Oil palm trees are planted on more than 20 million hectares of tropical area around the world – mostly in Indonesia and Malaysia where 85% of all palm oil is produced, but increasingly in Africa and Latin America. The trees are incredibly efficient, yielding more oil on the same amount of land than any other leading oil crop (soy, canola, or sunflower). Thus, the global demand for palm oil has nearly tripled since 2000. With global demand for vegetable oils projected to exceed 300 million tonnes by 2050, the need to change palm oil production is clear and urgent.
Can palm oil production be sustainable?
Find out more about palm oil production in this publication by Conservation International.
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