BRONWYN HOWARD

GARDENING WITH NATURE: COMPANION PLANTING FOR PEST CONTROL

 

Growing your own fruits and vegetables can free you from dependence on grocery stores and ensure that you’re getting the freshest produce with the most nutrients. In addition, your endeavours will decrease the use of plastic packaging and reduce carbon emissions from transport and refrigeration. If you’re an organic grower, you’ll be feeding your soil and allowing your natural garden ecosystem to flourish without using synthetic fertilizers and harmful chemicals. Companion planting is an important cultivation technique for organic gardeners, where plants are used to achieve these goals.

 

What is Companion Planting?

 

Just as you get on better with some people than others, so it is with plants. They generally thrive in the company of their friends, while incompatible plants may be detrimental to them. Cultivating plants that benefit one another in close proximity is known as companion planting. Adopting companion planting can improve your yields and productivity, benefit your soil, and naturally reduce pests and diseases.

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Companion Planting for Pest Management

 

One of the primary benefits of companion planting is that it enables gardeners to manage pests and diseases without using toxic chemicals. Such formulations may harm non-target or beneficial species, including bees and wasps, damage the wider ecosystem, or compromise soil structure and fertility.

 

Companion plants control pests in the following ways:

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• Certain plants emit scents that either attract or repel insects. Plants with aromas that damage-causing insects find attractive are known as trap crops because the pests colonise them rather than your crops. Other plants generate odours that some pests find distasteful, so they avoid the area. Having several plants in the same space, all emitting different fragrances, may also confuse insect pests, as they are unable to single out the ones emanating from their target plants. This is why it’s a good idea to edge your vegetable garden beds with highly aromatic plants, such as lavender, onions, chives, or garlic.

• We often don’t consider that insects might have predators and prey species, the same as larger terrestrial animals, but they do. Predator insects, such as praying mantises, ladybirds (or ladybugs, as they’re known in the United States), and ground beetles target numerous insect pests, from aphids to caterpillars and cutworms. Parasitic insects, such as certain wasp species, lay their eggs on other insects or their larvae. When the eggs hatch, the parasitic larvae feed on the pests, ultimately killing them. When you grow plants that attract pest predators or parasites, this reduces the chances of your crops being compromised by detrimental insects.

• Some insects use visual cues, including patterns that are only visible on the ultraviolet light spectrum - which is invisible to humans - to find plants. Planting up an area with several different types of plants makes it more difficult for pests to locate their targets in this way.

 

Companion plants can also be used to attract beneficial insects, including bees and butterflies, that pollinate vegetable and fruit blossoms, ensuring that you have a bumper crop. Many culinary herbs are well suited for companion planting, and can be used to flavour food or for medicinal purposes. This means that you can cultivate plants in your vegetable garden that provide you with numerous benefits.

 

Companion Planting Examples

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Planting thyme, onions, or nasturtiums with broccoli may help to reduce cabbage looper and cabbageworm damage. Basil and marigolds planted with tomatoes in greenhouses or crop rows helps to control thrips; basil also improves the growth of the tomatoes. Planting nasturtiums around squash plants is an age-old practice that has proved effective for deterring squash bugs. Growing cowpeas and buckwheat with sweet corn increases populations of the beneficial insects that combat corn earworms.

 

Companion planting can be a useful tool for managing insects without using harmful or toxic chemicals. While some advance planning is required, this can be an easy, effective way to deter pests in the home vegetable garden.

 

References:

Harris, N. & Streets, J. (2022, March.) Companion Planting. University of West Virginia Extension.

https://extension.wvu.edu/lawn-gardening-pests/gardening/garden-management/companion-planting#:~:text=Companion%20planting%20is%20the%20practice,three%20rows%20of%20each%20other.

