Environmental
synergy
Malaysia’s oil palm plantations
are a ‘planted forest’
in agricultural land which uses only
20% of land area, leaving 60% of the
country under permanent forest. In
fact, oil palm together with rubber
(both forest species) contributes
to a high 78% forest coverage for
Malaysia and home to a rich diversity
of flora and fauna.
As a ‘planted forest’,
oil palm cultivation yields raw materials
for plywood and board making, food
and fuel, and is a huge carbon sink
absorbing 8 – 10 times more
carbon dioxide and emitting - 10 times
more oxygen per unit area compared
to the annual crops planted in the
EU.
Palm bio-diesel
Malaysia’s bio-fuel programme
joins the world search for a renewable
fuel to reduce dependency on depleting
fossil fuel. Synergistic advantages
created in this undertaking range
from enhancing the Malaysian refinery
industry and international trade opportunities
to co-producing Vitamin E and carotene
from crude palm oil used as the feedstock
in the bio-diesel plant.
Not least, it continues to focus
on an agricultural activity, oil palm
cultivation - a ‘planted forest’,
that contributes to the natural preservation
of the country.
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