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PERSPECTIVE OF BIODIVERSITY WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO CULTIVATION

OF OIL CROPS

Yew Foong Kheong, Anna Norliza, Ahmad Shahdan Kasim,

Michael Ng Foo Yuen, Kalyana Sundram, Yusof Basiron

Presentation

• Distribution of biodiversity in world(fauna)

• Factors causing loss of biodiversity

• Do oil crop areas fall within BD hotspots?

• How does BD issues affect palm oil?

• Comparison of oil crops in their potentiality to cause BD loss due to expansion

• MPOWCF

• Conclusions

BIODIVERSITY DISTRIBUTION IS SPATIAL AND VARIABLE (GOD GIVEN)

Source: Jenkins et al. 2013

General main causes of BD extinction 1.Land clearing & fragmentation of landscape causing BD loss

Source: The Star, 2014 Source: The Guardian, 2015 (Indonesia- Land Clearing for Pulp

and Paper

Source: Greenpeace, Land clearing in Amazonian Brazil Source: The Guardian, 2014 (Land clearing in Paraguay

for Soya plantation

General main causes of BD extinction 2. Poaching & wildlife trade

Source: The Guardian, 2015 Source: The Guardian, 2015

Source: The Star 2015

Source: WCS Thailand

Other causes of BD loss

Addax has suffered massive disturbance from oil installations in Niger

First introduced by the Victorians, who regarded

them as an exotic species, non-native grey

squirrels have since supplanted native red

squirrels, left, in many areas.

3.Non-Agriculture

Activities

Mining

4. Introduction of invasive

species

Other causes of BD loss 5. Climate change

• Climate change expected to cause

- Temperatures to rise

- Extremes in rainfall

- Droughts

• Cause change in vegetation

• Cause change in flora & fauna

• Even leading to BD extinction (due to change in vegetation & high temperatures just like El Nino)

• Even causing bush fires

Other causes of BD Loss 6. Bush Fires

Source: The Guardian, 2015 (Indonesia)

Source: The Guardian 2016 (Australia)

Recent event

Fort McMurray Wifdfire in Alberta,

Canada

330,560 hectares

Due to stronger El Nino year with

warmer & drier winter

35% affected area are intact

forests

Ecosystem destroyed & habitat of

caribou is affected

Areas of species extinction

Source; The Guardian,

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/interactive/2012/sep/03/extinct-and-

endangered-species-interactive

Extinctions & Critically Endangered Species

Source; The Guardian,

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/interactive/2012/sep/03/extinct-and-

endangered-species-interactive

Recognition of Need for Global Conservation of BD

• Map of the 35 BD hotspots needed in colour

Priortization of conservation for these 35 hotspots & 5 high biodiversity wilderness areas

Source: Conservation International 2014

Do major soya growing countries fall within these hotspots?

Country Name of Hotspot region

USA California Floristic Province, Madrean pine-oak woodlands

Brazil Cerrado, Atlantic Forest

Argentina Valdivian temperate rain forest

Do major rapeseed growing countries fall within these hotspots

Country Name of Hotspot region

Germany Mediterranean Basin

Canada Part of Madrean Pine-Oak Woodlands (major part not in hotspot)

Do major sunflower growing countries fall within these hotspots?

Country Name of Hotspot region

Russia Mountains of Central Asia (major part not in hotspot)

Ukraine Mountains of Central Asia

Do major oil palm growing countries fall within these hotspots?

Country Name of Hotspot region

Malaysia Sundaland

Indonesia Sundaland, Wallacea

Colombia Tropical Andes, Tumbes-Chocó-Magdalena

MEANING: Expansion of land for all oil crops will impinge on hotspots

NGOs campaigns against land clearing for oil palm cultivation blaming it as cause of biodiversity loss.

Impact of BD issues

Orang Utan distribution

• O

Orang-utan

Population

Distribution. Source: Greminger

et. al (2013)

Ground & aerial

survey by HUTAN

& Sabah Wildlife

found a viable

population of

11,000 OU in

Sabah…. Oil palm

has annihilated OU

claims is not true

for Malaysia

Cultivation of other oil crops also destroy BD too

• Soya cultivation

Maned wolf (Chrysocyon brachyurus), Brazilian Three-banded armadillo (Tolypeutes tricinctus)

• Canola cultivation

In Canada, threat to BD is due to the fact that almost all canola planted in Canada are genetically modified (GMO) except for the canola planted in Prince Edward Island for export to Japan

BUT WE DO NOT HEAR ABOUT THEM, WHY?

Palm oil trade is affected

Appreciation of damage to orang utan by different land use types in Malaysia

Land use type % of land mass

% of land mass

Agriculture Arable 2.9 23.2

Permanent (Oil palm)

19.4 (15)

Pasture 0.9

Others 14.8

Forest 62.0

TOTAL 100.0

Source: CIA Fact Book 2011

• 38% developed, 62% not developed yet.

• If oil palm growing is blamed for OU displacement & loss, it forms

only 39% of all land cleared & opened for development.

• A larger amount of loss (61%) is due to the development of non oil

palm areas.