 

Hoidal, N. (2021.) Companion Planting in Home Gardens. University of Minnesota Garden and Yard Extension. https://extension.umn.edu/planting-and-growing-guides/companion-planting-home-gardens

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GREEN BUILDINGS: GRUNDFOS SA

 

It’s a chilly day on Johannesburg’s East Rand. The first thing we notice as we drive into the car park beside Grundfos SA’s head office building are the three wind turbines on the roof. It’s not particularly windy, but the turbines are installed in such a way as to ensure that they catch every stray breeze, and they turn busily as we watch. It isn't long before we notice the solar panels on the side of the building. 

 

Grundfos is a Danish company specializing in the manufacture of water pumps. Their brochure explains that, as the cost of generating clean energy from renewable sources has decreased sharply, governments worldwide are now mandating that a greater portion of energy is generated by renewables. Grundfos says that its solar pumping systems represent a cost effective, flexible, and secure water supply solution using clean energy (solar and wind). Its pumps are used for irrigation, livestock, fish farming, and municipal water infrastructure. The company has built a culture of sustainability in its own operations, which meant that, when Grundfos SA needed new premises, they would have a green building.

 

Green buildings are not a new concept in South Africa. The Green Building Council of South Africa (GBSA) was established in 2007 to transform the country’s building environment. To this end, the organisation developed a South African Green Star SA rating based on the Australian model. According to GBSA documentation, this provides “the commercial building industry with an objective measurement for green buildings and recognizes and rewards environmental leadership in the property industry.” Three ratings are available: 4 Star, 5 Star, and 6 Star Certified ratings.

 

Companies and organizations wishing to qualify need to fulfil certain requirements to receive one of these ratings. Ratings cover several categories, including land use and ecology, management, Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ), energy, transport, water, materials, emissions, and innovation. The categories are divided into credits, each of which addresses an initiative that improves or has the potential to improve environmental performance. Points are allocated to each credit for actions demonstrating that the project has met the overall objectives of Green Star SA. Once the credits have been assessed, a percentage score is calculated and Green Star SA's criteria are then applied. These vary depending on the importance of different environmental concerns for each market sector or building life cycle phase.

 

Lorraine Smart, Grundfos SA’s Marketing Manager, tells us about how Grundfos SA came to have a green building. “We originally had a building in Isando but the company outgrew it and we had to look at new premises. Although there was an existing structure here, we decided to re-build, recycling the scrap concrete and other materials. We worked with consultants and architects to ensure that we would receive a 4 Star Green Star SA rating with the Green Building Council, which we subsequently did. The way that you build is just as important as the systems you install. As far as practically possible, all the materials used, from carpets to paint, had to comply with the Council’s specifications. Another reason why we looked at having a green building was because our parent company in Denmark has declared that the company should cap its carbon dioxide emissions, which also fits in with the green building concept.”

 

One of the easiest ways to do this is for buildings to generate their own energy from renewable sources as opposed to relying on the country's power utility for electricity, nearly all of which is fuelled by coal-fired power stations - a very dirty, emissions-heavy resource. Grundfos SA installed three wind turbines on the new building's roof to take advantage of winds funnelling through the valley in which it is situated, although this part of South Africa is not particularly windy. The three turbines are linked to inverters, which convert the DC power generated to AC power and enable electricity to be released into the national grid when more energy is being produced than the inverter can convert. Lorraine tells us, “The power generated by the wind turbines is used for the building’s air conditioning and some lighting. We use special fluorescent tubes and LED light bulbs. The solar panels on the side of the building also power our solar borehole pump.” Energy saving is the other side of the renewable energy equation and Grundfos SA has implemented several measures to conserve energy. “All the offices have light motion sensors. If there is no movement in the room for a certain period of time, then the lights automatically switch off. They come on again as soon as someone enters the room.”

