forests or palm oil plantation?

Sustainable forest management that aims at Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) includes payments to landowners and can provide economic benefits over alternative land uses such as oil palm plantations. If certain key factors are resolved, REDD+ can simultaneously achieve economic and social success while bringing ecological benefits and contributing to climate change mitigation.

The objective of REDD+ is to provide an economic incentive to landowners to manage their land in such a way that forests remain intact and the carbon stays stored in the plants. Using the forests’ natural ability to remove carbon from the atmosphere is a relatively affordable and convenient way to contribute to climate change mitigation. Depending on local ecosystem dynamics, socio-political conditions and relevant alternative land uses, such as agriculture or oil palm plantations, REDD+ payments can be economically competitive. The benefits of REDD+ are especially visible in cases where – besides payments for carbon storage – other ecosystem services such as clean water provision and biodiversity are considered in the equation. These findings are particularly relevant for the local implementation of REDD+ projects that rely on the support of the affected people.

In a recently published article in Environmental Sustainability, researchers from Wageningen University examine the economic costs and benefits from several land use alternatives in secondary forests and oil palm plantations in Kalimantan, Indonesia over a 20-year period. The researchers quantify and compare revenues from sustainable timber harvesting, palm oil production, and non-timber forest products like rattan, a plant used for its fiber. They use data from peat land and from land on mineral soils. Peat soils have a significantly higher carbon content as compared to other soils, which makes land conversion on peat land particularly impactful for the climate. The researchers look at the amount of CO₂ that is either (a) released into the atmosphere in cases where land is converted from forest into palm oil plantations, or (b) absorbed into plant biomass through the growth of vegetation. To calculate costs for carbon emissions, an amount of five dollars per ton of released CO₂  ($/t CO₂)is used. This price is a conservative estimate given that the average carbon price in 2011 for REDD+ projects was $12/t CO₂.

The researchers find that REDD+ payments of only three dollars per ton of avoided CO₂ emissions makes sustainable forest management on peat lands financially more attractive than establishing oil palm plantations. Conversion of peat land forests through logging leads to ongoing CO₂ emissions from the exposed soil. Most oil palm plantations in Kalimantan are established in exactly these areas.  Another finding is that even on less carbon-rich mineral soils, REDD+ payments of $7/t CO₂ will incentivize landowners to keeping and maintaining the forest than compared to converting the land to oil palm plantations.

Decades of intensive logging have led to vast areas of degraded grasslands in Indonesia. The researchers find that converting these degraded grasslands into oil palm plantations can have significant benefits for society. Cultivating these areas constitutes a big opportunity to both satisfy the demand for palm oil and withdraw carbon from the atmosphere. In this scenario, no deforestation takes place and biologically less valuable areas turn into productive lands that yield economic revenues while having a positive effect on the climate by absorbing carbon.

There is enough degraded land in most of Indonesia on non-peat mineral soils to swap the currently unused palm oil licenses from peat land forests to degraded grasslands. However, ownership of such land on mineral soils is more dispersed than ownership of peat land. This, among other factors, leads to higher costs, and has so far impeded political initiatives to switch locations for large-scale plantation licenses. Therefore, oil palm plantations are currently planted on the economically least attractive and ecologically most vulnerable sites – the peat land forests. This shows that investment decisions are not solely made based on economic calculations but that other factors such as the accessibility of land and political conditions drive land use change.

Four major insights came out of the study. First, REDD+ is instrumental to promote better land use. However, other measures need to be included to reach socially optimal land use. Aggregated economic incentives for multiple ecosystem services, not only carbon storage, will lead to increased competitiveness over other land uses. Second, an institutional framework for effective local land management is necessary to ensure clear land tenure, monitoring of land use changes, and enforcement of regulations. Third, local stakeholder interests need to be taken into account. Potential impacts on the ability of local people to use the forest through REDD+ projects need to be communicated to them. Furthermore, timing is essential since the affected people may not be able to forego revenues from forest use until they receive the first REDD+ payments. Fourth, designing and implementing REDD+ projects needs to be done in accordance to local ecosystem dynamics. For instance, if an area on a peat dome is drained in order to be prepared for an oil palm plantation, the groundwater table in the adjacent peat land forest will drop as well. This leads to forest degradation and increased CO₂ emissions outside the plantation boundaries.

