A question of economic against environmental sustainability Here are the facts. Palm oil is widely regarded as the most versatile oil, with its applications ranging from cooking oil, margarine, cosmetics, detergents, industrial lubricants and even biofuels for cars and power plants. Compared to other oil, palm oil is the highest-yielding vegetable crop, needing less than half the land required by other crops to produce the same amount of oil. This makes palm oil relatively cheap compared to other vegetable oils such as rapeseed and sunflower oil. In addition, palm oil is superior health-wise as it contains more vitamin A and vitamin E compared to any other edible oils and helps reduce the risk of a variety of diseases such as Alzheimer’s or cancer. Bearing all these environmental and economic benefits in mind, no wonder the demand for palm oil, and its level of production have increased significantly in the last few years. Indonesia tops the list by providing more than half (85%) of the world’s supply of palm oil As an edible vegetable oil, palm oil represents the largest share of worldwide edible oil production, at more than 30%, followed by soybean and rapeseed oil at 28% and 15% respectively. And among all other palm oil producers, including Nigeria and Malaysia, Indonesia tops the list by providing more than half of the world’s supply of palm oil. In fact, palm oil is a very crucial part of this G20 member, accounting for 11% of its export earnings of 5.7 billion USD. The industry has also helped Indonesia to relieve its unemployment problem by giving jobs to about 3.2 million people. Not just that, but the worldwide demand for this so called “sacred food” has increased so much that the growth of palm oil production in Indonesia alone averaged up to 8.1% per year from 1987 to 2007. This in turn will bring even more revenue and job employment for Indonesia. So as you can see, it is obvious how important Indonesia’s palm oil production is to the world and to Indonesia’s own economy. The deforestation of Indonesia’s valuable rainforests accounts for the loss of 8 million hectares of forest land in Borneo and Sumatra However it’s not all good news in the palm oil business. There have been a lot of critics and protests on how this particular industry impacts the environment, animals and ultimately the people of Indonesia. The most common criticisms are directed at the weak law enforcement in forestry management, which is causing the deforestation of Indonesia’s valuable rainforests, accounting for the loss of 8 million hectares of forest land in Borneo and Sumatra. This loss of biodiversity and ecosystems is so bad that a third of all mammal species in Indonesia are considered to be “critically endangered”. One species in particular, the orangutan, had become an icon of deforestation in Borneo and Sumatra. Around 2500 orangutans are killed each year and 90% of orangutans’ habitat has been destroyed in the last 20 years due to the development of the palm oil industry. This has alarmed the UN so much that it has started an “emergency conservation” programme in Indonesia’s rainforests. It seems very heartbreaking that such an important part of Indonesia’s economy is stabbing itself in the back by destroying its own very valuable resource. Efforts have been raised to create a sustainable way of developing palm oil production. The “Roundtable on sustainable palm oil” for example has committed to preserving 50% of all the rainforest in Indonesia and utilize the palm oil plantations as a carbon sink. Several NGOs like Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth continually protest and raise awareness of the destruction of Indonesia’s rainforests while promoting a sustainable way for palm oil production.
The numbers are there. Indonesia clearly needs all the economic drive the palm oil industry is providing for them. And the numbers are there again. Indonesia cannot afford not to act upon the rate at which their rainforests are being destroyed. And so the questions remain. For how long can Indonesia maintain their current practices? At what cost? Ultimately, to what extent can the importance of economic sustainability surpass the importance of environmental sustainability? Adhitya Prayoga Sources:
In the past, every family had a vegetable patch in the back yard. When the shift to an industrial society took place and people moved to the cities, producing one’s own food became unnecessary. Today, however, population growth especially in the cities sets many challenges for us, food security and pollution not being the least of our worries. Even though today more than a half of the world’s population lives in urbanised areas, the United Nations Development Programme estimates that only 15 percent of the world's food is grown in cities. How is it then possible to feed such a huge, constantly growing mass of humanity sustainably? An urban farm in Caracas, Venezuela. Photo by Carlos Garcia Rawlins, Reuters. Original photo Urban farming, community gardening, urban agriculture - no matter what you call it, is suggested to be one of the solutions for local food production. The loose terms generally refer to farming in an urban area in a small space, usually on an allotment that you share with a group of other farmers, but can also mean simply growing your lettuce on your windowsill in an urban setting. Rooftops are said to have the most future potential of all sites in the cities because of the huge amount of underutilized space they possess. In the western world today, a few urbanites are farming out of necessity, but an increasing environmental awareness and an interest in back-to-basics lifestyle among city-dwellers has led people to embrace farming in cities as a relaxing pastime and a way of having fresh, local, additive-free produce on the table. As the benefits of putting wasted space to a good use are becoming evident and urban farming is gaining more popularity, local governments are starting to show some interest in allocating public land for city farming. Companies too, are getting involved: green roofs are being established on top of their corporate HQ’s and other buildings, where employees can take care of the communal veggies and forget about work every now and then. As an example, the former Nokia headquarters’ rooftop garden can be viewed here. Even a high-class restaurant, Savoy, in Helsinki, established a rooftop garden a few years ago to grow fresh, local ingredients for their own use. The garden has become an icon; since its opening in 2010 it has been expanded, reviewed in many media and turned into a sight in itself, promoting local, urban food production. An impressive example of how an urban garden can actually become very productive in many ways. The urban farming list of positives is in fact long; not only do urban gardens produce food out of land which would often otherwise be underutilized, but it has a huge impact on people’s well-being and on their perceptions about the urban environment. The carbon footprint of locally grown food is obviously much lower compared to things grown far away and as we all must eat anyway, growing your own veggies is the ultimate green choice! Green areas also help reduce run-offs of rain water and create small scale carbon sinks in the cities, purifying the air and mitigating some of the vast greenhouse gas emissions cities produce. According to a National Geographic article, community gardens even have a positive impact on the property values. With all these benefits for human health, the environment and for the liveability of cities, why is this movement then not embraced everywhere? Unfortunately the land in cities is scarce and thus expensive, and in the end it’s often the euros that count. In Finland we have had quite a bit of land to “spare”, and therefore in the past, city farming might have been considered silly, if not pointless. In some major European and US’ metropolises where the situation is quite different, urban farming as a movement, its benefits and possibilities are much more acknowledged and supported. Around Tampere there have been public community gardens also during the past summer arranged by an urban gardening non-profit organisation Dodo, but a lot more could be done. So how about a proposal to your landlord to launch a gardening project in the possibly unproductive, dull yard? Or then you could just make use of those scarce square meters in your balcony, like here and grow a few lettuce leaves. The internet is full of interesting articles on how to use your space wisely to grow yourself some inexpensive food with very small carbon emissions – just the way we like it. References: http://www.who.int/gho/urban_health/situation_trends/urban_population_growth_text/en/ https://koivu.luomus.fi/kasvitiede/tutkimus/viherkatot/PiironenMinna%20tiivistelm%C3%A42609.pdf |
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May 2019
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