My Response to Irresponsible Allegations About Industry Practices Appeared in The STAR Newspaper Today (Responsible Stewardship)
The environmental group Sahabat Alam Malaysia accused the palm oil industry of “genocide” against orang utans. Another group claimed the industry engages in indiscriminate clearing of protected land. And another demanded the industry atone for its alleged sins by adopting a so-called “No Kill Policy” to protect wildlife.
What Deforestation?
Many harsh critiques of the Malaysian oil palm industry do not know that Malaysia had stopped deforesting its pristine natural tropical forests 15 years ago when the country pledged at the Rio Earth Summit to maintain a minimum of 50% of its land area under permanent forests. The policy behind the pledge remains...
Misquoted in The Star Newspaper
Ms Hillary Chew is a respected environmental campaigner for the Star and should not write words as though they were from my statements. I never said that oil palm plantations are good habitats for orang utans. Additionally, I have never seen statements by the oil palm industry insisting that the oil palm plantations...
Palm Oil Exploited to Fuel Culture of Lies
We live in a world that is littered with half truths, many of which are propagated by intelligent people. Have they ever wondered on the implications of their actions which may affect the livelihood and families of oil palm farmers in distant countries. Many of these farmers are probably living from hand to mouth on...
De-linking NGOs Concerns Over Deforestation and Palm Oil
1. A few years ago when oils and fats were cheaper than petroleum, the EU and USA rushed to promote the use of biofuels for various reasons. One not-so-frankly-revealed reason was that oilseed farmers will benefit from the new market outlets and the increase in prices. The governments also benefited from this strategy because agricultural...
Sustainability of Palm Oil Production Revisited
I constantly receive invitations to speak at various seminars to explain the sustainability of palm oil production from Malaysia. Maybe it is confusing for the layman and industry players who receive conflicting claims from agencies like the Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC) and Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), as opposed to...
