India is one of the world’s largest importers of palm oil, along with the European Union and China. Currently, India is importing around 3 million tones of palm oil annually and more than 90 per cent of these imports are from Indonesia and Malaysia. In order to meet this growing demand, more areas are likely to be used for oil palm cultivation which in turn adds pressure on valuable forests and biodiversity around the world. According to the recent FAO report on State of the world’s forests loss in the South East Asian countries accelerated since 2000. One of the drivers for this loss is expansion of oil palm plantation.
India’s booming economic growth implies a commitment to sustainability beyond its national territories. “WWF is working with business and industries to develop sustainable palm oil purchasing policies and practices, to help combat tropical forest loss globally and to secure livelihoods for local people”, said Mr Ravi Singh, Secretary General and CEO of WWF India.
On World Forestry day, 21st March 2007, representatives from national and international organizations met in Mumbai to discuss how India can minimize its ecological foot print associated with palm oil production in South East Asia. The workshop was organized by WWF in collaboration with Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). The RSPO is an association created by various stakeholders to promote the growth and use of sustainable palm oil through an open dialogue with all supply chain actors.
The objectives of the workshop were to understand the emerging issues on India’s palm oil sector to share the experience of key players in other countries including Europe, Indonesia and Malaysia and to explore suitable options to minimize the ecological footprint.
WWF’s broad call on companies and other stake holders is to commit to sustainable palm oil by actively engaging in the RSPO.
The outcome of the discussion was that Indian business and industry need to commit themselves to socially and environmentally friendly purchasing decisions and engage in the international process for more sustainable palm oil world wide.
For more information, please contact:
Dr. T. R. Manoharan
E-mail: tmanoharan@wwfindia.net
Photos and graphics © WWF or used with permission. Text available under a Creative Commons licence.
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