SABAH will plant one million trees and preserve endangered wildlife as part of the government’s wider campaign to counter anti-palm oil propaganda, said Teresa Kok.

The primary industries minister said it was crucial to address the negative views and accusations against palm oil.

“We have to address the accusations against this industry. We also have to take heed of the negative views on palm oil, such as deforestation, killing of wildlife and destroying biodiversity.

“We understand there were negative views in the past but we have to debunk all the accusations against the industry,” she said at a media briefing in Putrajaya.

Kok said the tree planting exercise is already under way with the participation of palm oil companies in Kinabatangan, Sabah.

“The Malaysian Timber Council had pledged RM2 million to fund this. We are also calling on other palm oil players to help.

“We want to show the world that the palm oil players are coming together to preserve nature.”

The government blames a global anti-palm oil campaign for declining demand for the edible oil in Western countries, such as the United States and Europe. Besides cooking, the oil is also used in cosmetics, food and biofuels.

Consumers and food companies in these countries are boycotting palm oil on the grounds that it has caused deforestation in Southeast Asia and Africa.

Palm oil companies are also accused of using forced labour and of taking land from indigenous tribes.

Due to these concerns, the European Union is phasing out palm oil-based biofuels by 2020.

Malaysia and Indonesia consider the EU proposal as discriminatory as it ignores the fact that soy oil, which is also used in bio fuels and is planted in North and South America, has also caused widespread deforestation.

Last year, the EU imported 1.9 million tonnes of Malaysian crude palm oil (CPO), the second largest buyer of the commodity after India at 2.51 million tonnes.

Another initiative by the government to combat the anti-palm oil campaign is funding conservation programmes for orang utan and pygmy elephants.

The two endangered species have been threatened by the expansion of palm oil plantations into the rainforests of North Borneo.

Kok said the ministry has given RM1.5 million to the Sabah Wildlife Department for orang utan and pygmy elephant conservation projects.

“We also plan to have a wildlife corridor for the orang utan and pygmy elephants where the palm oil plantations are located.”

She said the projects will show the world how Malaysia is protecting its wildlife and rehabilitating dilapidated forests.

“We hope that with this initiative we can inspire more state governments to join the palm oil industry to preserve nature.” – April 27, 2019.