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Take the quiz and test your knowledge of everyday products that contain sustainable palm oil.
Follow the link to the quiz and see how well you know your stuff:
https://www.qzzr.com/c/quiz/408256/making-good-decisions-recognizing-palm-oil-products

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The Sumatran rhinos are the smallest rhino species and also one of the most threatened species in the world. They are unique because of their long hair that resembles one of their ancestors, the woolly rhino. Conservation efforts are being made to protect this unique species from the ongoing threats of both habitat loss and poaching for their horns.

(Photo Credit: International Rhino Foundation)

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For years, people have thought that the elephants in Borneo were just regular Asian elephants. After analyzing their genetics, scientists have recently discovered that these elephants are actually to be considered as a subspecies that descended from the mainland population. Like most rainforest species, these elephants are at risk due to habitat loss from the expansion of palm oil plantations. Elephants are also important to the region as ecosystem engineers, consuming large quantities of vegetation so that other plant species have a chance to compete for space within the dense forests.

(Photo Credit: World Wildlife Fund)

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One of the more iconic species of Southeast Asia, orangutans are an important species that help with seed dispersal of the natural forests that they live in. They are also the largest arboreal apes in the world, which is an important factor in protecting the rainforests from becoming agricultural fields.

(Photo Credit: Andrew Nakamura)

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Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. http://www.cmzoo.org/index.php/conservation-matters/palm-oil-crisis/

Fitzherbert, E. B., Struebig, M. J., Morel, A., Danielsen, F., Brühl, C. A., Donald, P. F., & Phalan, B. (2008). How will oil palm expansion affect biodiversity?. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 23(10), 538-545.  doi:10.1016/j.tree.2008.06.012

International Rhino Foundation. http://rhinos.org/

Laurance, W. F., Koh, L. P., Butler, R., Sodhi, N. S., Bradshaw, C. J., Neidel, J. D., ... & Mateo Vega, J. (2010). Improving the performance of the roundtable on sustainable palm oil for nature conservation. Conservation Biology, 24(2), 377-381. DOI: 10.1111/j.1523-1739.2010.01448.x

Leach, Jeff (Feb. 1, 2013). Palm oil: Maybe not such a good idea after all. Human Food Project. http://humanfoodproject.com/palm-oil-maybe-not-such-a-good-idea-after-all/

Nyhus, P., & Tilson, R. (2004). Agroforestry, elephants, and tigers: balancing conservation theory and practice in human-dominated landscapes of Southeast Asia. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 104(1), 87-97. doi:10.1016/j.agee.2004.01.009

Roundtable of Sustainable Palm Oil. http://www.rspo.org/

Sodhi, N. S., Koh, L. P., Brook, B. W., & Ng, P. K. (2004). Southeast Asian biodiversity: an impending disaster. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 19(12), 654-660. doi:10.1016/j.tree.2004.09.006

Union of Concerned Scientists. Infographic: Palm oil and tropical deforestation. http://www.ucsusa.org/global_warming/solutions/stop-deforestation/palm-oil-infographic.html#.WQGR_FPytD3

Wilcove, D. S., & Koh, L. P. (2010). Addressing the threats to biodiversity from oil-palm agriculture. Biodiversity and Conservation, 19(4), 999-1007. DOI 10.1007/s10531-009-9760-x

World Wildlife Fund. https://www.worldwildlife.org/

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Protect Paradise: An Animation about Palm Oil

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We, as the consumers, can influence what products we buy from the corporations. We need to have a say that we demand the big businesses to supply us with products that contain reliable & sustainable sources of palm oil.

Encourage companies to provide labels on their products with the RSPO trademark (Just like the "Dolphin Safe" tuna labels). Keep them accountable for their actions.

Write to these corporations of the concern of non-sustainable palm oil in their products is not okay with us. We have a say in the products they provide the general public, and can have great impacts if enough people share their say on the subject.

Be conscientious about what you're buying. Read the labels and follow shopping guides (e.g. Cheyenne Mountain Zoo's Palm Oil Shopping App & PalmSmart) to help make better decisions. Click here to see the list of products and how they rate in terms of sustainable palm oil: Palm Oil Shopping Guide.

Get these apps on your mobile devices:

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo (available for iPhone/iOS & Android devices)

PalmSmart (available for iPhone/iOS & Android devices)

Support organizations (zoos, non-profits, conservation groups, etc.) that follow the guidelines of the RSPO. They are our role models and ambassadors that can show us how to be better ambassadors for wildlife.

Support Ecotourism. Support conservation programs/efforts for these endangered species by viewing them in their natural habitats.

(Photo Credit: RSPO)

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Another challenge that elicits from using palm oil is the lack of regulations that helps manage the production of this crop. RSPO has been one of the frontrunners of creating viable solutions to help create sustainable palm oil. They have established a set of guidelines and qualifications that its members would abide by in order to gain the credentials needed to change the practice of palm oil production (Laurance et al., 2010). But due to the lack of government regulations, corruption amongst businesses and socio-political events occurring within rural communities, the sustainable practices have been struggling to gain attraction by most of the plantations (Laurance et al., 2010).

(Photo Credit: Cheyenne Mountain Zoo)

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This is especially significant for Sumatran tigers, a critically endangered tiger subspecies with less than 400 individuals remaining in the world. Only found in Sumatra, these tigers face the risk of extinction because of their shrinking habitat and isolated populations as a result of increasing palm oil plantations. One of the few top tier predators of the region, they are an important species that help manage the herbivore populations from over-consuming the vegetation that are viable resources for other species.

(Photo Credit: Andrew Nakamura)

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Southeast Asia’s rainforests are being converted into agriculture at a faster rate than anywhere else in the world, potentially losing up to 75% of the original forest cover by the next century as well as 40% of the overall biodiversity (Sodhi et al., 2004). The region boasts over 200 mammal species, 400 bird species, 200 reptiles, and 15,000 plant species (Cheyenne Mountain Zoo). It is also significant for this region because Southeast Asia is the only region that contains large endangered mammal species (tigers, elephants, rhinos, orangutans, etc.) in a one proximal area (Nyhus & Tilson, 2004).

(Photo Credit: Union of Concerned Scientists)

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One of the main issues with the palm oil crisis is how it is grown. Palm oil has been mostly produced un-sustainably and has been one of the major challenges that has been discussed by many organizations, including the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) (Wilcove & Koh, 2010; Laurance et al., 2010). Because of the high demand for the fast-growing palm oil crop, many forests are being cut down at an alarming rate, which decreases the natural forest cover for many global rainforests, including a majority of Southeast Asia (Sodhi et al., 2004).

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Palm oil has various names & derivatives that can be found on all sorts of products. Although different corporations and businesses will use different names from this list, they all represent the same thing: palm oil. The names on this list are not the issue that consumers should be focused upon. It is more relevant that the focus be on whether the products are utilizing a sustainable palm oil source or not.

(Credit: Cheyenne Mountain Zoo)

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Palm oil is a widely used crop that can be contributed to almost any of our everyday products (cosmetics, food, fuel, etc.). The palm oil is collected from the fruit that the oil palm trees produce and separated to form the basis for most of the daily goods seen on any store aisle. These oil palm trees can only be grown in tropical regions, particularly where rainforests can be found. It is a rapidly increasing crop that produces at a much faster rate than some of the alternative crops, such as soy, sunflower and canola oils (Fitzherbert et al., 2008).

(Photo Credit: Jeff Leach; Human Food Project)