 

As the building is located at the intersection of two of Africa’s busiest highways, with the average vehicle count exceeding 200,000 vehicles a day, the local authorities required the company to install a 250,000 litre stormwater attenuation tank to manage the flow of water onto the road, especially during Johannesburg’s torrential thunderstorms. This provided the inspiration for Grundfos SA to create its innovative rainwater harvesting system and water treatment plant, which dominate the lobby, creating an unusual focal point for visitors and staff. One of the reasons why the industrial-type structure was placed here rather than in a basement out of the public eye is because Grundfos SA wants to spread the sustainability message to its customers. “We want to show them what we are doing and what can be done. It is very important that we engage with our customers on this issue,” says Lorraine.

 

In green building terms, the requirement has further helped the company to reduce its environmental footprint. Lorraine tells us, “We use no municipal water; all our water is sourced from rainwater harvested off the roofs of the office and warehouse buildings and paved areas. This is pumped into tanks and treated. A borehole and booster pump provide back-up.” The water treatment tank has two compartments, one of which holds untreated water, while the other stores treated water. The maximum volume of water available from rainwater collection is 250 m3. A submersible pump moves the rainwater into the untreated water compartment, where chemical dosing pumps are used to condition the water before it is subjected to both direct floc filtration and activated carbon filtration - the latter improves the water's taste and removes any stray contaminants.

 

Water saving is also practiced. Lorraine explains, “In terms of the Green Building Council’s standards, you may only irrigate the gardens around your building for the first year. After that, it has to be self-sustaining. We chose to plant aloes and other indigenous plants that don’t require much water and are adapted to cope with the Highveld’s rainy summers and dry winters.”

 

The company also has a recycling station, which we notice in the canteen. Seeing our interest, Lorraine says, “We encourage the staff to live the sustainability message. We recycle paper, cardboard, plastic, glass, and metal.  We built a cricket pitch for the staff using money we got from selling our recyclables. We also have special parking for low emission vehicles, dedicated cycle paths, parking and shower facilities for staff, and waterless urinals in the men’s cloakrooms. This is all done to promote and create an atmosphere of environmental consciousness.”

 

As a company, Grundfos recycles as much of its products as possible. Lorraine tells us, “While all our production is done overseas, our pumps are manufactured in such a way that nearly all the materials used can be recycled, with only 4% of our pumps not being reusable. We spend more money on research and development than Microsoft, ensuring an environmentally-friendly, efficient product.”

 

Grundfos SA is also working to spread the environmental message beyond its buildings. “We have an academy where we train students for six months. At the end of their training, they need to design and install an irrigation system from scratch using a borehole and solar pumps. They are also required to obtain funding for the project. We work with many local schools, drilling boreholes, equipping them with solar powered pumps, and teaching the school how to run them. The schools then establish and maintain vegetable gardens, which supplement feeding schemes and provide meals for underprivileged children five days a week.”

 

At the time of writing, Grundfos SA’s building had achieved a 5 Star rating - the highest available in South Africa - and is the only 5 Star rated industrial site in the country. They are certainly keen to lead by example.

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Article written for Urban Eco Life.

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SUSTAINABLE USE OF NATURAL RESOURCES: WHY POPULATION MATTERS

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Even as sustainability enters the global lexicon, with increasing numbers of people and businesses recognizing the need to limit their consumption and production to remain within planetary boundaries, there’s a silent clock ticking in the background. It’s one so entwined with cultural traditions and the primeval urge of all species to survive that hardly anyone talks about it for fear of reprisals. That’s the issue of population. Despite low birth rates in the global north giving rise to fears of how aging human populations could be sustained, the incontrovertible reality is that our population overall is still growing. This means that, as a species, humans require ever more natural resources to ensure our survival and raise living standards, both of which are placing increasing pressure on planetary systems.

 

Today, the globe is home to around eight billion people. According to regular United Nations estimates, the number of human beings inhabiting the planet by 2080 is likely to be slightly over 10 billion. Initially, our global population grew very gradually, rarely exceeding more than one billion people. However, after World War II, population growth soared, as we added a billion more people to the planet every 12 - 15 years, so there are now twice as many people on Earth as there were in 1970.

