1 February 2010:  The latest issue of the International Tropical Timber Organization's (ITTO) newsletter, Tropical Forest Update,  includes an article that questions whether payments for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries (REDD) can make natural forests competitive with oil palm plantations.

http://climate-l.org/2010/02/02/itto-newsletter-examines-the-competitiveness-of-redd-and-oil-palm/

International Tropical Timber Association - Newsletter
By Lian Pin Koh and Rhett A. Butler

Not at current carbon prices, study finds

In less than a generation oil palm cultivation has emerged
as a leading form of land use in tropical forests, especially
in Southeast Asia. Rising global demand for edible oils,
coupled with the crop's high yield, has turned palm oil into
an economic juggernaut, generating us$ 10 billion in exports
for Indonesia and Malaysia, which account for 85 percent of
palm oil production, alone. Today more than 40 countries - led
by China, India, and Europe - import crude palm oil.
The economic importance of the oil palm industry to Southeast
Asia is undeniable. But such financial gains have come at a
high price for the native wildlife and traditional rural livelihoods
in this region. Conservation scientists have shown that oil
palm expansion over the past few decades has led to the
destruction of large swaths of tropical rainforests-to the
detriment of many rare and endangered species that depend
on these forests for survival (Fitzherbert et al. 2008; Koh and
Wilcove 2008; Danielsen et al. 2009).

By Rhett A. Butler and Lian Pin Kohm 

Paloil is one of the world's most traded and versatile agricultural commodities. It can be used as edible vegetable oil, industrial lubricant, raw material in cosmetic and skincare products and feedstock for biofuel production. Growing global demand for palm oil and the ensuing cropland expansion has been blamed for a wide range of environmental ills, including tropical deforestation, peatland degradation, biodiversity loss and CO2 emissions (Koh & Wilcove 2008; Butler & Laurance 2009; Danielsen et al. 2009).

http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0112-palm_oil.html, published 12/01/2010

By Thomas Kutty Abraham

Jan. 14 (Bloomberg) - India surpassed China as the world's biggest buyer of palm oil as rising incomes increased demand for fried and processed foods and drought reduced domestic cooking oil production, according to a processor group.

The country imported 7 million metric tons in 2009, more than China, data from the Mumbai-based Solvent Extractors' Association of India shows. China's imports jumped 23 percent to a record 6.4 million tons last year, the National Grain & Oils Information Center said yesterday.

http://natureunleashed.org/india-overtakes-china-as-biggest-palm-oil-buyer

Interview by HUTAN's Dr Marc Ancrenaz

The Malaysian palm oil industry has been broadly accused of contributing to the dramatic decline in orangutan populations in Sabah, a state in northern Borneo, over the past 30 years. The industry has staunchly denied these charges and responded with marketing campaigns claiming the opposite: that oil palm plantations can support and nourish the great red apes.

http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0116-orangutans.html (Published by January 6, 2010)

Chokkalingam U, Kurniawan I, Suyanto, Permana RP, Buitenzorgy M, Susanto RH (2009) Fire and Land Use Effect on Biodiversity in the Southern Sumatran Wetlands, Tropical Fire Ecology: Climate Change, Land Use, and Ecosystem Dynamics, 355-385

Book Chapter.
Publisher: SPRINGER-VERLAG BERLIN, HEIDELBERGER PLATZ 3, D-14197 BERLIN, GERMANY

Abstract: We studied the long-term elects of an intensified fire regime following logging and altered land use practices on the biodiversity and successional dynamics of forests on three sites (Sugihan, Mesuji, and Pampangan) of roughly 300 km(2) each, distributed across the continuous wetland ecosystem of southern Sumatra. Satellite image analysis and ecological and socio-economic surveys were combined to reveal the vegetation characteristics, and links to fire, land use history, and site conditions.Since the 1970s-1980s, this ecosystem has been subject to widespread repeated fires associated with or following intensive logging, transmigration, and plantation development, sonor or swamp rice cultivation, and other local resource use. Burn traces in the soil profile suggest that earlier fire episodes were far more limited in their coverage than the severe and frequent burning of the recent past. The result has been a rapid transformation from mature, high mixed species forests to sedge grasslands, savannas, and open to dense mono-specific stands of fast-growing fire-adapted species. Current vegetation types are largely differentiated by structural rather than compositional differences, which are significantly linked to fire frequency or time since last fire. The more frequent and recent the fires, the more open the landscape, with reduced density and basal area of trees.At present, the area is very species-poor. Most patches in Sugihan and Mesuji are dominated by a single species-Melaleuca cajuputi-in the tree, sapling, and seedling layers except for degraded mixed forests which have a mix of species in all layers. Degraded mixed forests were more recently logged and burnt just once in 1991. Pampangan has a different species composition with all patches dominated by Combretocarpus rotundatus in the tree layer, which is linked to greater organic matter depth. However, in the deep peats of Pampangan the sapling and seedling layers are also dominated by Melaleuca cajuputi in most patches suggesting a future shift in overstory composition to this more freshwater wetland-adapted species. This compositional shift is likely due to peat subsidence and increased likelihood of flooding following repeated burning.The live fuel structure with tall, dense lower strata to mid-strata of flammable herbaceous and woody species and scattered to dense tree cover renders all the vegetation types extremely fire-prone in dry years. The flammable vegetation combined with increased development and population pressures on these last frontiers makes continued widespread fires highly likely. This will lead to further simplification of species composition and structure, and degradation of the landscape into treeless plains.Resource depletion has led to falling incomes and fewer livelihood options in southern Sumatra. Fires and their negative impacts have expanded into the northern provinces of Sumatra as well with timber and oil palm plantation development and/or migrating populations in search of livelihood options. Given the large contribution of peatland fires to trans-boundary haze, carbon emissions, and global warming, reducing and controlling fires in the wetlands of Sumatra is of high priority. Fire management issues and options for the wetlands of southern Sumatra are discussed.