Re-envisioning Sustainable Oil-Palm in SE Asia

In Southeast Asia, expansion of oil-palm agriculture, in combination with other industries (logging, fiber, and mega-dams), is transforming significant portions of the landscape threatening biodiversity, key ecosystem services, and human cultural diversity. While transformative answers to these multifaceted environmental issues seem daunting, the conservation biology literature provides a road map for effective techniques to mitigate environmental degradation while allowing for thoughtful, well-planned economic growth. I suggest that the lack of strict operational definitions and a holistic approach to sustainability are the two most critical factors hindering development of sustainable oil-palm agriculture. The task for environmental practitioners is to succinctly define quantifiable long-term sustainability practices and persuade governments and industries that it is in their best interest not to dismiss environmental concerns. If adopted, oil-palm and other industries in SE Asia could become a sustainable model for the world by preserving diverse biological and human communities while expanding economic interests. Impact of oil-palm agriculture and other extractive industries in SE Asia Oil-palm (Elaeis guineensis) agriculture has received increased attention in the recent decade because its expansion threatens tropical forests, the diverse flora and fauna these forests harbor, and the critical ecosystem services these forests support (Fitzherbert et al. 2008). Particular focus has centered on Malaysia and Indonesia, as they are the two largest oil-palm producing countries, Indonesia (4.1 Mha) and Malaysia (3.6 Mha) (Koh and Wilcove 2008), and they harbor 80% of SE Asia’s remaining primary forests (FAO 2010). However, focusing on just oil-palm ignores the many varied and interconnected ecological challenges the region is currently facing. For example, logging and fiber concessions (areas of forests that are converted to monocultures of pulp-producing trees) account for more forest loss than oil-palm concessions (Abrood et al. 2015). These industries along with others (e.g., mining and mixed concessions) are linked to oilpalm expansion because, once land is logged or mined, it is considered degraded and additional concessions may be provided to allow for oil-palm agriculture (Koh and Wilcove 2008). Combined, these industries have contributed to significant loss of tropical forests in the region. Estimates of net deforestation, which incorporates gross deforestation and forest regeneration, indicate that deforestation rates in SE Asia have been between 1.44 and 1.78 M ha yr-1 for the 1 Wallace M. (Marty) Meyer III is the Director of the Robert J. Bernard Field Station (BFS) and Assistant Professor of Biology at Pomona College in Claremont CA USA. He has research interests in conservation biology, invasion biology, biogeography, and ecology, including aspects of population, community and ecosystem ecology. Enviro-Lab Asia has provided him with an opportunity to explore how human modifications are influencing biodiversity and ecosystem functions in tropical Asia expanding his perspective on Anthropocene.