3. Delicate cohabitation

The biology of the oil palm, which originated in the Gulf of Guinea, dictates a strictly intertropical distribution, and therefore a forced cohabitation with the world's last biodiversity hotspots: the Congo Basin, Amazonia and Borneo.

This delicate cohabitation also affects other field-grown oilseeds. For example, soybean cultivation (now 75% GMO) also faces major environmental constraints, particularly in Brazil, where the area under production has risen from 1.7 to 21.7 Mha in less than 40 years.

The relationship between palm plantations and deforestation is neither direct nor automatic. Concessions are granted by public authorities to logging companies, which exploit the timber. Degraded forests are then left to regenerate as secondary forests, or may evolve into savannah or cultivated land under human intervention. Deforested areas...