A newly released study has found that trees covering an area twice the size of Maine were cut down worldwide in 2014. But the biggest threat to forests is looming over West Africa.
Governments there have been buckling under pressure to convert “vacant” land and sell off forests for more profitable uses, namely palm oil plantations. Palm oil is a key ingredient in shampoo, toothpaste, ice cream, floor polish and many other foodstuffs and cosmetics. By 2020, global demand for palm oil is expected to double, and then triple by 2050.
For countries desperate for jobs and revenue, it is hard to resist the rich offers of multinational corporations and investors. Four West African states have already cut down 2 percent of their forest area for “development,” including plantations for palm oil, according to the study by the U.S.-based World Resources Institute. These countries are Sierra Leone, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia and Madagascar.
Palm oil plantations pose ecological nightmares for small countries. They’ve been linked to climate change and the destruction of wildlife habitats, and they “significantly erode” water quality, which threatens freshwater streams that millions of people depend on for drinking water, food and livelihoods, according to a new study by Stanford University researchers.
“We were stunned by how these oil palm plantations profoundly alter freshwater ecosystems for decades,” said study co-author Lisa Curran.
Cameroon is another known victim of deforestation, losing 18 percent of its forest cover between 1990 and 2010. In the glare of media and growing local opposition, recent efforts to hand over large tracts of pristine forests and farmland for palm oil farms have stalled. Most recently, President Paul Biya’s bid to transfer 73,000 hectares to the U.S.-based Herakles Farms had to be put on hold.
Facing a barrage of negative publicity, several multinational corporations and investors signed a pledge ending the use of ingredients whose production causes tropical deforestation. Among these corporations are Johnson & Johnson, Colgate, McDonald’s and Unilever.
This week, the CEO of Unilever, Paul Polman, picked up the UN’s environmental award for “challenging business norms to show that sustainable, equitable and environmentally conscious business is smart business.”
Also receiving the Champions of the Earth award were H.E. Sheikh Hasina, prime minister of Bangladesh, for leadership on the frontline of climate change; the National Geographic Society, for more than a century of life-changing science, exploration and storytelling; Natura (a Brazilian cosmetics firm), for its commitment to sustainable business models; and the all-women Black Mamba Anti-Poaching Unit of South Africa for “outstanding courage in fighting the illegal wildlife trade at the community level.”