 

Interestingly, one of the primary causes for our soaring population growth was underpinned by the discovery and exploitation of fossil fuels - coal, oil and natural gas. During the 16th and 17th centuries, European population growth ultimately created a shortage of wood, which was then the primary source of energy. This spurred technological innovation based on coal burning, which ultimately created the first industrial revolution.

 

After World War II, crude oil became the world’s top energy source, with the largest oil field in the world, at al-Ghawar in Saudi Arabia, being exploited for the first time in 1948. As oil production became more cost-effective than coal and deposits of both oil and gas were discovered in Asia and Africa, oil pipelines proliferated, while super tankers transported fossil fuels across the world. Diesel locomotives replaced steam engines, private vehicle ownership rose, passenger aircraft became a reality, and transport infrastructure mushroomed.

 

The introduction of fossil fuels into the energy mix has enabled human populations to increase because these high-yielding energy sources have enabled electrification, industrial mass production, commercial agriculture, the exploitation of distant water resources, globalization, and many other accoutrements of modernity. Research has indicated that, once a new energy source accounts for 20% of the global energy mix, this raises human population levels. Coal reached its zenith in 1860, oil in 1950, and natural gas in 1990. As new energy sources were realized, the availability of the former ones declined.

 

Today, the increase in populations in countries where biomass remains the primary energy source is supported by developed nations underpinned by fossil fuels. These have contributed to medical advancements, such as vaccines and antibiotics, the development of synthetic fertilizers and biocides for use in agriculture, and the ships, planes, trucks, and transport infrastructure that deliver food aid during droughts and famines.

 

While China has long been the world’s most populous country, their population peaked in 2023 and has begun declining, leaving India in the top spot. Although 61 countries are likely to see a decline in their populations by 2050, just eight, all of which are developing countries in Africa and Asia, are expected to contribute the world’s extra two billion people by 2080.

 

Economists and proponents of capitalism have long held that high human population growth stimulates economies because it generates ever more consumers, who will buy the goods manufacturers produce and use expert services. This view became widespread in the United States in the 1980s during the Reagan administration, fuelling the belief that infinite growth could somehow be maintained on a finite planet. However, more recent research is indicating that the converse may be true. The economies of developing countries, particularly in Africa, are eroding because numerous children relative to the number of working adults require food, clothing, and housing, with the result that there are little funds left for investing. This depresses industrial expansion, resulting in high unemployment, even as more young people enter a constricted labour market.

 

Writing for the Population Media Centre, William Ryerson makes the point that reducing human population growth has been imperative for countries that have evolved from underdeveloped to developed, including the Bahamas, Barbados, Hong Kong, Japan, and Singapore, among others. A 2005 study found that developing countries require some US$56 billion annually in infrastructure development for their expanding populations, an amount that few developing countries are able to raise. This problem is not confined to the developing world, however. Even in developed countries such as the United States, so many people are being added to the population that infrastructure development is lagging.

 

Several studies indicate that economic prosperity tends to lead to population increases, while economic downturns reduce fertility rates. Such diverse events as potatoes being introduced to Ireland, the allocation of land to formerly landless peasants in the Sahel, and the prosperous decade of the 1950s in the United States led to baby booms. Industrialization also suppresses fertility, although miring people in poverty is certainly not the answer to the challenges now facing the human race and the planetary systems we depend on.

 

This surge in human populations across the globe has had a knock-on effect on natural resource requirements, which underpin human wellbeing and facilitate development. Intact, properly functioning ecosystems, be they terrestrial, aquatic or marine, all benefit humans, together with the other living organisms they support. Natural systems oxygenate the air we breathe, provide food and fresh water, regulate the climate, ensure soil fertility and agriculture, and protect the land from storms, among numerous other benefits.

