Making palm oil sustainable for people and wildlife

Home to one of the oldest jungles in the world, Malaysia and Indonesia produce over 85% of the world's oil palm. However, the cultivation and production of palm oil has the potential to cause serious environmental issues such as deforestation, water pollution, air pollution, land degradation, and human wildlife conflict.

In the Malaysian state of Sabah, the government has committed to certifying all of its palm oil to RSPO standards by 2025, no further deforestation for oil palm expansion and has pledged to increase protected area coverage to 30% of its land by 2025.

Recognising the importance of a sustainable palm oil industry on a global scale, WWF is supporting palm oil growers to transition towards sustainable production and create wildlife corridors that allow wildlife to move more freely, reduce crop damage and ensure humans and species can thrive together.

There are more than 3 million smallholder farmers who depend on producing palm oil for their livelihood, making it an important crop for the GDP of emerging economies. The growing demand for palm oil stems from it being extremely versatile and able to extend product shelf-life, without altering the look or smell of food products.

Oil palm is an incredibly efficient crop, producing more oil per land area than any other equivalent vegetable oil crop. To get the same amount of alternative oils, such as soybean or coconut oil, would require between 4 and 10 times more land, which would shift the environmental problems to other parts of the world.