PALM OIL’S BIG ROLE IN ADDRESSING

FOOD SECURITY

Oils and Fats Production (1990 – 2015)

1990 Production : 80.89 million MT

2015 Production : 204.89 million MT Source: Oil World

Rapeseed oil

10.09%

Soybean oil

19.90%

Palm oil 13.62%

Sunflower oil

9.73%

Others 46.67%

Palm Oil, 30.45%

Soybean Oil,

23.07%

Sunflower Oil, 7.69%

Rapeseed Oil ,

13.40%

Other Oils, 25.39%

Utilization of World’s Agricultural Land

Livestock, 82.5% Oil Palm, 0.3%

Oilseeds, 5.0%

Other crops, 12.2%

Total area: 4.911

bil ha Source: FAO (2011), Oil World, MPOB (2012)

Livestock industry uses the most land and therefore is the main driver for global

deforestation and, therefore, loss of BD. Oil palm has been made a scapegoat

Source: www.pixabay.com

Which of these areas have higher BD?

Expansion in area & production of oil crops between 2010 & 2015

Crop Increase in planted area ( million ha)

Oil yield (tonnes/ha)

Increase in production ( million tonnes)

Soya 17.3 0.4 6.9

Oil palm 4.4 3.6 15.8

Rapeseed 3.8 0.7 2.7

Sunflower 0.5 0.6 0.3

Sources used: Oil World Annual 2010, 2015

Forest area & CO2 emissions in countries growing oil crops

Countries CO2 emission per capita (MT CO2/capita)*

Forest (%)**

Oil palm 3.6 57.8

Malaysia 7.5 67.6

Indonesia 1.8 53.0

Colombia 1.5 52.7

Soybean 7.9 34.2

Brazil 2.5 59.0

USA 16.5 33.8

Argentina 4.8 9.9

Rapeseed 12.6 35.5

Canada 15.9 38.2

Germany 9.3 32.8

Sunflower 9.0 33.2

Russia 12.4 49.8

Ukraine 5.5 16.7

Source* JRC Report ** FAO

Which crop/ oil crop growing country has a greater propensity to favour BD in long run?

• RM20 million fund

• Launched in 2006

• Custodian - Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC), which also has the overall responsibility to manage the various conservation projects funded through MPOWCF

• main objectives :

- Funding studies and efforts on wildlife and biodiversity conservation that affects the Malaysian palm oil industry

- Promoting public awareness on the benefits of environmental and wildlife conservation

• These initiatives send a strong message to stakeholders that the Malaysian palm oil industry is indeed committed in both its words and actions to the conservation of the environment and wildlife in Malaysia while at the same time managing the industry’s activities sustainably.

• More than 20 projects sponsored since 2007

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MPOWCF: BD courses for oil palm plantations

Major MPOWCF Projects

No. Project Year

1 Establishment of a Jungle Patrol with Sabah Forestry Department to protect wildlife

in forest reserves bordering palm oil plantation

2007-2010

2 Tabin Wildlife Reserve – Production of educational materials on wildlife

conservation

2007

3 Diversity of Ground Vegetation in Oil Palm Plantations with Sabah Forestry

Department

2007

4 Orang Utan Island Infant Care Unit in Bukit Merah Laketown Resort, Perak 2007-2009

5 Aerial Survey of orang utan population in Sabah (BCT and HUTAN) 2008

6 Orang Utan Conservation Colloquium 2009 (OUCC 2009) 2009

7 Satellite-tracking, population dynamics, ecology and conservation of the Bornean

banteng (Bos javanicus lowi) in Sabah

2011-2013

8 Establishment and Operation of the Sabah Wildlife Rescue Unit (WRU) 2010-

2012,2016

Major MPOWCF Projects

No. Project Year

9 Wild Asia – Biodiversity for Plantation Managers

Programme

2009-2013

10 Wild Asia – Biodiversity in Plantation Landscapes Manual 2012

11 Malua Biobank Joint Conservation Efforts 2010-2011

12 Borneo Elephant Wildlife Sanctuary, Sabah 2012-

present

13 Sabah Wildlife Conservation Colloquium (SWCC) 2012 2012

14 Malayan Elephant Book 2013

15 Rescue and translocation of orang utan trapped within oil

palm plantation landscapes to permanent forest reserves

2013-

present

16 Sarawak Orang Utan Conservation Programme – A joint

effort between Sarawak Forestry Corporation and MPOC

2014 -

present

• Regional differences in biodiversity as to species and quantity

• Development is a main cause of BD loss and extinction

• Agriculture is often linked to BD loss due to deforestation and land clearing

• Other causes sometimes under-estimated, such as, climate change, wild bushfires, mining, hunting, poaching, wild life trading

• Often heard of statement that ‘Oil palm cultivation is the driver of deforestation & loss of orang utan’

• Cultivation of other oil crops has also destroyed wildlife but you do not hear about such facts

Conclusions

• Comparison shows that more land clearing needed to plant other oil crops such as soya, sunflower & rapeseed to produce the same amount of oil = more BD loss

• Among them, oil palm growing countries have lower per capita CO2 emission & highest forest area

• CAUTION: Palm oil trade can be hurt & affect food security if BD issues are overplayed

• Malaysian Palm Oil industry is proud to say it has a dedicated fund devoted to BD & wildlife care via the MPOWCF

Conclusions

THANK YOU