Environmental Impact Assessment of Oil Palm Cultivation
Written by Christopher Dixon
Thursday, 06 March 2008
According to Malaysian Laws the 'environment' is described as multi-dimensional; something incapable of independently existing. It is a concept that must attach or relate itself to some physical geographic feature such as land, water and air or to a combination of one or more of these or to all of them.
Any impact on the environment must, in the present context, relate to or be in respect of some activity that is connected with and having an adverse effect upon either land, or means the physical factors of the surrounding of the human beings including land, water, atmosphere, climate, sound, odour, taste, the biological factor or aesthetics.
An Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) could be described as a process to identify and evaluate important environmental consequences and social factors that should be incorporated in project planning. This is to ensure that environmental effects are properly addressed and fully considered before being implemented. It is also an assessment of the environmental impacts of the planned development and takes into consideration the views expressed by the various parties involved. Apart from that, it also provides options for mitigation to overcome any adverse effects. The National Policy on Environment strongly emphasizes that nature and natural resources should be preserved and land rich in natural diversity should be maintained. Thus, there should be an effective way to manage and preserve natural resources to prevent environmental degradation. EIAs assist with this goal.
One oft-repeated accusation by foreign NGOs such as Friends Of The Earth and Orang Utan.com.my is that tropical forests are arbitrarily chopped down to grow oil palm. The accusations levelled at Malaysian and Indonesian growers infer that they are not concerned about the environment, and merely go into forests, bull doze trees and plant oil palm trees.
In fact, on closer examination, there are various considerations and restrictions that an oil palm grower needs to manage before he can begin planting. As the cultivation of oil palm involves large areas, impacts are regional in nature and holistic planning to address various issues needs to be performed. One of the most important issues is the environmental factor that needs to be addressed so that destruction to the environment is minimised. This means without destruction of the ecological habitats, change in hydrological regime of the region that could cause pollution of the waterways and rivers, and the minimum usage of agro-chemicals to preserve the natural habitat. All of these factors are assessed and evaluated in the Environmental Impact Assessment by consultants appointed by the oil palm growers. The consultants submit these assessments on the growers' behalf to the various government departments for approval before planting is started. Shortcomings of the oil palm growers will be highlighted by the various departments and only after all of these have been addressed and eliminated is the oil palm grower allowed to carry out the planting of oil palm. Let us look at some of the factors assessed in the EIA.
The following inventories are looked into in EIAs:- regional habitat and land use development, distribution of the habitat within the area, the flora and fauna found in the area, the status of the species and finally the general impact that the development would have. Apart from that, ground validation would be necessary to determine the ecological features and breeding grounds of the various fauna found on-site.
The first among these factors is the ecological impact due to land development. The location of the oil palm plantation is taken into consideration and ecological sensitivity investigated. If clearing and developing a plantation in the area could lead to the total extinction of habitats within the location, then the impact assessment would declare the area to be sensitive and necessary precautions need to be taken before land clearing can be carried out. For example, assuming that the land designated for oil palm has been the habitat of elephants, the animals would have to be relocated to a permanent forest reserve as the location would become unsuitable for elephants, chiefly due to limited grazing grounds. Flora and fauna have a high chance of being damaged when land is cleared for construction of roads, basic housing amenities and oil palm planting. However, the impeding destruction to habitats would be minimal for road construction as the area to be cleared is between three to four meters.
When site clearing is carried out prior to oil palm planting, existing vegetation within the area would most likely be damaged. It is therefore essential for the consultant to propose the measures that will be taken by the oil palm grower to preserve flora and fauna and to minimise the damages to the vegetation. That way, total clearing of the land is avoided and only areas that are to be planted or the areas where the planting rows are situated are cleared leaving the natural vegetation in place; which means there is minimal disturbance to the vegetation in the location. When outright clearing is carried out, not only is flora damaged, small mammals such as monkeys and squirrels lose their habitat. While there are still able to adapt to a new environment being foragers, this is usually avoided. Birds in the area are least affected as they are migratory and relocate to other areas where food is readily available.
The next important factor that is assessed is the extent of soil erosion due to land clearing and development. Factors that determine soil erosion include rain, disintegration of soil as some soils are easily loosened up during rain while others take a longer time, the slope of the land as generally soil erosion is extensive in slopes and terrain compared to undulating and flat land and finally the nature of the cover in the area. Increased rate of erosion occur when there is no tree canopy before the rain water falls to the ground which exposes the total surface of the soil. Once the soil is exposed, erosion takes place through a sequence of actions where the detached soil particles are washed down forming sheet, rill and gully erosion. Gullies form when rills increase in depth. Intensive rilling and gullying indicate that that large volume of soil has been eroded from the area. During the preliminary stages when the site is cleared and the roads are built, there is a possibility of damage to the soil particularly when total clearing is carried out. This normally happens when roads are constructed along slopes and ridges where there is total exposure to the surface of the soil. As there is no vegetation to protect the surfaces of these roads, extensive erosion could occur. This could be prevented if road construction is carried out during dry weather so that by the time the rainy weather sets in, the top surface of the road is hardened causing less erosion. As a mitigating factor, the consultant could also propose various measures to prevent soil erosion and to plant plants such as stylosynthesis and vettiver to control erosion of the slopes. Legume covers which establish very fast could be planted on the slopes during the dry season so that by the time the rain sets in, the covers are well established to prevent soil erosion.
During preparation of the site, one of the factors that needs to be considered is the generation of large quantities of biomass. Land clearing with activities such as felling and underbrushing generate biomass that has to be removed. Apart from that, when terracing and planting rows are established, there is a need to clear the biomass in the area for easy access to the rows. While the traditional method of burning is not allowed due to air pollution and haze problems, various measures are suggested to overcome this problem. The first step would be to estimate the amount of biomass within the site area so that proper measures could be taken to remove them without further destruction to the soil. The next step would be to identity the reusable materials within the biomass and remaining basic waste could be cleared using zero burning techniques. Zero burning enhances soil organic matter and helps to restore the fertility and richness of the soil. The consultant could propose various measures for the least damage to the soil and measures to preserve the existing vegetation.
The last factor that needs to be assessed is the use of agro chemicals that could cause water pollution. Chemicals that are sprayed to control weeds and pests leach into the soil or carried into the rivers and drains causing destruction to the habitat in these waterways. As a mitigating factor the consultant could propose various measures to control the use of chemicals and use environmental friendly approaches instead to eliminate the weeds and pests.
The EIA of oil palm cultivation is conducted prior to any planting, ensuring that should land be used, there is minimal environmental damage. However, it is crucial to note that land used for oil palm cultivation are usually former rubber plantations or other agricultural land, which means that the accusations made by the NGOs are baseless and unfounded. THE END.
References: EIA Guidelines on Oil Palm Plantation Development http/www.doe.gov.my http/www.wwf.org.my http/www.did.sabah.gov.my
Hmm, a tad technical but pretty informative. I always thought oil palm cultivation was rough on the environment thanks to some NGOs but this paper debunks that.
According to Malaysian Laws the 'environment' is described as multi-dimensional; something incapable of independently existing. It is a concept that must attach or relate itself to some physical geographic feature such as land, water and air or to a combination of one or more of these or to all of them.
Any impact on the environment must, in the present context, relate to or be in respect of some activity that is connected with and having an adverse effect upon either land, or means the physical factors of the surrounding of the human beings including land, water, atmosphere, climate, sound, odour, taste, the biological factor or aesthetics. 
