Menu Close

What animals are most affected by deforestation for palm oil?

What animals are most affected by deforestation for palm oil?

Loss of critical habitat for endangered species The biggest impact of unsustainable palm oil production is the large-scale devastation of tropical forests. As well as widespread habitat loss for endangered species like Asian rhinos, elephants, tigers and orangutans, this can lead to significant soil erosion.

What animals are impacted by palm oil?

Endangered species threatened by unsustainable palm oil…

  • Orangutan. (Bornean Orangutan- Endangered; Sumatran Orangutan – Critically Endangered)
  • Sumatran Elephant. (Critically Endangered)
  • Bornean Pygmy Elephant. (Endangered)
  • Sumatran Rhino. (Critically Endangered)

How does palm oil affect wildlife?

Oil palm production also leads to an increase in human-wildlife conflict as populations of large animals are squeezed into increasingly isolated fragments of natural habitat. The habitats destroyed frequently contain rare and endangered species or serve as wildlife corridors between areas of genetic diversity.

Which animals are affected by deforestation?

Deforestation and tree-clearing is the major cause of habitat loss for many threatened and endangered species. In Asia, this includes orangutans, tigers, rhinos and elephants, some of which are on the brink of extinction.

Why should palm oil be banned?

But banning palm oil would mean that the demand for vegetable oil would have to be met through a higher production of other oil crops, such as soybean, sunflower, or rapeseed. Hence, replacing palm oil with other vegetable oils would lead to even higher losses of forest and other natural habitats.

How many animals are extinct due to deforestation?

According to recent estimates, the world is losing 137 species of plants, animals and insects every day to deforestation. A horrifying 50,000 species become extinct each year. Of the world’s 3.2 million square miles of the planet’s rain forests, 2.1 are in the Amazon alone.

Who is most affected by deforestation?

Countries With the Highest Deforestation Rates in the World

  • Honduras. Historically many parts of this country were covered by trees with 50% of the land not covered by forests.
  • Nigeria. Trees used to cover approximately 50% of the land in this country.
  • The Philippines.
  • Benin.
  • Ghana.
  • Indonesia.
  • Nepal.
  • North Korea.

Why palm oil should not be banned?

What kind of animals are affected by palm oil?

1. Sumatran Tiger. The clearing of their rainforest habitat has caused a plummet in population numbers; experts estimate fewer than 400 of these animals now exist in the wild. In just a few years, from 2009 – 2011, approximately two thirds of its habitat has been destroyed and converted to palm plantations.

How is palm oil bad for the environment?

Does Palm Oil Cause Deforestation? As mentioned above, developers often torch and bulldoze areas of biodiverse rainforests to create palm oil plantations. This results in deforestation, destroying habitats of wild animals native to rainforests — namely, orangutans (as well as other primates, rhinos, elephants and tigers, according to the BBC).

How many orangutans are endangered by palm oil?

Orangutan (Bornean Orangutan- Endangered; Sumatran Orangutan – Critically Endangered) Indonesia and Malaysia produce more than 85% of the world’s palm oil and are the only remaining home to orangutans. Fewer than 80,000 of these animals survive today, their habitats under constant threat of deforestation.

How does palm oil deforestation in the Philippines contribute?

As a result, there is massive rainforest deforestation, many of the planet’s most unique animals are being put on critical watch lists, and indigenous populations are being displaced and exploited.