Malaysian rainforests not cleared for palm oil in a decade: minister

A minister on Thursday defended Malaysia’s plantation industry and said tropical rainforests have not been cleared to plant palm oil in the last 10 years.

Plantations Minister Peter Chin was refuting allegations that palm oil production destroys rainforests and wildlife habitats or that it increases greenhouse gas emissions and leads to a loss in biodiversity.
Sabri Ahmad, chairman of the Malaysian Palm Oil Board, said 65 percent of Malaysia’s total land area of almost 33 million hectares comprises of forest.

He said agriculture occupies only 19 percent of the land mass and that palm oil plantations use 12 percent.

“In contrast, agricultural land accounts for 70 percent of total land area in developed countries while forest cover comprises between 10 and 30 percent,” Sabri told the conference.

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