight-loss supplement, as the cure for cancer, for being an anti-aging supplement. At one point it was being described as the miracle find of 2013," said Doug Cress, Programme Coordinator for the UN supported Great Apes Survival Partnership(GRASP).

Even before the Dr. Oz endorsement, world demand for palm oil, a low-cost fat coveted by food manufacturers and a mainstay of cooking across the tropics doubled since 2000. It is also used in everything from margarine and soap to biofuel.

More than 80 percent of palm oil nuts are grown in Indonesia and Malaysia. According to some estimates, an area the size of Greece is cleared every year for palm oil plantations.

A major concern is the destruction of habitats. The wild orangutan population inIndonesia has plummeted over the years and the Sumatran orangutan is classified as "critically endangered."

"The proliferation of palm oil, the need for palm oil, the perceived need for palm oil, uses to which palm oil is being put, both commercial and as part of the diet is an enormous threat. It's just grown out of all proportion. It's just gone 'poof' like this!" said Dr Jane Goodall, goodwill ambassador for GRASP.

Right now, Africa is the target of many companies hungry for forest land. An April 2012 study by the World Wildlife Fund and France's Institute for Research and Development noted that new regulations and scrutiny elsewhere are "encouraging large Asian companies to heavily invest in Central Africa."

Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon and Ivory Coast are all major players as well as great ape range states.

The high profits of palm oil production leaves host countries with very difficult decisions.Liberia, Sierra Leone, and DR Congo are also rapidly expanding production, and most of these countries are also hosting Asian manufacturers.

"We're finding that Asia is really a test case for the patterns being played out in Africaregarding palm oil and growth of oil palm plantations. All the same devastation and biological destruction and the loss of biodiversity occurring in Asia is hitting us now inAfrica as well. We have to learn from these lessons - 80 percent of Asia's tropical rainforests were wiped out to convert to palm oil plantations. And we're seeing an even faster deforestation right now in Africa as this boom grows," said Cress.

The great ape habitat index released by International Union for Conservation of Naturelast year found that forests were vanishing at a staggering pace - particularly acrossAfrica - and the palm oil industry was a major driver.

Cress says palm oil is cheap, it's fast, and is backed by major consortiums that want to see their profits stay up with very little regard for the environment and for biodiversity.

He said there can be a direct effect of controlled purchase on the extensive mushrooming plantations that threaten the world's forest's and the animals that depend on their ecosystems.

"I think until consumer markets make wise and informed consumer choices we're going to have this problem. It has to be driven by the buying public. They need to make smart choices and to realize that when you buy that tin of house paint, or when you buy that make up item, you're probably cutting down orangutan habitat or you may be killing a chimpanzee. It is that much of a straight line," said Cress.

The oil palm, or Elaeis guineensis, is a food-producing machine with few parallels. Give it warmth, sun and rain and it will transform soil nutrients into fatty acids more efficiently - thus more lucratively - than any rival.

The average palm plantation can generate four metric tons (1 metric ton = 1.1023 tons) of oil per hectare a year, six times the typical yield for rapeseed and 10 times that of soybeans. Small wonder it is the world's most important vegetable oil, with annual production of 50 million metric tons worth 20 billion US dollars.