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How Ghana's oil palm industry is killing biodiversity

According to the The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), oil palm expansion could affect 54% of threatened mammals and 64% of threatened birds globally.The demand for oil palm has increased significantly compared to decades ago when competition in the cosmetic and food industry had minimal environmental impacts. Today, seed developers, farmers, transporters and producers devise clear procedures to grow profit. Majority of edible oils produced commercially are sourced from tropical oil palm plantations that threaten native plant and animal species.


Ecologically diverse habitats of wildlife are destroyed during the removal of vegetative cover for palm plantations. This affects population growth of species with low adaptability. The effects of oil palm on the ecological integrity of protected species is nothing to write home about on intercontinental scale. The human-induced agricultural succession has caused thick forests to degenerate into palm trees and mosses and ferns.


The orientation of palm fronds exposes topsoil to torrential rains which depletes biodiversity in soils. Species of tropical birds, monkeys, reptiles and amphibians are displaced from their natural habitats during unplanned egocentric farm practices.


The dreadful impact of oil palm plantations in Malaysia and Indonesia between the year 1995 and 2005 resulted to unprecedented thresholds of deforestation, poor water quality, air pollution and soil erosion.


Comparatively, oil palm produces up to nine times more oil per unit area than other major oil crops, and can help meet global demand for vegetable oils that is estimated to grow from an annual 165 million tonnes now to 310 million tonnes in 2050.Banning palm oil could result in diminished efforts to produce palm oil sustainably, and an increase in land used for producing other oils (mostly soy, sunflower and rapeseed) which is likely to shift biodiversity impacts to regions where those oils are produced (IUCN).


Currently,oil palm plantations cover approximately 305,700 hectares of Ghana’s forest that sustains impoverished communities who receive minimal wages to drive the supply chain.This is a call for private agencies, NGO's and governmental authorities like the Forestry Commission, Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Environmental Protection Agency and Ghana Standards Authority to develop a comprehensive framework to protect tropical forests and all lifeforms therein.


Regulatory agencies need to ensure that producers of palm oil adhere to national laws and international conventions aimed at avoiding negative environmental impacts, such as the UN Convention on Biological Diversity. Another approaach to limit the impact of oil palm plantations is by reducing the demand for palm oil for non-dietary purposes like biofuel,cosmetics and cleaning chemicals.

Palm oil producers must not compromise on conservation of biodiversity in their quest to boost agricultural yield through unwarranted farm practices.The only practical solution consumers must adopt to inhibit demand for oil palm is by patronizing products from certified oil palm processors.


As inhabitants of Mother Earth, we must not condone agricultural, manufacturing or mining operations that will paint environmental conservation as an alien task to future generations. While we fight to protect #AtewaForest from the exploration of bauxite, let's not sleep on the devastating impact of oil palm on natural reserves and biodiversity.


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