|
About | Contact | Mongabay on Facebook | Mongabay on Twitter | Free newsletter |
|
|
Industrial palm oil production expands at expense of rainforests in Peru mongabay.com January 10, 2012
The analysis, based on satellite mapping and on-the-ground field studies, found that 72 percent of new plantations in Peru expanded into forest areas. Expansion into forest areas was more common with industrial plantations, rather than low-yield plantations established by smallholders.
The findings indicate that contrary to claims sometimes advanced by the palm oil industry, intensification is not helping reduce pressure on forests. "The results show that high-yield agriculture is an important but insufficient strategy to reduce pressure on forests," the authors write. "We suggest that high-yield agriculture can be effective in sparing forests only if coupled with incentives for agricultural expansion into already cleared lands." The researchers weren't able to definitively determine why industrial plantations targets old-growth forest areas, but suggest — based on conversations with local residents — that disputes over already-cleared land are likely a factor. "It is simpler to establish tenureship over forests, officially owned by the State," they write. "Moreover, many high-yield plantations are owned by large, extra-local entities that choose not to engage with the local social and political complications that any land disputes might entail." In a global context, Peru is a minor palm oil producer. But over the past decade, the government has boosted incentives for production, including tax breaks and a biofuel target. The high profitability of the crop means expansion is expected to continue. CITATION: Vıctor H Gutierrez-Velez, Ruth DeFries, Miguel Pinedo-Vasquez, Marıa Uriarte, Christine Padoch, Walter Baethgen, Katia Fernandes, and Yili Lim. High-yield oil palm expansion spares land at the expense of forests in the Peruvian Amazon. ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS 6 (2011) 044029 (5pp) doi:10.1088/1748-9326/6/4/044029
Related articles
Tags: green environment amazon palm oil palm oil peru latin america south america plantations deforestation agriculture Amazon Deforestation amazon destruction biofuels Environmental news index | RSS | News Feed | Twitter | Home Advertisements:
|
|
|
DON'T LIKE ADS? Become a mongabay supporter WEEKLY NEWSLETTER RECENT FEATURES
POPULAR PAGES Photos
CALENDARS 
BOOKS BY MONGABAY AUTHORS
FREE WEEKLY NEWSLETTER 
HIGH RESOLUTION PHOTOS / PRINTS 
|
| | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Copyright mongabay 2010 Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions generated from mongabay.com operations (server, data transfer, travel) are mitigated through an association with Anthrotect, an organization working with Afro-indigenous and Embera communities to protect forests in Colombia's Darien region. Anthrotect is protecting the habitat of mongabay's mascot: the scale-crested pygmy tyrant. |