 

Despite potential negative outcomes, humanity is using Earth’s natural resources more recklessly than ever before, to the point where ecological and biological mechanisms are unable to replenish them faster than they are being extracted. This means that we now require around 1.8 Earths-worth of resources annually to meet our needs. If you’re a North American, this is closer to four Earths. To give you an idea of how that translates, in 2024 alone, humans have extracted almost 70 trillion tons of minerals, dumped close to two trillion tons of waste in landfills, and released seven billion tons of plastic into the world’s oceans. We have also decimated pristine wild forests to the point where only 23% are left. When countries and people use far more natural resources than the planet is able to supply, this results in ecological overshoot.

 

The recently released 2024 WWF Living Planet Report indicates that overall, the Earth’s wildlife populations are in peril. When the entire dataset is considered, 50% of all wildlife and bird populations studied were still in decline, whereas 43% were increasing and 7% were stable. However, this means that steep declines are still being observed in certain mammal, bird, fish, reptile, and amphibian populations.

 

According to the report, this serious situation reflects humanity’s continued overexploitation of natural resources, characterised by overfishing, unsustainable hunting, and the environmental impacts of food production. Habitat loss remains the biggest threat to planetary biodiversity, as vast tracts of natural land have been converted to pastures, felled for timber, transformed by urban expansion, or mined. Today, some 71% of the Earth’s entire land area is being exploited by humans with increasingly disastrous consequences. For instance, the United Nations estimates that, for at least 30 days a year, nearly half of the world’s people do not have access reliable freshwater resources. By 2050, it is anticipated that between 4.8 to 5.7 billion people will be affected by water shortages. Already, at least a quarter of the world’s population are using 80% of all natural freshwater supplies annually, with shortages likely to affect a further billion people by 2050.

 

Agriculture is one of the biggest causes of habitat loss, as ecosystems are being modified apace to enable us to feed ourselves. Between 2015 and 2020, 10 million hectares (25 million acres) of the Earth’s natural forests were felled. Cattle pastures replaced around 41% of tropical forests, while soybean cultivation, mainly for cattle feed, accounted for 16% of these former forested areas.

 

Some 44% of the world’s habitable land is now being used for agriculture, which equates to 48 million square kilometres – an area five times the size of the United States. Two-thirds of this is pastureland for livestock raising, while the remainder is used for crop cultivation. However, only half these crops are intended for human consumption – the balance are used for livestock feed, biofuels, and industrial raw materials.

 

Another consequence of commercial agriculture in particular is soil degradation, with soils being compromised 100 times faster than the natural rates at which they can be replenished. This compromises soil fertility and turns formerly productive regions into wastelands. Over 500 million people are now living in areas where desertification is a reality. Of concern for coastal communities, over one-third of fisheries are now thought to be permanently overfished.

 

Social problems also arise due to the combination of overpopulation and excessive natural resource use. These include food insecurity, inadequate housing, decreased educational opportunities, overburdened healthcare systems, and increased pollution and waste.

 

Solutions

 

While these scenarios are unpalatable, there is nevertheless much that can be done to retrieve the situation.

 

• Education around family planning, together with sustainable development initiatives, such as renewable energy and nature conservation, can enable improved stewardship of natural resources. Ensuring that women have access to contraceptives and reproductive healthcare is also essential to ensure that couples can adequately provide for their families, alleviating poverty and improving lives.

• While not a panacea, adopting renewable energy solutions may reduce the burden on the environment created by fossil fuel burning and coal-fired power stations, simultaneously improving the health and quality of life of nearby communities.

• By adopting organic agriculture, where fewer harmful chemicals and synthetic fertilizers are used, the impact of agriculture on soils, water, and natural land can be significantly reduced. This also fosters biodiversity conservation and creates rural jobs, slowing rural-urban migration, which leads to urban expansion and intensified resource use.

• Conservation initiatives, including reforestation projects, the sustainable harvesting of natural resources, and protected area expansion, also ensures the persistence of natural landscapes, as well as more species of plants, birds and animals. These efforts also contribute to rural jobs, increased tourism revenue, and the improved wellbeing of rural communities.

