MAJOR COMPANIES INVOLVED IN PALM OIL MAFIA

Following numerous public complaints about the adverse environmental and social impacts of oil palm cultivation that were reported to the Central Environmental Authority, steps were taken to ban oil palm cultivation in 2021, during the tenure of former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

- By Prageeth Sampath Karunathilaka and Sudharika Gurusinghe

So far, 13,000 acres of oil palm have been cultivated by private land owners. Their target is to cultivate oil palm in 20,000 acres of land. However, since the ban on oil palm was imposed, those targets have not been met. At that time, the Central Environmental Authority issued media releases stating that it would take steps to address the environmental damage caused by this cultivation and to hear public complaints. A Select Committee to Study was also appointed for this purpose and it comprised representatives from the Ministry of Mahaweli Development and Environment, Ministry of Plantation Industries, Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka Rubber Research Institute, Sri Lanka Coconut Research Institute, and the National Institute of Plantations Management. This ensured that the key stakeholders associated with this matter were included in the process.

Based on international research reports, case studies and survey data from relevant areas, the committee reached several conclusions regarding the large-scale cultivation of oil palms in Sri Lanka. Key concerns included the threat to the sustainability of traditional plantation crops such as rubber, tea, and coconut, which are more environmentally and socially sustainable; the potential large-scale conversion of rubber plantations to oil palm cultivation if current trends continue; the expansion of oil palm cultivation without assessing the environmental suitability of the land; and the excessive water consumption of oil palm. In addition, international research has shown that a mature oil palm tree has an evaporation and transpiration rate of 500-600 litres per day during the dry season and around 400 litres per day on normal days.