REDD+ payments can offer a competitive land use alternative that provides social, ecologic, and economic benefits to all stakeholders while contributing to climate change mitigation. However, there is a need for a locally adapted regulatory framework that takes into account the complex ecosystem dynamics for REDD+ to fulfill its climate objective. Awareness of cultural and institutional factors is essential for the effective and successful planning of REDD+ projects for local ecosystem management as economic incentives. Mechanisms other than carbon payments need to be included to yield the societally optimal land use scenario. While only speaking for the researched area in Kalimantan, Indonesia, this paper shows that economic models can serve local land use planning processes. This insight is particularly relevant for policymakers who can contribute to grounding political decision-making on clearly defined factors that illuminate economic, ecological, and social impacts of land use policies.

http://environment.yale.edu

REDD+ is.......

It is estimated that greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation contribute up to 20% of global emissions. This has led to interest in reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation - known as REDD.
REDD+ (or REDD-plus) also includes conservation and sustainable management of forests and the enhancement of forest carbon stocks.
REDD+ has been discussed in international climate negotiations since 2005, with a focus on developing new policies and financial incentives to curb emissions from forests. Since the idea of REDD+ was first proposed, there has been a focus on a range of issues from the need to support "readiness" to allow countries to prepare for implementing REDD+ to discussing social and environmental safeguards and co-benefits.
Alongside the international climate negotiations, a number of multilateral programmes have been established to support REDD+, including the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility and the UN-REDD programme, and bilateral partnerships, such as Norway's support to Brazil's Amazon Fund.
In 2010, a number of governments signed up to the REDD+ Partnership, which aims to provide a platform to scale up actions and finance.
Alongside and with support from these various programmes and partnerships, developing countries are working to put in place policies and measures that help to curb emissions from forests, and governments and other actors are trialling different approaches through "pilot" activities for REDD+. As countries have worked to put in place REDD+ programmes, it has become increasingly evident that this can only be achieved if the drivers of deforestation are addressed - many of which are outside the forest sector.
The status of the international climate negotiations has led to a shift from REDD+ being considered as a mechanism under a future climate agreement to a much broader perception of REDD+ as an outcome that needs to be achieved through a range of interventions and approaches. With international policy processes looking towards 2015, when a future climate agreement and new global development goals are due to be agreed, how forests and REDD+ features will likely be an increasing question. These discussions could provide an important opportunity to help maintain the momentum for curbing emissions from forests and also allow for recognition of the wider roles that forests have in supporting development and environmental sustainability.
A wide range of briefings on REDD+ and how it works are available, some of which are highlighted in the featured resources below. You can also see our useful links for further information.  If you want to find out more about how REDD-net contributes to promoting pro-poor REDD+ policies, click here.

prospek minyak kelapa sawit merah

   Riset perkelapasawitan yang semakin maju menemukan prospek bisnis baru sektor kesehatan dari produksi minyak goreng sawit merah yang mengandung vitamin A dan E. Indonesia sebagai produsen minyak kelapa sawit mentah (CPO) terbesar dunia berpeluang menghasilkan produk minyak nabati baru yang sehat.

   Demikian siaran pers peluncuran kerja sama program sosial Eka Tjipta Foundation (ETF), milik kelompok usaha Sinar Mas, yang diterima di Jakarta, Kamis (17/3). Acara ini dihadiri Ketua Umum ETF G. Sulistiyanto, Direktur Utama PT SMART Tbk Daud Dharsono, dan Dekan Fakultas Teknologi Pertanian Institut Pertanian Bogor Sam Herodian.

   Sedikitnya 10 juta anak dan jutaan penduduk miskin di Indonesia masih kekurangan Vitamin A, yang bermanfaat bagi mata dan menjaga regenerasi sel, imunitas, dan menurunkan risiko penyakit kanker dan lupus.

   Untuk tahap awal, IPB akan menjalankan program pemberian vitamin A bagi masyarakat miskin di Bogor barat, Jawa Barat, yang terkandung dalam minyak goreng merah produksi PT SMART Tbk. Hal ini merupakan bagian dari sosialisasi manfaat minyak goreng merah dari kelapa sawit.

Kelapa sawit merupakan penghasil karotenoid tertinggi di dunia. Minyak kelapa sawit mentah (crude palm oil/CPO) olahan tahap pertama berwarna merah pekat dan mengandung beta karoten provitamin A sebanyak 600-1000 mg per kg atau ppm.

   Karotenoid yang terdapat dalam minyak sawit merupakan provitamin A yang sangat mudah diserap oleh sel mukosa saluran pencernaan manusia lalu diubah menjadi vitamin A atau retinol dengan potensi konversi sebesar 98%. Potensi ini menjadikan minyak sawit merah sebagai sumber vitamin A yang jauh lebih efektif dan murah dibandingkan sumber vitamin A lainnya.

