Abstract. Vegetable oil crops cover over half of global agricultural land and have varying environmental and socioeconomic impacts. Demand for coconut oil is expected to rise, but the global distribution of coconut is understudied, which hinders the discussion of its impacts. Here, we present the first 20-meter global coconut layer, produced using deep learning for semantic segmentation, specifically a U-Net model that was trained using annual Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 composites from 2020. Results confirmed the feasibility of using Sentinel-1 for mapping palm species that present full canopy closure. The overall accuracy was 99.10 ± 0.20 %, which was significantly higher than the no-information rate. The producer’s accuracy was 72.07 ± 22.83 % when only closed-canopy coconut was considered in the validation, but decreased to 12.34 ± 2.60 % when sparse and open-canopy coconut areas were considered, indicating that this planting context remains difficult to map with accuracy. We report a global coconut area of 12.31 ± 3.83 x 106 ha for dense open- and closed-canopy coconut, but the estimate is three times larger (36.72 ± 7.62 x 106 ha) when sparse coconut is included in the area estimation. This large area of sparse and dense open-canopy coconut is important as it indicates that production increases can likely be achieved on the existing lands allocated to coconut. The Philippines, Indonesia, and India account for most of the global coconut area, or about 82 % of the total mapped area. Our study provides the high-resolution, quantitative, and precise data necessary for assessing the relationships between vegetable oil production and the synergies and trade-offs between various sustainable development goal indicators. The global coconut layer is available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7453178 (Descals, 2022).
Non-human great apes – chimpanzees, gorillas, bonobos, and orangutans – are threatened by agricultural expansion particularly from rice, cacao, cassava, maize, and oil palm cultivation. Agriculture replaces and fragments great ape habitats, bringing them closer to humans and often resulting in conflict. Though the impact of agriculture on great apes is well-recognized, there is still a need for more nuanced understanding of specific contexts and associated effects on habitats and populations. Here we review these contexts and highlight synergistic and antagonistic co-occurrences between agriculture, both subsistence and commercial, and great apes. We estimate that one individual great ape shares its habitat with about 100 people, mostly outside protected areas. This makes it challenging to balance the needs of both humans and great apes given the growing human population and increasing demand for resources. Further habitat loss is expected, particularly in Africa, where compromises must be sought to re-direct agricultural expansion driven by subsistence farmers with small fields (generally <0.64 ha) away from remaining great ape habitats. To promote coexistence between humans and great apes, new approaches and financial models need to be implemented at local scales. More broadly, optimized land use planning, along with strategic investments in agriculture and wildlife conservation, can maximize the synergy between conservation and food production. Effective governance and conservation financing are crucial for optimal outcomes in both conservation and food security. Enforcing forest conservation laws, engaging in trade policy discussions, and integrating policies on trade, food security, circular agriculture, and sustainable food systems are vital to prevent further decline in great ape populations. Saving great apes requires consideration of the specific agricultural contexts, not just focusing on the apes themselves.
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