Carbon Emissions from Oil Palm Induced Forest and Peatland Conversion in Sabah and Sarawak, Malaysia

Abstract

The palm oil industry is one of the major producers of vegetable oil in the tropics. Palm oil is used extensively for the manufacture of a wide variety of products and its production is increasing by around 9% every year, prompted largely by the expanding biofuel markets. The rise in annual demand for biofuels and vegetable oil from importer countries has caused a dramatic increase in the conversion of forests and peatlands into oil palm plantations in Malaysia. This study assessed the area of forests and peatlands converted into oil palm plantations from 1990 to 2018 in the states of Sarawak and Sabah, Malaysia, and estimated the resulting carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. To do so, we analyzed multitemporal 30-m resolution Landsat-5 and Landsat-8 images using a hybrid method that combined automatic image processing and manual analyses. We found that over the 28-year period, forest cover declined by 12.6% and 16.3%, and the peatland area declined by 20.5% and 19.1% in Sarawak and Sabah, respectively. In 2018, we found that these changes resulted in CO2 emissions of 0.01577 and 0.00086 Gt CO2-C yr−1, as compared to an annual forest CO2 uptake of 0.26464 and 0.15007 Gt CO2-C yr−1, in Sarawak and Sabah, respectively. Our assessment highlights that carbon impacts extend beyond lost standing stocks, and result in substantial direct emissions from the oil palm plantations themselves, with 2018 oil palm plantations in our study area emitting up to 4% of CO2 uptake by remaining forests. Limiting future climate change impacts requires enhanced economic incentives for land uses that neither convert standing forests nor result in substantial CO2 emissions.

Land Swap Option for Sustainable Production of Oil Palm Plantations in Kalimantan, Indonesia

“…Indonesia and Malaysia as the two largest oil-palmproducing countries, might encounter similar situation over their peatland due to the expansion of oil palm plantation. The Government of Malaysia decided to limit the oil palm plantation in their country by up to 6.5 million ha in 2023 to prevent further deforestation and conversion of peatland into oil palm plantations, as well as to reduce CO2 emissions [9]. For a better management of oil palm in peatland, this land swap option with some adjustment will potentially be adopted by the Malaysian government.…”

“…Malaysia, as the second largest producer of oil palm, might encounter similar issue on the management of oil palm in peatland. A study has shown that oil the palm plantation in a peatland in Sarawak, Malaysia has grown rapidly from 197,323 ha in 1990 to 657,273 ha in 2018 [9].…”

Biotization of in vitro oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) and its plant-microbe interactions

“…Despite its remarkable contribution to the economy, there has not been much progress in yield improvement in the last four decades as the CPO in a recent production of 3.16 t/ha/year in 2021 ( Parveez et al., 2022 ). With the current planted area of 5.74 million hectares and mature palms covering 89.7% ( Parveez et al., 2022 ), close to reaching the targeted limit of 6.5 million hectares introduced by the Malaysian government in committing to sustainability ( Wan Mohd Jaafar et al., 2020 ), extensive efforts are still being carried out to sustain and improve the higher productivity of the industry. Therefore, with limited land for replanting, increasing yield per unit of the land area is inevitable.…”

Changes in soil chemical properties and their spatial distribution after logging and conversion to oil palm plantation in Sabah (Borneo)

“…Consequently, oil palm expansion is driving deforestation in Southeast Asia (Henderson and Osborne 2000; Koh and Wilcove 2007; Palm 2005). For example, in Malaysian Borneo, from 1990 to 2018, oil palm was responsible for decreasing the area of primary forest by 13% in Sarawk and 16% in Sabah and decreasing the area of peat forests from by 21% in Sarawak and 19% in Sabah (Jaafar et al 2020).…”