   Selama ini proses pengolahan CPO menjadi minyak sawit goreng meliputi penghancuran provitamin A secara besar-besaran untuk memperoleh minyak goreng yang jernih atau berwarna agak kuning. Proses pengolahan ini, yang disebut sebagai pemurnian, juga merusak vitamin E yang juga terkandung dalam CPO.

   Jika produksi CPO di Indonesia mencapai minimal 16 juta ton per tahun, sementara kandungan karotenoid provitamin A sebesar 550 ppm, maka jumlah provitamin A yang hancur sedikitnya 7.700 ton per tahun.

   Vitamin A sebanyak itu dapat memenuhi kebutuhan sedikitnya 30 miliar orang per tahun dengan perhitungan rata-rata kebutuhan per orang sebesar 700 mcg retinol ekivalen per hari. Kompas.com

High Conservation Value (HCV)

   High Conservation Value (HCV) areas are defined as natural habitats where these values are considered to be ofoutstanding significance or critical importance. The HCV concept was originally developed by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) to help define forest areas of outstanding and critical importance - High Conservation Value Forests (HCVF) - for use in forest management certification.

   A High Conservation Value area is simply the area (e.g. a forest, a grassland, a watershed, or a landscape-level ecosystem) where these values are found, or, more precisely, the area that needs to be appropriately managed in order to maintain or enhance the identified values. Identifying the areas where these values occur is therefore the essential first step in developing appropriate management for them.

Definition of HCV areas The HCV areas are defined as follows:
HCV1:	areas containing globally, regionally or nationally significant concentrations of biodiversity values (e.g., endemism, endangered species)
HCV2:	areas containing globally, regionally or nationally significant large landscape natural habitats, contained within, or containing, the management unit, where viable populations of most if not all naturally occurring species exist in natural patterns of distribution and abundance.
HCV3:	areas that are in or contain rare, threatened or endangered ecosystems.
HCV4:	areas that provide basic services of nature in critical situations (e.g., watershed protection, erosion control).
HCV5:	areas fundamental to meeting basic needs of local communities (e.g., subsistence, health).
HCV6:	areas critical to local communities’ traditional cultural identity (areas of cultural, ecological, economic or religious significance identified in co-operation with such local communities). www.rspo.org

HCV monitoring protocol and software

   High Conservation Values (HCVs) are a set of social and ecological values that are considered a high priority for conservation. They include the presence of endemic or endangered species, rare or endangered ecosystems, and resources and ecosystem services on which local communities depend for their livelihoods all of which are significantly threatened by large-scale land conversion from forest to agriculture. In order to meet the criteria for RSPO certification, plantation owners are obliged to maintain and protect HCV areas within their concessions, however without regular and standardized monitoring, successful, efficient and robust management of HCVs is not possible.

   Regular patrol monitoring of HCV areas in oil palm plantations can provide plantation managers with the information they need to mitigate the negative impacts of oil palm cultivation on biodiversity; however, current guidance on how to do this is limited. ZSL is developing a practical protocol with accompanying easy-to-use software and training modules to enable field staff to effectively monitor key variables in HCV areas in oil palm landscapes. It is intended to support an adaptive management approach for improved protection of biodiversity within plantations, whereby management actions are informed by the results of patrol monitoring.

Results from regular patrols are analysed by accompanying software and reported in clear and easily understandable graphs and maps.

 Download our HCV Monitoring Protocol information booklet to learn more about the project. (3.6 MB)

http://www.zsl.org

Europe’s demand for palm oil driving deforestation and land-grabbing

One of the leading suppliers of "green" palm oil to Europe is illegally encroaching upon Indonesian forest and peat land, according to a report published by Friends of the Earth Europe. The report exposes the illegal activities of the Malaysian showcase company IOI Group and shows that the increasing demand in Europe for palm oil in food and biofuels is leading to deforestation, breaches of environmental law and land conflicts in Asia.

The revelations come as the European Commission re-considers its attempt to redefine palm oil plantations as "forests" in their draft guidance to EU countries aiming to prevent unsustainable biofuels, and discussions surrounding the use of industry-led certification schemes to meet EU standards continue.

