In the NAme of Biodivertsity
Palm Oil Trees
Palm oil fruit Palm oil harvesting
Rainforest deforestation due to palm oil plantaion
Habitat destruction of Orangutans
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There are already so many harmful human activities that harm the planet already, but it seems that the list won’t stop growing. Palm oil plantations are an addition to the list of biodiversity reduction. Palm oil trees are currently in the tropical regions of Africa, Latin America and Asia (especially Indonesia and Malaysia). You may not know how much palm oil is used around the world, increasingly in first world countries, but large tracts of rainforests are cleared to grow palm oil crops that produce humanity’s needs. Rainforests include palm oil trees scattered around within, but not enough for various products, to solve this, certain incorporations and companies clear up large tracts of rainforests and plant thousands of palm oil trees. Poorly managed plantations may even lead to river and soil pollution due to uses of pesticides. Though it seems surprising, some fires in forests of Indonesia are said to be caused by corporations as small-scale farmers that use the slash-and-burn method to clear vegetation for palm oil, pulp and paper plantations, killing habitat and animals all at once. With deforestation, orangutans, tigers, rhinos, elephants and other species are increasingly isolated, their sources of food and shelter decline. The specific problem of orangutans is as follows: orangutans are known as “gardeners” of the forest, they play a vital role in seed dispersal and maintaining the health of forest ecosystem, therefore, conserving them is a huge part of the biodiversity of ecosystems; orangutans are now sadly part of endangered species caused by palm oil plantation deforestation. With habitat loss, many orangutans are often carelessly killed as they roam off into property where they are unwanted, many are captured and used for illegal pet trading. Palm oil itself is not a bad thing, the careless human actions of planting so much palm oil for various products is partly responsible for deforestation, habitat loss, pollution and a decrease of biodiversity that is slowly exposing other animals as threatened or endangered species. |
But what is palm oil used for? If you don’t know, this will surprise you. Check labels of various household items and you will be surprised at what you see. Sometimes palm oil is not clearly labeled, but the following ingredients contain it:
VEGETABLE OIL, VEGETABLE FAT, PALM KERNEL, PALM KERNEL OIL, PALM FRUIT OIL, PALMATE, PALMITATE, PALMOLEIN, GLYCERYL, STEARATE, STEARIC ACID, ELAEIS GUINEENSIS, PALMITIC ACID, PALM STEARINE, PALMITOYL OXOSTEARAMIDE, PALMITOYL TETRAPEPTIDE-3, SODIUM LAURETH SULFATE, SODIUM LAURYL SULFATE, SODIUM KERNELATE, SODIUM PALM KERNELATE, SODIUM LAURYL LACTYLATE/SULPHATE, HYRATED PALM GLYCERIDES, ETYL PALMITATE, OCTYL PALMITATE, PALMITYL ALCOHOL
VEGETABLE OIL, VEGETABLE FAT, PALM KERNEL, PALM KERNEL OIL, PALM FRUIT OIL, PALMATE, PALMITATE, PALMOLEIN, GLYCERYL, STEARATE, STEARIC ACID, ELAEIS GUINEENSIS, PALMITIC ACID, PALM STEARINE, PALMITOYL OXOSTEARAMIDE, PALMITOYL TETRAPEPTIDE-3, SODIUM LAURETH SULFATE, SODIUM LAURYL SULFATE, SODIUM KERNELATE, SODIUM PALM KERNELATE, SODIUM LAURYL LACTYLATE/SULPHATE, HYRATED PALM GLYCERIDES, ETYL PALMITATE, OCTYL PALMITATE, PALMITYL ALCOHOL
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*Please look at this video, pay CLOSE attention to conversations and actions! Read bottom paragraph. Yes, it has to do with palm oil.
Common uses of palm oil are for deep frying and baking. The product is also used in ice cream (makes it smooth and creamy), lipstick (holds color well and doesn’t melt at room temperature), pizza dough (maintains it from sticking together, chocolate (maintains smooth and shiny appearance, soap (removes oil and dirt from skin/hair) and other products as well. In fact, palm oil ingredients are estimated to be found in about 50% of products in supermarkets.
