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SUMMARY:Informing more sustainable development of the oil palm industry - 
 Dr Michael Pashkevich\, Insect Ecology Group\, Department of Zoology\, St 
 Edmund’s College
DTSTART:20221118T174500Z
DTEND:20221118T191500Z
UID:TALK192848@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Matthew Hayes
DESCRIPTION:Oil palm is a cash crop that is grown across the tropics. It i
 s highly productive (yielding 4-10 times more oil than alternatives like s
 oy and rapeseed) and is therefore vital to global food security. Oil palm 
 cultivation also provides jobs and income to millions of people in low-inc
 ome and lower-middle income countries. However\, the conversion of natural
  habitat to oil palm plantations has also caused severe ecological damage 
 across the tropics. This has led to campaigns to boycott oil palm producti
 on\, but these are likely to only increase investment in lower-yielding al
 ternative crops\, which require more land to produce the same amount of oi
 l. Instead\, we could focus energies on identifying management strategies 
 that improve biodiversity within existing oil palm plantations. This is im
 portant from conservation and productivity perspectives\, as many species 
 provide important services (e.g. pollination) that help oil palm growth an
 d yields. \n\nMy talk will overview how three management strategies – re
 planting of oil palm\, use of herbicides\, and restoration of land along r
 ivers – can improve biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in large-scal
 e oil palm plantations in Sumatra\, Indonesia. I will then shift focus to 
 West Africa (oil palm’s native range)\, to discuss how oil palm cultivat
 ion affects native ecosystems in Liberia. Collectively\, my research aims 
 to inform more sustainable management of the global oil palm industry.\n\n
 https://www.wolfson.cam.ac.uk/current-students/societies/science-society
LOCATION:Roger Needham Room\, Wolfson College
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