The Future of Indonesian Palm Oil

"If there were any doubts about the fierceness of the debate over Indonesia's palm oil controversy, they were silenced effectively outside the Jakarta's House of Parliament on December 21. Ten protestors joined 18 of their fellow migrants and activists from Riau province in the ultimate act of protest against a government concession to a pulp and paper company near their land on Padang Island. They sewed their mouths shut.

This is merely the latest, if most macabre, chapter in a protracted tug of war at the heart of the world's biggest palm oil producer. Squaring off are environmentalists—domestic and foreign—local populations and indigenous farmers, and an industry worth billions.

Palm oil's benefits to Southeast Asia's biggest economy, coupled with mineral and gas reserves, are tough to overstate. Production is anticipated to surge by 6.5 percent—or between 1 million and 1.5 million—to 24.5 million tons by next year, nearly half the world's output, according to World Wildlife Federation statistics."

Read the full article: http://www.worldpress.org/Asia/3857.cfm#down