Palm oil is a vegetable oil found in more than 50% of the products offered in supermarkets. You can find it in the ingredient list of so many products, as well as cleaning products, candles, and cosmetics. Recently, palm oil has also been added to biofuels – a “green” alternative to gasoline or gas. This oil is obtained from the fruits of the oil palm tree, a tree that grows in the humid tropics of West Africa, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Local residents of these countries are actively engaged in the cultivation of oil palms, as the demand for palm oil in developed countries is increasing. Developing countries make money from a resource that they can easily grow, produce and sell, why not? If a country has an ideal climate for growing a product that other countries are interested in, why not grow it? Let’s see what’s the matter. To make room for massive palm tree plantations, a large amount of forest is burned, at the same time wild animals disappear, as well as the flora of the area. As a result of clearing forests and land, greenhouse gases are released, air pollution occurs, and indigenous people are relocated. The World Wildlife Fund states: “”. With the increase in global demand for palm oil, the government, growers and workers living in the tropics are being encouraged to set up more plantations to sell the oil to developed countries. Currently, 90% of oil production takes place in Malaysia and Indonesia, countries that contain 25% of the world’s tropical forests. According to research on palm oil production: . Rainforests are thought to be the lungs of our planet, producing massive amounts of oxygen and helping to break down carbon dioxide. The climate situation in the world also depends on the deforestation of tropical forests, the planet is heating, which leads to global warming. Extinction of flora and fauna By clearing out rainforests, we are depriving some 10 million species of animals, insects and plants of their homes, many of which are herbal remedies for various diseases but are now threatened with extinction. From orangutans, elephants to rhinos and tigers, not to mention hundreds of thousands of small plants. Deforestation has threatened the extinction of at least 236 plant species and 51 animal species in Kalimantan alone (a region in Indonesia).
2022-11-11