Read the report here

Adrian Bebb, food and agriculture campaign coordinator for Friends of the Earth Europe said: "Illegal deforestation, land-grabbing and the breach of environmental laws are the reality behind Europe’s palm oil use. Europe’s biofuel target and palm-oil obsession are driving this destruction, and companies like the IOI Group, that promote themselves as green and responsible, are putting profit before both people and the planet, sacrificing forests for Europe’s food and fuel."

According to the United Nations the rapid increase in palm oil plantation acreage is now the primary cause of permanent rainforest loss in Indonesia. 

The Friends of the Earth investigation exposes the actions of the Malaysian-based IOI Group, the largest palm oil company in the world and one of the driving forces behind 'green' certification schemes for palm oil. The research reveals that IOI is responsible for illegal deforestation, the encroachment upon protected peat lands, and land-grabbing at the expense of local rice farmers in the Indonesian province of West Kalimantan.

IOI Group is a leading member of the Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC), one of the most active lobby groups pushing for palm oil to be used as a biofuel in the EU, and co-founder of the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). The majority of palm oil comes to Europe via the Netherlands where IOI operate a number of facilities. The food-multinational Unilever and the Finnish biofuel producer Neste Oil are among the buyers of IOI's palm oil.

"By attempting to redefine industrial palm oil plantations as forests, forests will become fair game for conversion into damaging biofuel plantations. The resulting green house gas emissions from deforestation mean that EU biofuel targets end up fuelling climate change rather than curbing it. All efforts should be made to prevent the use of palm oil in biofuels" Adrian Bebb concluded.

 http://www.foei.org

Why You Should Give Red Palm Oil a Try

By Bryce Wylde, Alternative Health Expert 

 

The health benefits of olive oil have been touted for many hundreds of years. More recently, coconut oil has become all the rage and hailed by many as the king of oils. But, whatever oil you choose – whether it’s olive, coconut, almond, canola, peanut, safflower, walnut, or even avocado oil – none compare to the powerful nutritional virtues of virgin organic red palm fruit oil. 

Bonus: The health benefits of red palm fruit oil can be achieved by incorporating only 1-2 tablespoons into your daily diet. 

Red Palm Fruit Oil vs. Palm Kernel Oil

Regarded as a sacred healing food by many civilizations, including the ancient Egyptians, crude or virgin red palm fruit oil should be regarded as one of the most nutritious edible oils in the world. It is not to be confused with palm kernel oil. It is derived from the fruit of the oil palm tree (Elaeis guineensis) and is referred to as "red palm oil" because of its rich dark red color in its unprocessed natural state. Palm kernel oil is derived from the seed or the kernel.

Palm fruit oil contains mainly palmitic and oleic acids and is about 50% saturated, while palm kernel oil contains mainly lauric acid and is more than 89% saturated. The general assumption that kernel oil and palm fruit oil are one in the same may have lead to one of the greatest oversights in modern nutrition. The stigma attached to the kernel has kept the fruit in the dark - at least until now. Virgin organic sustainable red palm fruit oil is otherwise a bona fide miracle food. 

Palm kernel oil does not convey the same health benefits that red palm fruit oil does. The health benefits are only achieved due to the red color of the palm fruit oil that is attributed to its high content of carotenes, which include beta-carotene and lycopene. These powerhouse antioxidant nutrients are the same ones that give tomatoes and carrots and other fruits and vegetables their rich red and orange colors. What may shock you is that red palm fruit oil contains more that tomatoes or carrots. Red palm fruit oil is also densely packed with numerous tocotrienols – a powerful form of vitamin E.  

Processed palm oil does not contain cholesterol and behaves like hydrogenated fats (the dangerous trans-fatty acids) in packaged foods since it has “thickness” at room temperature. This makes it ideal for many food manufacturers to use in place of hydrogenated oils in their snack products. Processed foods can then be advertised as being "trans fat free" and "cholesterol free”. But, when red palm oil is refined and processed, the red color disappears and its nutritional and healing benefits are destroyed. Once it becomes part of a processed snack food, it no longer features the health benefits and powerful antioxidants found only in the raw palm oil.  

Red Palm Fruit Oil vs. Fish and Coconut Oils

But how does red palm fruit oil compare with fish oil you may ask? Frankly, comparing fish oil to red palm oil would be comparing apples to oranges.

The health benefits of fish oil come mainly from its high levels of omega-3 essential fatty acids known as EPA and DHA. These are incredibly important to our health. In fact, fish oils feature some of the most wide-reaching health benefits, and far and away have the most robust science to back claims related to heart, brain, and immune health and serve to manage inflammation better than any other oil. However, fish oil is extremely susceptible to high temperature, air and light – which is why you can't cook with it. Red palm fruit oil, on the other hand, is very stable.

