However, in the executive summary for the oil palm plantation development proposal at Bukit Ibam Forest Reserve, Tembeling and Ulu Lepar, it is clear that deforestation will occur prior to oil palm cultivation. Do we even need more oil palm plantations, given the low palm oil price currently? Painting a rosy picture of oil palm now is not likely to help the Malaysian oil palm industry or enhance the industry’s “green” image. To combat the ongoing anti-palm oil campaigns, the Primary Industries Ministry is planning to cap Malaysian oil palm expansion at 6.5 million hectares and pushing for 100% Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) certification by end of this year. At the same time, to improve the palm oil price, the government is seeking new markets (especially in Africa), reaching more palm oil deals with China and even considering palm oil barter for military equipment with several countries.

Source: The Star May 29, 2019 00:22 UTC