 

Although the environmental problems humanity and the Earth are facing today are serious, we can overcome them by ensuring that we remain within Earth’s carrying capacity. This will ensure that the planet can continue to provide the ecosystem services that underpin all life on Earth, including our own.

 

(approx 1,800 words)

 

Sources:

Kolkowska, N. (2023, May 15). How Does Overpopulation Affect Sustainability? Challenges and Solutions. Earth.org

https://earth.org/overpopulation-sustainability/

 

Natural Resources. (2024, January 5). Population Matters.

https://populationconnection.org/why-population/natural-resources/

 

Ritchie, H. & Roser, M. (2024, February 16). Half of the World’s Habitable Land is Used for Agriculture. Our World in Data.

https://ourworldindata.org/global-land-for-agriculture

 

Ritchie, H. & Spooner, F. (2024, October 10). The 2024 Living Planet Index Reports a 73% Average Decline in Wildlife Populations – What’s Changed Since the Last Report? Our World in Data.

https://ourworldindata.org/2024-living-planet-index

 

Ryerson, W. (2024, March 27(. Population and Economics. Population Media Centre.

https://www.populationmedia.org/the-latest/population-and-economics

 

Tregenna, R. (2024, July 23). Population: The Numbers. Population Matters.

https://populationmatters.org/the-facts-numbers/

 

The World Counts. (n.d.). Our Global Challenges. The World Counts. https://www.theworldcounts.com/

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PALM OIL COMES TO AFRICA

 

Like tropical rainforests everywhere, Central Africa’s lush jungles are home to a stunning array of wildlife, including primates, forest elephants, antelopes, fish, and amphibians - all uniquely adapted to survive in these habitats. Although these forests were once inaccessible, things are very different today, as logging, mining, charcoal-burning, and other commercial activities increasingly fragment these unique ecosystems. Africa’s rush to develop does not bode well for these forests, as evidenced by the escalating illegal trade in bushmeat - meat sourced from rare wildlife species - and the indiscriminate poaching of forest elephants for their ivory tusks, which find their way to Asia.

 

More recently, a new commodity trader is considering making inroads into Central African rainforests: the palm oil industry. This makes sense, as oil palms are native to tropical Africa, where people have used the edible oils provided by their fruits for centuries. According to a report by the UK’s Rainforest Foundation, the palm oil industry is seeking new horizons, as oil demand rises exponentially. Plantation land in Malaysia and Indonesia, which account for some 85% of the world’s palm oil production, is becoming increasingly scarce, with an estimated 7 million hectares of new plantations being required to satisfy the growing market. Accordingly, at least two of the world's biggest palm oil companies may expand into Africa.

 

Palm oil has become a sought-after alternative to vegetable oils such as rapeseed or sunflower because palm fruits yield far more oil per hectare than traditional oil seeds. The largest palm oil consumers are China, India, and the European Union. While palm oil is used for frying, it is becoming an increasingly popular - and cheap - ingredient in processed foods and products ranging from chocolate and ice cream to soaps and cosmetics. However, palm oil comes with a significant environmental price tag.

 

Escalating demand for the oil has decimated tropical rainforests across Indonesia, Malaysia, and Sumatra. Many unique species living in these rainforests, some of which are incapable of surviving anywhere else because of their unique adaptations to forest ecosystems, are rapidly sliding down the slippery slope of extinction. The palm oil industry has accordingly become unpopular, as photographs and videos of rainforest destruction and bewildered orangutans circulate across the globe on social media.

 

Considering the Asian experience may help to establish the palm oil industry’s likely potential impact on Central Africa’s rainforests. Between 1990 and 2005, according to the Rainforest Foundation report, 1.1 million hectares of forest in Malaysia and 1.7 million hectares in Indonesia were cleared to make way for oil palm. Between 50% and 60% of plantation expansions occurred at the expense of natural rainforests. Much of the destruction has been unlawful. According to the report, licences are often issued despite regulatory prohibitions, and palm oil companies frequently start clearing natural land in Indonesia before they receive permits. Fire is used illegally to clear natural lands, often outside of concessions and in restricted areas.

