Large areas of Indonesia's rainforests have been converted to oil palm plantations, driven by rising global demand for the cheap vegetable oil popular with food manufacturers and as a renewable fuel (biofuel). Palm oil and palm kernel oil now make up one of the largest shares of global vegetable oil supply, with Indonesia and Malaysia accounting for 83% of global production. The rapid increase in plantation acreage is, however, one of the greatest threats to orangutans and forests on which they depend.
Year: 2014
From album: World Forest Ecosystems
Photographer:
Peter Prokosch
Tags:
carbon
Cycles
ecosystem
gas
global