Palm Oil Image Overseas

3 October 2009
A concerned reader form Toronto Canada commented in The Star to neutralise negative views of palm oil. He suggested that MPOC reviews its own marketing strategies and public statements so that concerns raised by Western environmental groups can be addressed, rather than refuted. I agree that Malaysia has to distance itself from the slash and burn practices of the Indonesians. Our Malaysian planters are more professional in our land cultivation and management practices and that we have embarked upon projects that showed the world that Malaysian palm oil is sustainably cultivated. We have addressed the issue of the Orang Utans and other endangered species by developing the Tabin Wildlife Reserve in Sabah and preserving all the species there, including the rhinos, Malayan Tiger, etc. We avoided planting in areas deemed to have a much richer biodiversity by cultivating oil palm on less fertile soils, like peat and others. The Malaysian government also practise strict policing of sustainable policies on the ground. Whatever good we have done are not highlighted in foreign papers, hence our international readers only know about the bad side of palm oil, the recent one being the rape and apparent cover-up of the logging incidents. Malaysia must act fast to defend Malaysian palm oil, our major source of income.