Oil palm plantations: Don’t ignore the environmental lens

While there is an economic case for pushing for oil palm, the government must learn from the experiences in Sumatra, Borneo and the Malay Peninsula where oil palm plantations have eliminated pristine forests and pushed out wildlife. A rapid change in land use has also left a deep social impact

On August 19, the Union Cabinet approved a new ₹11,040-crore National Mission on Edible Oils-Oil Palm to boost domestic production. It has identified the Northeast and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (ANI) for the project due to their favourable rainfall and temperature. On Monday, a report said that the Cabinet clearance for the project came in the face of objections raised by India’s top forestry research institute (Indian Council of Forestry Research & Education) against introducing oil palm in biodiversity-rich areas — and in the absence of a detailed study it had proposed.

The government has approved a new ₹11,040-crore National Mission on Edible Oils-Oil Palm to boost domestic production. It has identified the Northeast and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (ANI) for the project due to their favourable rainfall and temperature. (File photo)

Last week, this newspaper reported that an official of the environment ministry told a parliamentary committee in 2009 that the existing plantation of oil palm in ANI must be phased out and the “land so released, insofar as it is forest land, be regenerated. No exotic species of fauna or flora should be introduced into the Islands”. In 2002, the Supreme Court (SC) ordered the phasing out of all “exotic plantations” to conserve the islands’ ecology, and the new push will likely require additional clearances from the SC.

The government is keen to push for oil palm plantations because of the huge demand for edible oils. India is already the largest importer of vegetable oils. In 2020-21, it imported both crude and refined palm oil worth $5.8 billion. While there is an economic case for pushing for oil palm, the government must learn from the experiences in Sumatra, Borneo and the Malay Peninsula where oil palm plantations have eliminated pristine forests (carbon sinks) and pushed out wildlife. A rapid change in land use has also left a deep social impact.