Palm Oil Palm Case Study

Fitzherbert, E. B., Struebig, M. J., Morel, A., Danielsen, F., Brühl, C. A., Donald, P. F., & Phalan, B. (2008). Review: How will oil palm expansion affect biodiversity?. Trends In Ecology & Evolution, 2(3), 538-545. doi:10.1016/j.tree.2008.06.012
The article addresses the ecological impact of palm oil plantation in Indonesia and Malaysia. The author conducts a descriptive study of how the increased demand for palm has impacted biodiversity especially indigenous animals such as orangutan. In order to assess the impact of palm oil plantation on orangutan’s habitat, the author conducted a literature review. The author notes that the need to expand land for palm oil expansion has negatively impacted the composition and the size of orangutan’s habitat. These findings imply that sustainable environmental policies and techniques need to be developed and implemented so as to mitigate the negative impact of the palm oil plantation of orangutan’s habitat.
Nantha, H., & Tisdell, C. (2009). The orangutan oil palm conflict: economic constraints and opportunities for conservation.

The study’s methodology was qualitative. While the study recognizes that palm oil plantation increases deforestation and consequently reducing biodiversity, the authors argues that the demand for palm oil up to the year 2020 can be met without any reduction of forest cover through the improvement of yields and conservation of degraded land. In particular, the study notes that while palm oil plantation endangers orangutan’s habitat, the authors suggest that encroachment of orangutan’s habitat could be reduced by up to 30% through the use of sustainable land use initiatives and policies. Overall, the findings of this article suggest that is there is a need to advocate for an environmental sustainable biomass industry in Malaysia in order to protect the natural habitat for