 

Another loophole is the fallacy of degraded land, a phrase that usually refers to areas that, despite significant logging, still retain important biodiversity and provide valuable ecosystem functions. It's a term that is often misused by oil palm profiteers. Logging frequently paves the way for palm oil development, removing valuable hardwoods before the rest of the now “degraded” forest is felled. Threatened Sumatran tigers and orangutans are among the casualties.

 

Carbon emissions are another detrimental aspect of palm oil plantations. The report points out that clearing rainforests and replacing them with oil palms results in a net loss of biomass, as the natural vegetation is far denser than the palms. Emissions increase if land is cleared by burning, or the wood from felled trees is used for cooking or charcoal-making. When peatlands are cleared, burned and drained, vast amounts of the carbon they store are released into the atmosphere. Methane emissions are also produced when palm fruit and waste is processed.

 

There is some evidence that palm oil plantations negatively impact water quality and availability. An Indonesian survey of affected communities established that rivers and streams often dry up after their catchments are planted with oil palms. Floods have become more frequent, while waterways are polluted by plantation runoff containing agrochemical residues. In addition, processing plants release liquid waste that deoxygenates the water, killing fish. The impact of such plants can be surprisingly extensive. For example, a mill serving an 8,000-hectare plantation may produce 1,200 m3 of liquid waste every day.

 

Does Africa really want to inherit such a legacy? Despite the negatives, media reports indicate that countries in the Congo Basin have expressed an interest in regenerating their historic oil palm plantations to take advantage of global demand and increase exports. Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and Gabon have the most ambitious expansion plans. In addition to this receptive business environment, there are several other incentives for palm oil companies to move to Africa.

 

The Congo Basin has ideal soils and a perfect climate for growing oil palms, with about two thirds of its entire tropical forest area fulfilling the necessary requirements. Central Africa is also geographically closer to key palm oil markets in the Middle East and Europe, while African domestic demand for palm oil is also growing. New investments in road and port infrastructure are encouraging development, land is relatively cheap and plentiful, and taxes are low. Finally, labour in West and Central Africa is still relatively cheap compared to Asia, where labour costs are rising.

 

Congo Basin countries are actively promoting large-scale oil palm cultivation to improve their economic growth. Hundreds of thousands of hectares of rainforest could potentially be affected. For example, Gabon has 5 million hectares (12.35 million acres) of farmable land, while between 1.6 and 3 million hectares (3.95 and 7.4 million acres) in the DRC could potentially be converted to commercial oil palm production. Such far-reaching plans are a clear indication that production from the new plantations is destined for the international market.

 

What will the development of these new oil palm plantations mean for the Congo Basin? The Asian experience with palm oil amply demonstrates that the development of such plantations leads to tropical rainforest destruction, biodiversity loss, damage to watersheds, the loss of local livelihoods, and increased greenhouse gas emissions. Even if demand for palm oil were static, these effects would continue to manifest. Plantations are often abandoned after 25 years - when the soil is exhausted - and replaced with green-field planting. In addition, many Congo Basin projects have failed to commit to voluntary Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) standards. Those that have done so are experiencing some opposition. The sustainability label also has little experience in the African context, and it is unclear whether it will be able to ensure that palm oil production is actually ethical and sustainable. Then there is the inescapable fact that three of the companies backing specific developments - or seeking development land in the Congo Basin - were previously involved in illegal and destructive oil palm development in Asia. Palm oil, while it may bring some economic benefits, is a looming threat that Africa’s rainforests and unique biodiversity can ill afford.

 

Source: Seeds of Destruction: Expansion of industrial oil palm in the Congo Basin – Potential Impacts on Forests and People (The Rainforest Foundation UK)​​​

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