Prof. Erik Meijaard has worked in Indonesian wildlife conservation as a scientist and practitioner since the early 1990s. He is the co-chair of the IUCN Oil Crops Task Force, a group that has done extensive research on the impacts of vegetable oil production. He is also co-owner and Managing Director of Borneo Futures, a scientific consultancy company based in Brunei Darussalam. Erik is the author of 7 books, over 300 scientific papers and numerous popular media articles on wildlife conservation topics and an authority on both orangutan conservation
and oil palm management.

With the title “Palm Oil Paradox: Why the World May Need More—but Better—Vegetable” Erik anticipates that:

1) there will be growing demand for vegetable oil;

2) oil palm uses far less land than other crops and land sparing is environmentally and socially important;

3) but there are many issues with past production methods and this needs to be improved. These
problems, however, exist for all other crops.

During the event, Erik will launch the Indonesian translation of the “Exploring the future of vegetable” report published by the IUCN and Sustainable Nutrition Scientific Board. With nearly 800 million people lacking sufficient dietary fats, and the number of people on Earth growing, closing the global “fat gap” demands increased production of sustainable oils, while addressing the environmental and social costs of large-scale industrial practices. The environmental and social outcomes of vegetable oil production vary widely, emphasizing the need for responsible governance and sustainable practices to mitigate harm and maximize benefits. Oil palm is needed in this crop mixture, as it yields more oil per hectare than other crops, making it a relatively land-efficient solution to meet growing global vegetable oil demands while minimizing agricultural land expansion and associated environmental impact. But practices need to improve.