- Title: INDONESIA: Expansion of palm oil plantations draws fire from environmental groups
- Date: 11th August 2010
- Summary: JAKARTA, INDONESIA (AUGUST 10, 2010) (REUTERS) STREET VENDOR SELLS FRIED SNACKS HOT OIL IN PAN SELLER'S FACE (SOUNDBITE) (Bahasa Indonesia) FRIED SNACKS SELLER, IKHSAN, SAYING: "I don't know about the issues concerning cooking oil. I am only a small man, running my business." BEANCURD BEING FRIED KETAPANG, WEST KALIMANTAN PROVINCE, INDONESIA (RECENT) (REUTERS) AER
- Embargoed: 26th August 2010 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Indonesia
- Country: Indonesia
- Topics: Environment / Natural World,Industry
- Reuters ID: LVA5QWWUIFX65EM6XGMFYWA6NYE
- Story Text: The oil squeezed out of palm fruit is a base ingredient from a wide variety of products ranging from soap to cooking oil.
But there are few who are aware of the heated debate between the industry and environmental groups, even in Indonesia, which has 7.9 million hectares of palm oil fields and is the world's top producer of the versatile oil.
"I don't know about the issues concerning cooking oil. I am only a small man, running my business," said Ikhsan, a fried snacks seller in Jakarta.
Environmental groups accuse palm oil producers of bulldozing primary forests, digging up peatland and wrecking the habitat of orangutans which also trap vast amounts of greenhouse gases, in order to plant the trees.
But companies such as Indonesian palm oil giant PT SMART Tbk say they are not responsible and object to the accusations by Greenpeace.
SMART recently conducted an audit to counter the allegations which prompted big palm oil buyers like Unlever and Nestle to drop it as a supplier.
The audit which covered only 40 percent of SMART's total planted area of 430,000 hectares, not including the eastern Papua province, showed the Greenpeace reports were exaggerated or wrong, company officials said.
"Greenpeace accusations were exaggerated or wrong. SMART is not responsible for clearing primary forests and rainforests and we are not the cause of orangutan habitat damage," PT SMART Tbk President Director Daud Dharsono, told a news conference in the capital on Tuesday (August 10).
But officials said the audit did show that the firm's planting on carbon-rich peatlands on two estates contravened Indonesian and SMART's own rules.
The bitter dispute between the palm oil industry, which produces about 23 million tonnes a year and is one of country's largest exports, and environmentalists has broader implications for Indonesia.
The country wants to boost economic growth but has also promised to cut greenhouse emissions by as much as 41 percent from business-as-usual levels by 2020 -- largely through curbing deforestation.
Environmentalists say the economic growth is being carried out at the cost of the country's forests.
The government is planning a two-year moratorium on new permits to clear natural forest, but environmentalists say this may not be enough to save the country's environment.
"If the government do nothing, it is really something not good for the public which is, we can say this country controlled by companies," said Greenpeace Indonesia Forest Campaigner Bustar Maitar.
SMART with a market capitalization of $1.1 billion, runs the Indonesia palm oil operations of its Singapore-listed parent company Golden Agri-Resources which is controlled by the Widjaja family, whose business empire Sinar Mas has interests in pulp and paper, finance and property.
Following the Greenpeace claims, SMART had vowed not to clear land with high conservation value forest, such as carbon-rich peatland forest, and says it has actually repaired peatlands on its concessions.
But it also said it plans to carry out planned expansions this year. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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