Kuala Maruap, Malaysia, Deforestation Very High-Resolution Imagery

Palm oil is one of the world’s most widely consumed vegetable oils, used extensively to prepare processed foods but also to create cosmetics and biofuels. Coming mainly from Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand in Asia and from several African countries, global palm oil production now exceeds 75 million metric tons with a value approaching $100 billion annually*. 

Those numbers will only increase as the demand for palm oil surges around the world. The versatile oil is relatively inexpensive and easy to extract from oil palms, however, its use comes at a steep environmental price. As the demand grows, producers in the tropical regions where the oil palm trees thrive are compelled to destroy the natural jungle so the palm trees can be planted. 

Clearing the jungle for planting is brutal, typically involving bulldozing or even burning any and all native trees and flora that stand in the way of a new plantation. Even though the downed trees are replaced with palms, the loss of vegetative underbrush is massive. The value of the lost habitat and biodiversity is immeasurable. One study indicates that more than 1000 orangutans die each year as a result of palm-related deforestation.

The impact of jungle clearing has a domino effect on other aspects of the environment. Erosion and soil degradation follow the tree loss, often ruining conditions for growing other crops and food sources that local people rely upon for their livelihoods. Displacement of local farmers is known to occur. And in areas where fire is used to remove vegetative cover, massive CO2 volumes are released into the atmosphere, further contributing to overall degradation of the environment. 

The backlash against palm oil deforestation has intensified in recent years as numerous environmental organizations and government agencies have begun pushing for sustainable palm oil certification standards. Europe is among the leaders in this effort creating the European Sustainable Palm Oil project which seeks to ensure that palm oil products imported to its nations originate from sustainable and deforestation-free sources. 

The key to this certification is confirming the palm oil supply chain is traceable and transparent, monitoring each step of commodity production back to a sustainable source – a challenging endeavor at best. There is, however, a viable, accurate, and cost-effective solution offered by Airbus Defense & Space that leverages high-resolution satellite imagery from the Airbus optical and radar satellite constellations in the Starling forest monitoring and conservation service.