Palm fruit oil contains less cholesterol-lowering “long-chain” omega-3 fatty acids than fish oil. What red palm oil contains, however, is a lot of “medium-chain” and “short-chain” fatty acids – both of which scientists recognize as healthy for us and necessary in moderation.

And while we're comparing, let’s look at an apple-to-apple scenario: coconut oil vs. red palm fruit oil. Even when you account for the marginally higher levels of medium chain triglyceride (MCT) levels that coconut oil has over palm, it is once again the carotenoid and tocotrienol antioxidants that give it a significant health advantage over coconut oil.

Heart Helper, Disease Fighter

Red palm oil has great science behind it for its beneficial role in fighting heart disease and high cholesterol. Over the past two decades, researchers have intensely studied red palm oil’s effect on cardiovascular health and the preliminary results initially baffled scientists.

At room temperature, this semi-solid oil seems as likely as lard to clog your arteries. But what might shock you to learn, as it has equally stunned researchers, is that although red palm fruit oil is indeed high in saturated fat, it actually protects against heart disease. Saturated fats behave like a thick molasses through the cardiovascular system, eventually contributing to plaque (atherosclerosis). But studies show that adding palm oil into the diet can remove plaque build-up in arteries and, therefore, reverse the process of plaque and prevent blockages. In fact, studies funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have shown that a natural form of vitamin E called alpha tocotrienol, which is the form found in high amounts in red palm fruit oil, can help reduce the effects of stroke by 50% by protecting your brain’s nerve cells.

Removing plaque is not the only way red palm oil may protect against strokes and heart attacks. Red palm oil can also improve cholesterol values and also helps maintain proper blood pressure. Science now understands that inflammation in the artery lining is what warrants cholesterol to deposit in the first place. So, it makes sense that the protective effects come from the high antioxidant, anti-inflammatory content of the red palm oil which works to quench free radicals and keep inflammation under control.

But red palm oil’s benefits aren't exclusive to heart health. Research is showing that the antioxidant power of red palm oil can be of help in protecting against a variety of health problems, including osteoporosis, asthma, cataracts, macular degeneration, arthritis, and liver disease. It can even slow down the premature aging processes by protecting the skin against damaging UV rays.

But nothing ages us faster than being overweight. And, where traditional fats and oils like margarine, or other vegetable oils take a long time to break down for energy and are eventually stored as fat, red palm oil goes straight to liver and ignites metabolism. That means you’ll burn calories from fat much faster.

When it comes to your brain, the special form of vitamin-E (tocotrienol) in red palm oil stops destructive damage and improves blood flow to brain cells, which can also help to prevent Alzheimer's disease and dementia.

The high antioxidant content of red palm oil makes it a potent anti-cancer food. Though tocotrienols can be found in rice bran, barley and wheat, red palm oil is the richest source of tocotrienol. Research suggests that this form of vitamin E may help fight skin, stomach, pancreas, liver, lung, colon, prostate, breast, and other cancers.

Additionally, research has shown that red palm oil promotes nutrient utilization, improves liver detoxification pathways and improves immune function.

Availability and Sustainability

By now, one question you may have is, “Where do I get some?” Actually, you can already purchase this at your local health food store. It gets imported from Malaysia, the world’s second largest producer of palm oil. 

Besides its known nutritional virtues, private enterprise has recognized palm oil’s other lucrative applications. 

With the price of crude oil and gas hitting an all-time record high through 2012, palm oil seems to have caught the attention of scientists and corporations as one of the few plausible sources of biodiesel. The concept that palm oil should be used as a renewable substitute for petroleum-derived diesel has already received criticism from various non-governmental organizations worldwide. 

The controversy is focused primarily on three issues: Extinction of orangutans, deforestation, and, particularly, the food vs. fuel dispute. Besides demolishing the habitat of one of the most wonderful creatures on earth, it is thought that the conversion of the crops currently used for food over to fuel would significantly decrease accessibility to those looking to use the oil for dietary purposes, increasing the number of undernourished people in the world.

A Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) was formed in 2004 to promote the growth and use of sustainable palm oil products. Where some researchers believe that the palm oil industry has the capacity to fulfill both demands, responsible people don't want to create negative environmental impact. So, on top of “virgin” and “organic” red palm fruit oil, we need to look for brands that produce the oil sustainably.

 http://www.doctoroz.com