The palm oil that’s better for wildlife
How a palm oil plantation is helping wildlife to thrive in Borneo
Is it possible for palm oil plantations, wildlife and the rainforest to coexist?
Products containing palm oil, including soaps and cosmetics, are used by around 3 billion people worldwide. While the industry is credited with reducing poverty in countries like Indonesia and Malaysia, it has also contributed to mass deforestation.
In Malaysian Borneo, only small pockets of pristine rainforest remain, with much of the land taken over by mile after mile of palm oil plantation. The destruction of natural habitat has led to increasing conflict between humans and animals - but in Borneo, a local NGO called Hutan has decided that rather than trying to beat the problem, it’s better to work with it.
Reporter Craig Langran visits a plantation in the Malaysian state of Sabah, which has teamed up with Hutan to plant corridors of indigenous plants and trees, connecting previously separate fragments of rainforest and ensuing safe passage for orangutans, pigmy elephants and the many other species that call the rainforest home.
