Why this petition matters
1. Something about NorthEast Wildlife
The entire Eastern Himalayas as a priority Global has 200 ecoregions. Conservation International has upscaled the Eastern Himalaya hotspot to include all the eight states of Northeast India, along with the neighboring countries of Bhutan, southern China, and Myanmar.
The Himalayas is the highest mountain range in the world and has 9 out of 10 of the world's highest peaks, including Mount Everest. These mountains, referred to as the Third Pole, are the source of some of Asia’s major rivers and also help to regulate our planet’s climate. For centuries people here have developed a unique culture that weaves nature and people together into the same fabric of life.
The Eastern Himalayas harbor an amazing diversity of life. There are 163 globally threatened species found in the Himalayas, including Asia’s three largest herbivores – Asian elephant, greater one-horned rhinoceros, and wild water buffalo – and its largest carnivore, the tiger. The region is home to:
• 10,000 types of plants
• 300 mammals
• 977 birds
• 176 reptiles
• 105 amphibians
• 269 freshwater fish
The Himalayan grasslands have the densest population of Bengal tigers, which live alongside Asian elephants and one-horned rhinos. The mountains offer refuge for red pandas, golden langurs, and takins, the only known location in the world where Bengal tigers and snow leopards share habitat.
2. Introduction of Palm oil in NorthEast
Palm oil is the most widely consumed vegetable oil on the planet. In India, most commonly used as cooking oil as well as an ingredient in a wide range of consumer goods. India is the largest user of palm oil products, capturing over 20 percent of global supply.
Oil palm grows in tropical rainforests, and the uncontrolled clearing of these forests for plantations has led to widespread loss of forests and the habitat destruction endangered species across the world where palm oil plantation has started.
In the last week of July 2020, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged farmers across the eight northeastern states to set up palm oil missions to reduce India’s dependence on imported edible oils, in line with the Centre’s Atmanirbhar Bharat or Self-Reliant India campaign.
The Oil Palm Developers and Processors Association welcomed the suggestion, saying in a press release on August 9, “The oil palm area in the country is very negligible today, compared to the potential the crop has. We have seen the transformation this crop has brought about in the lives of the farmer community in Andhra Pradesh. This can be replicated in the North-East.”
3. Causes and effects of introducing Palm Oil in NorthEast`
The world’s largest consumer of vegetable oils, the Indian public remains unaware of the dangers of massive palm oil plantations, especially in thickly forested regions. The threat to biodiversity is emphasized by experts in the northeastern region, which accounts for 25% of the country’s forest cover.
But the way it is grown is unsustainable. To clear land and help grow palm, swathes of rainforest will be burned, destroying habitat and homes and the fragile rainforest ecosystem. It is double warming for the climate. Trees that remove carbon from the air will be destroyed, removing their storage properties forever. And when the forest is burned, high levels of carbon dioxide and soot are released, a huge contributor to climate change.
Why is palm oil an issue and how does palm oil destroy the rainforests of Northeastern India. ?
For example in Indonesia and Malaysia, this has become a huge issue. Since Palm oil needs a rainforest climate – consistently high humidity and temperatures – and a lot of lands, plantations will be established at the expense of rainforests. About 90 percent (2011) of the world’s palm oil is currently being produced in Malaysia and Indonesia. Indonesia’s oil palm plantations alone already cover nine million hectares, an area the size of the state of Maine. 26 million hectares to be projected for 2025.
According to the report "The Last Stand of the Orangutan- State of Emergency: Illegal Logging, Fire and Palm Oil in Indonesia's National Parks" (published in 2007 by the United Nations Environment Program, UNEP), palm oil plantations are currently the leading cause of rainforest destruction in Malaysia and Indonesia: "A scenario released by UNEP in 2002 suggested that most natural rainforest in Indonesia would be degraded by 2032. Given the rate of deforestation in the past five years, and recent widespread investment in palm oil plantations and biodiesel refineries, this may have been optimistic. New estimates suggest that 98% of the forest may be destroyed by 2022, the lowland forest much sooner."
Today, the rainforest area is equivalent to 300 soccer fields are being destroyed every hour. This will lead to a rise to numerous problems for the climate, environment, and people living in the forest:
a) CO2 emissions – In preparing rainforest land for a palm oil plantation, the most valuable trees are cut down and removed first. What remains is cleared by burning. If the forest was on peatland – as is the case in much of Indonesia – the land is drained. Peatlands store vast quantities of carbon and the conversion of a single hectare of Indonesian peatland rainforest releases up to 6,000 tons of CO2. Tropical deforestation is currently responsible for about 18 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, making it a significant contributor to climate change (by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC).
b) Loss of biodiversity – Northeast f rainforests are among the world's most species-rich environments and homes to numerous endangered plants and animals, such as Bengal tigers, Water Buffaloes, and One-horned rhinos, red pandas, golden langurs, and takins. The destruction of natural habitats deprives the animals of the basis for their existence, causing an irreversible loss of biological diversity. These animals are dependent on large contiguous forest areas. In search of food, they often get lost in the plantations, where they are regarded as pests.
The condition of Northeast India can end up like that of Indonesia and Malaysia too.
4. Reasons for Palm oil Introduction in NorthEast
Palm oil plays a decisive role in the lives of almost every one of us. Being a low-cost resource, palm oil is in great demand and contained in virtually everything. You can find it in foods ranging from frozen pizza to chocolate bars, in laundry detergents and cleaning agents, in candles, in cosmetics like lipsticks and soaps, in diesel fuel tanks, and combined heat and power plants.
The domestic consumption of edible oils in India has been outstripping the production, and the gap between the two is quite significant that is met by imports. India imports nearly 15 million tonnes annually (or nearly 68 percent) of edible oils to meet the country’s annual consumption demand of about 22 million tonnes. The bulk of these imports are palm oil. Of the total imports of edible oil, palm oil accounts for 60 percent or about 9 million tonnes because of the increasing demand from the consumer has lead to an increase in demand by the multinational companies producing palm oil, and these companies feel Northeast India forests is a suitable place for growing palm oil in India.
5. Ways to stop and protect our NorthEast Wildlife
Now that you are aware of the issues related to palm oil, do something about it:
a) Tell others about the Palm oil and the problem caused by the introduction of them in Northeast Indian forests.
b) Do not encourage palm oil cultivation across North-eastern India.
c) Call on your political representatives to advocate the mandatory labeling of palm oil.
d) Do not buy products containing palm oil. You can find it in foods ranging from frozen pizza to chocolate bars, in laundry detergents and cleaning agents, in candles, in cosmetics like lipsticks and soaps, but make sure that your boycott sends a clear message by letting manufacturers and your elected representatives know why you are not buying them.
e) Demand transparency about the sources of palm oil in all consumer products.