Palm-oil forests certified as sustainable are being destroyed faster than non-certified land, according to researchers from Purdue University, reports The Independent. Plantations with eco-friendly endorsements have lost 38 percent of their forest cover since 2007, while non-certified areas have lost 34 percent. The researchers drew their conclusions after 15 years of fact-finding missions, using data from these missions as well as from satellite, governmental, charities, and palm oil companies' own reports, analyzing 2,210 "concessions," or licensed palm-growing areas.
From 2001 to 2016, total tree loss in Indonesian palm oil concessions was equivalent to 34.2 percent of the area covered by the plantations, but the loss in certified sustainable plantations was higher – 38.3 percent. The study's lead author, Roberto Gatti, warned that if governments do not act immediately and end acceptance of certification schemes, the world will almost completely lose southeast Asian forests in a few decades.