A Review of Key Sustainability Issues in Malaysian Palm Oil Industry

Naidu, Lakshmy; Moorthy, Ravichandran

doi:10.3390/su131910839

Cited by 32 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 66 publications

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“…Likewise, the Indonesian government announced in 2015 that ISPO certification would become mandatory for all Indonesian palm oil producers by 2020 [72]. 2019 saw an even larger increase in oil palm management publications in both Malaysia and Indonesia, which might be the result of an increased push for oil palm sustainability research in both countries related to these initiatives [29,30,73]. Oil palm production has increased in Africa and South America in the past decade [69,74], and we found an increase in studies conducted in these regions in recent years, which may reflect the expansion in these areas [75][76][77].…”

Section: Study Locationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A systematic map of within-plantation oil palm management practices reveals a rapidly growing but patchy evidence base

Popkin

Reiss-Woolever

Turner

et al. 2022

PLOS Sustain Transform

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Although oil palm expansion has had severe environmental impacts, oil palm also has the highest yield per hectare of any vegetable oil crop. Compared to many other crops, it has the potential to support high complexity habitats, with minimal chemical input, and relatively high levels of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. However, there has been little synthesis of available research on oil palm management strategies to support delivery of more sustainable cultivation. In this paper, we provide a systematic map compiling all available evidence assessing within-plantation oil palm management practices at the cultivation stage, with a focus on practices that affect biodiversity and environmental processes. Using approaches adapted from systematic review protocols, we catalogued oil palm management publications to provide details of geographic location, year, interventions tested (i.e. agricultural practices), targeted outcomes of interventions, co-occurrences between different interventions and outcomes (including multiple outcomes), and study design. Most studies were conducted in Southeast Asia, with fewer studies conducted in South America or Africa. Twenty-six interventions were observed in the literature, across six categories: soil, understory, within-crop, landscape-level, replanting, and mixed/multiple interventions. The most common interventions tested were landscape-scale interventions, such as maintaining forest fragments/buffer zones, whereas interventions involved in replanting were the least researched. Eight outcomes were considered: soil fertility, soil erosion, water quality and availability, pest control, replanting, maintenance of biodiversity and areas of high conservation value, and reducing air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Studies researching biodiversity were the most common, whereas comparatively few studies considered replanting and reducing emissions. Most primary studies were observational, with experimental studies being rarer, especially in biodiversity research. We match our findings to the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil’s environmental sustainability criteria to illustrate how policy-makers and producers may use our map to access evidence supporting cultivation-stage oil palm sustainability management. This study provides valuable information to inform best management practices and direction for necessary future research.

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Section: Study Locationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A systematic map of within-plantation oil palm management practices reveals a rapidly growing but patchy evidence base

Popkin

Reiss-Woolever

Turner

et al. 2022

PLOS Sustain Transform

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“…These standards are a reduction in the target of biofuels produced from food crops to a maximum of 7% from an initial 10%, GHG savings set at 65% after 2021 and most controversially, the introduction of high and low ILUC-risk for biofuel crops (Oosterveer, 2020;Sumfleth et al, 2020). Based on the Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/807 of RED II, palm oil has been categorised as a high ILUCrisk biofuel, whereby the cultivation of feedstock for biodiesel results in a significant expansion of the production area into high carbon stock land (Hinkes, 2020;Limenta, 2020;Naidu and Moorthy, 2021;Sumfleth et al, 2020). As such, EU Members will not be able to consider palm oil-based biodiesel as a renewable transport fuel target (Limenta, 2020).…”

Section: P R E S Smentioning

confidence: 99%

The Environmental and Health Sustainability Challenges of Malaysian Palm Oil in the European Union

NAIDU¹

2022

JOPR

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The palm oil industry in Malaysia is an essential source of export revenue for the nation. As demand for palm oil grows in the international market, the industry has been experiencing mounting pressure to ensure sustainable development. The necessity for sustainable palm oil is amplified with European Union's requirement for certified and sustainably produced palm oil to enter its market. The commodity is also inundated with anti-palm oil campaigns, which emphasise allegations of unsustainable practices.Collectively, these challenges pose a formidable impact on the palm oil trade. However, there are insufficient studies that review the existing literature on the challenges related to palm oil sustainability. Hence, this article presents a review on the environmental and health sustainability concerns the Malaysian palm oil sector faces when trading in the European market. The findings of the article suggest the development of strategies by multi-stakeholders to improve commodity competitiveness in the international market. One strategy proposed in this article is to engage the media and Non-Governmental Organisations in developing effective communication mechanisms to disseminate a more balanced perspective of the commodity.A positive voice on the existing sustainability measures could help shape an unbiased public opinion on palm oil production, trade, and consumption.

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“…Therefore, great efforts have been made by researchers, especially from palm oil exporter countries to overcome POME issues [14]. Awareness of environmental protection and sustainable development among the scientific community has developed progressively.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Remediation of Palm Oil Mill Effluent (Pome) Using Selected Biological Techniques: A Mini Review

Jumadi

Kamari²,

Rahim³

et al. 2022

Jurnal Teknologi

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Undoubtedly, industrial activities have produced a large amount of waste, which has significantly contributed to the global environmental problem. The palm oil sector, which is considered a water-intensive industry, is one of the industrial sectors that have become a major source of severe water pollution concerns. Normally, 50% of the freshwater used during the extraction of crude palm oil will end up in the production of undesirable liquid waste. Thus, proper regulation and enforcement are required to control the discharge of such waste to ensure the sustainability of water resource management. Based on research databases such as Scopus, ScienceDirect, Web of Science and PubMed the total number of publications focused on palm oil mill effluent (POME) treatment has increased significantly over the past five years. The increase in publications shows the growing concern about the POME issue among the scientific community. This mini review focuses on selected biological treatment techniques for remediation of POME focusing on ponding systems, bioadsorption, activated sludge, microorganism and plant, aerobic biodegradation and integrated/hybrid treatment strategies. The summary of optimum operating conditions, characteristics of the treatment system, properties of materials and performance of each treatment are discussed in detail. To achieve a high level of contaminant removal performance, it is critical to discover the synergistic effect between the treatment procedures, materials employed, operational cost, and circumstances.

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A Review of Key Sustainability Issues in Malaysian Palm Oil Industry

Cited by 32 publications

References 66 publications

A systematic map of within-plantation oil palm management practices reveals a rapidly growing but patchy evidence base

A systematic map of within-plantation oil palm management practices reveals a rapidly growing but patchy evidence base

The Environmental and Health Sustainability Challenges of Malaysian Palm Oil in the European Union

Remediation of Palm Oil Mill Effluent (Pome) Using Selected Biological Techniques: A Mini Review

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