Through my opinion, I pose a solution that may effectively reduce human impacts. The solution requires a multitude of people to take responsible action in order to stand up to those who do not care. Therefore, let me mention objectives we should all consider. There is ignorance about the use of palm oil. If you have not noticed already, there are some uses of palm oil that are not necessary, they only give the product a “final touch.” Take chocolate as an example, palm oil only makes it smooth and shiny, not using palm oil in chocolate will not greatly impact the product. In my opinion, the use of palm oil seems to be almost exploited since it is used a lot. As a solution, there should be a clear restriction to a smaller land area of palm oil plantations along with secure protected areas of rainforests for biodiversity. Humankind is using a lot palm oil that should decrease in use. Animals and plants are being sacrificed for the needs of humans, but they are also now in need, we should not be greedy and only use a very strict amount of their rainforests for our palm oil productions, this human sacrifice is worth it. Expressing ourselves to companies that are in charge of palm oil plantations should be effective, since they will be forced to listen to their customers to please them. Setting smaller strict boundaries for palm oil plantations will decrease the amount of palm oil that is used for various products. This means that products containing palm oil will contain less palm oil than they currently use. The solution is both equally fair for wildlife and humans, humanity gets a limited resource of just what is needed and wildlife contain their habitat. As a result, all the unused palm oil will maintain rainforests and endangered species, saving biodiversity. |
Products containing palm oil
Propaganda quote
The animals have had enough
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Bibliography
“Impact Of Habitat Loss on Species.” Impact of habitat loss on species. Web. 16 Dec. 2015. <http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/species/problems/habitat_loss_degradation/>
“Orangutans.” Orangutans. Web. 16 Dec. 2015. <http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/endangered_species/great_apes/orangutans/>
“Palm Oil.” Say No To. Web. 15 Dec. 2015. <http://www.saynotopalmoil.com/whats_the_issue.php>
“Palm Oil: The Hidden Truth Lurking In Your Home.” WorldWildlife.org. World Wildlife Fund, n.d. Web. 15 Dec. 2015. <http://www.worldwildlife.org/pages/palm-oil-the-hidden-truth-lurking-in-your-home>
“Unseen The Movie.” Unseen The Movie. Web. 15 Dec. 2015. <http://www.unseenthemovie.com/>
“What Causes South East Asia's Haze? - BBC News.” BBC News. Web. 15 Dec. 2015. <http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-34265922>
"Unseen The Movie." Unseen The Movie. Web. 16 Dec. 2015. <http://www.unseenthemovie.com/>.
*The sources of pictures are not included in the bibliography , but can be viewed by clicking on them.
“Impact Of Habitat Loss on Species.” Impact of habitat loss on species. Web. 16 Dec. 2015. <http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/species/problems/habitat_loss_degradation/>
“Orangutans.” Orangutans. Web. 16 Dec. 2015. <http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/endangered_species/great_apes/orangutans/>
“Palm Oil.” Say No To. Web. 15 Dec. 2015. <http://www.saynotopalmoil.com/whats_the_issue.php>
“Palm Oil: The Hidden Truth Lurking In Your Home.” WorldWildlife.org. World Wildlife Fund, n.d. Web. 15 Dec. 2015. <http://www.worldwildlife.org/pages/palm-oil-the-hidden-truth-lurking-in-your-home>
“Unseen The Movie.” Unseen The Movie. Web. 15 Dec. 2015. <http://www.unseenthemovie.com/>
“What Causes South East Asia's Haze? - BBC News.” BBC News. Web. 15 Dec. 2015. <http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-34265922>
"Unseen The Movie." Unseen The Movie. Web. 16 Dec. 2015. <http://www.unseenthemovie.com/>.
*The sources of pictures are not included in the bibliography , but can be viewed by clicking on them.