STNMTZ_20161202_2910.TIF | George Steinmetz

Sabah, Malaysia
At one of Borneo’s oldest palm oil plantations, owners are replacing existing trees with higher-yielding oil palms. While only 5 percent of the world's vegetable oil farmland is used for palm plantations, palm oil is 38% of the world's total vegetable oil supply. The production of palm oil ¬¬ used for cooking and in a myriad of food and personal care products ¬ has rapidly transformed the tropical rainforest of Borneo into a vast landscape of mono-cultural palm plantations. These lucrative plantations have replaced bio-diverse habitats for critically endangered species like orangutans and Sumatran tigers.

Filename: STNMTZ_20161202_2910.TIF
Copyright: ©2016 George Steinmetz
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Sabah, Malaysia<br />
At one of Borneo’s oldest palm oil plantations, owners are replacing existing trees with higher-yielding oil palms. While only 5 percent of the world's vegetable oil farmland is used for palm plantations, palm oil is 38% of the world's total vegetable oil supply. The production of palm oil ¬¬ used for cooking and in a myriad of food and personal care products ¬ has rapidly transformed the tropical rainforest of Borneo into a vast landscape of mono-cultural palm plantations. These lucrative plantations have replaced bio-diverse habitats for critically endangered species like orangutans and Sumatran tigers.