Can we enhance biodiversity without impacting oil palm production?
A difficult task – balancing food production and biodiversity
It is well understood that the oil palm industry has had profound ecological, social and economic impacts across the world. Land clearing has reduced wildlife habitats, led to biodiversity loss, and contributed to outbreaks of vector-borne and zoonotic diseases. At the same time, the oil palm industry is integral for supporting local farmer’s livelihoods and is crucial to the economy of many countries.
Oil palm trees are highly versatile, producing both palm oil from the fruit and palm kernel oil for uses ranging from food and biodiesel to cosmetics and industrial products, making oil palm the most land-efficient oil crop. Balancing food production and biodiversity conservation requires managing agricultural landscapes to serve both goals.
To support this, a team of researchers from UniSC in Australia, and Wild Asia, a Malaysian-based not-for-profit, examined how animal distribution in an oil palm plantation is influenced by both habitat features on the ground, and the surrounding landscape.
Our research
To understand how agricultural production can be sustained while promoting biodiversity, we studied animal distributions across an active oil palm plantation in Johor, Malaysia, a region projected to see continued agricultural growth. We used acoustic recorders called Audiomoths (attached to the tree in the picture below) to record the vocalising species (e.g. frogs, toads, birds, mammals) on the plantation during dawn and dusk.
We analysed over 280 hours of recordings from 35 blocks across the planation, detecting 75 birds, 12 amphibians (frogs and toads), and two mammals, including several threatened species. We then combined this acoustic data with information on the surrounding landscape, on-the-ground habitat features, and oil palm yields.
We found that species richness (the number of species in a location) was highest in plantation blocks with taller trees, lower levels of frond stacking (stacking dead palm fronds under trees as a natural fertiliser), and at blocks closer to water sources and disturbed forests. Disturbed forests included abandoned plantations that had been passively restored, or areas of natural land altered by human activity, such as selective logging. Our results suggested that over the duration of this study, birds, including fruit eating birds, did not have an observable impact on yield.
Recommendations for planation managers
Based on our findings, here are key recommendations for oil palm plantations that aim to enhance the biodiversity of amphibian, bird and mammal species.
- Promote connectivity with disturbed or restored forests. Due to the nature of oil palm farming, blocks may be left abandoned due to them having low yields and being difficult to maintain. Plantations should endeavour to restore these abandoned blocks by planting a range of native tree species with varied heights and canopy cover to help enhance biodiversity.
- Conserve tall remnant trees and plant additional tall trees.Since it is not realistic to increase the height of the oil palm trees themselves, conserving existing tall trees and introducing native tall trees can provide valuable habitat. Additionally, as trees take years to grow tall, platforms or “tree islands” (as discussed by Tohiran et al., 2024) can also be installed.
- Protect water bodies. Rivers, swamps, ponds, and drainage trenches are vital for many species. Keeping these areas clean and free from rubbish, sediment, fertiliser, and pesticide runoff helps reduce harm to non-target species, maintain biodiversity, and preserve ecosystem function.
- Limit frond stacking. Keeping frond stacking to under 50% of the ground cover within blocks ensures open areas remain, supporting both agricultural and environmental benefits.
More information:
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10531-026-03259-2
[Feature Image by Wild Asia team member Khoo M. S. (konexer.org/khooms)]