Palm oil production effect on Animal and Plant Life - Deforestation in S...

Palm oil production effect on Animal and Plant Life - Deforestation in Sumatra!

In Sumatra tens of thousands of square kilometres of forest have been destroyed often under central government concessions given to palm oil companies to remove the forest.

The palm oil industry is growing in industry need and output, and palm oil and palm-based ingredients are found in more than 50 percent of common consumer products, from shampoo and lipstick to packaged bread and ice cream. 

Indonesia is the largest producer of palm oil across the world and is rapidly expanding its plantations and workforce to face a growing global demand.

Deforestation  had massive environmental and social impacts.

2.5 metric tons of effluent or liquid waste is made for every metric ton of palm oil that is produced. This effluent affects freshwater furthermore affecting downstream wildlife and humans.

Pesticide and herbicide use is a common practice among palm oil plantations, including paraquat, an herbicide banned throughout Europe, and can further cause issues for downstream water pollution.

The drainage, burning, and plantation building on former peat lands releases large quantities of carbon dioxide, so negating their value as so-called 'carbon sinks'. The carbon sinks “store more carbon per unit area than any other ecosystem in the world”. One study found that destroying the carbon sink peat bogs in Southeast Asia could release as much carbon as nine years of fossil fuel that is used globally.

Many animals native to Sumatra are impacted by the effects of the palm oil industry and deforestation often facing threats of extinction.

Deforestation entails a reduction in biodiversity and an alteration of ecosystems which causes the destruction of the habitats of endangered species such as Sumatran elephants, Sumatran tigers, Sumatran rhinoceroses and the various species of orangutan that can be found only on the forests of  Sumatra.

Some of these animals such as the orangutan are arboreal and try to stay in the trees, often being burned alive during slash and burn of forests.