Oil Palm and Soy:
The Expanding
Threat to Forests
Forest Conversion INFO > Oil palm, soy and forest conversion
WWF/ClaudeMARTIN
Forest Conversion INFO > Oil palm, soy and forest conversion
Deforestation of tropical forests took
place at a rate of 10–16 million ha
per annum during the last two decades,
and is showing no signs of slowing
down. The causes are complex and
often interrelated, but among them
is the role of plantation agriculture.
Without significant changes in policy
and practice, the process of forest
conversion is likely to continue at a
rapid rate and pose a major threat
to High Conservation Value Forests
(HCVFs), freshwater ecosystems,
livelihoods of forest dependent peoples,
and habitats of endangered species.
A threat to critical habitats
Oil palm and soy expansion has had
significant direct and indirect impacts
on the environment. This is clearly
demonstrated by the cases of Indonesia
and Brazil. The most direct impact in
these countries has arisen through
the felling, clearance and burning of
natural vegetation and its replacement
by oil palm or soy agriculture. This has
resulted in the loss of approximately 2
million ha of tropical forest in Indonesia
by 1999, and the loss of vast areas of
Cerrado vegetation in the Centre-West
region of Brazil. The tropical forests of
Indonesia and the Cerrado vegetation of
Brazil are important living spaces for a
rich plant and animal live and are home
to a number of endangered species
including the orang-utan, Sumatran
tiger, Sumatran elephant, the maned
The expansion of oil palm plantations and soy fields has become
a major threat to tropical forests and other critical habitats.
WWF believes that economic development, environmental
conservation and social priorities can be met if proper land-use
planning and good plantation practices are implemented.
Little by little the forest is disappearing
Forest conversion is a continuous process. Little by little, tropical forests are turned into agriculture and
plantation monocultures. There are four stages of forest conversion:
1. Primary forest
2. Exploited forest
3. Degraded forest: agricultural land and settlements of local farmers
4. Unwooded stage: agriculture and plantation monocultures
Primary forest Degraded forestExploited forest Unwooded stage
1 2 3 4
Oil palm and soy are rapidly expanding
In recent years, some of the fastest expanding
crops in the tropics have been
oil palm and soy. Globally, the oil palm
area increased by 43% to 10.7 million ha
during the period 1990 to 2002, while
the soy area planted to soy increased by
26% to 77.1 million ha during the same
period. Most of this growth has occurred
primarily in Indonesia and Malaysia
(for oil palm) and in Argentina, USA and
Brazil (for soy). While the growth of both
sectors has conferred important economic
benefits for all of these countries,
WWF is concerned about the impact
area expansion is having on critical habitats,
primarily the forests in Southeast
Asia and Latin America and the Cerrado
savannah region in Brazil. Concerns are
being heightened by the fact that further
growth in all of these areas is predicted.
AccordingtoAidEnvironmentAmsterdam,2001
Harvest in an oil palm plantation.
©WWF-Canon/AlainCOMPOST
Forest Conversion INFO > Oil palm, soy and forest conversion
wolf, the giant armadillo and the giant
anteater.
In Brazil and Indonesia, government
policies have facilitated soy and oil palm
expansion, threatening critical habitats
such as Sumatra’s lowland tropical
forests and the Cerrado ecoregion,
despite the existence of vast areas of
degraded land. Similar government
policies are projected to stimulate
further growth in the near future. Further
soy expansion is also expected to
increasingly have a direct impact on
the Amazonian region as new highyielding
tropical soy varieties have been
specifically developed for expansion in
this region. According to data from
Brazil‘s National Institute for Space
Research, the annual rate of forest loss
in the Amazon increased by 40% in the
year 2002, resulting mainly from
pressure to replace forest with soy
agriculture and cattle ranching.
Monocultures reduce biodiversity
Large-scale oil palm and soy plantations
have a significant negative impact
on biodiversity because plantations
are primarily planted as largescale
monocultures for commercial
production. While monoculture
plantations offer considerable economic
benefits, development predominantly
results in the total clearance of diverse
natural vegetation and the consequent
loss of the wide variety of habitats it
provides for wildlife. Pesticides and
herbicides kill off the last vestiges of
biodiversity able to co-exist with the
plantations, and significantly diminish
the chances of habitat restoration.
Oil palm and soy expansion is
interlinked to a number of other
activities known to be causing critical
habitat loss. In Indonesia and Brazil,
oil palm and soy companies have been
linked to devastating forest fires, that
in 1997-98 alone destroyed over 11.7
million ha of forest and other vegetation
in Indonesia, and 3.3 million ha of forest
and other vegetation within the northern
Amazonian state of Roraima, Brazil. Oil
palm expansion has also inadvertently
resulted in the clear-cutting of tropical
hardwoods in areas designated for oil
palm; and soy expansion in Brazil is
linked to charcoal production and cattle
ranch expansion.
Soy field in Brazil.
©WWF-Canon/MichelGUNTHER
WWF’s Initiative for positive change
The production of internationally traded commodities, such as palm oil or soy, is
influenced by international markets and investments, as well as by national and
international economic policies. WWF engages all stakeholders along the chain of
custody to address the environmental and social problems associated with the
expansion of palm oil and soy.
WWF recognises that global demand for palm oil and soy will rise substantially in the
next decade. Furthermore, palm oil and soy production play an important role in the
economic development of some tropical countries. Therefore, a boycott of these
products is not proposed.
WWF believes that conservation and social priorities can be met if proper land-use
planning and good plantation practices are implemented that halt the conversion of
High Conservation Value Forests (HCVF). HCVFs have been defined by the Forest
Stewardship Council (FSC) as being forests of outstanding and critical importance due
to their high environmental, socio-economic, biodiversity or landscape values.
WWF’s Forest Conversion Initiative is working to:
• Develop better palm oil and soy plantation practices by means of research and
collaboration with industry partners.
• Appeal to the investment sector to promote better practices by applying rigorous
investment criteria.
• Encourage key market actors to adopt and promote better practices.
• Influence government economic and trade policy in support of better practices.
• Communicate with key audiences to inform them and make them aware of
the issues.
Forest Conversion INFO > Oil palm, soy and forest conversion
WWF Forest Conversion
Initiative
Coordination Office
WWF Switzerland
Hohlstrasse 110
CH-8010 Zürich
Switzerland
Phone: +41 1 297 21 21
Fax: +41 1 297 21 00
info.conversion@wwf.ch
July 2003
The goal of WWF’s Forest Conversion Initiative is to ensure that High
Conservation Value Forests and habitats of key species in focal ecoregions
are no longer threatened by the expansion of oil palm and soy.
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