How many oil palm plantations are there in the world?
A remote sensing assessment found that oil palm plantations covered at least 19.5 Mha globally in 2019 (Fig. 2), of which an estimated 67.2% were industrial-scale plantings and the remainder were smallholders 14.
What is oil palm cultivation?
Oil palm cultivation involves the introduction and spread of invasive species, including the oil palm itself (noted in Madagascar and Brazil¡¯s Atlantic Forests 47), as well as non-native cover crops and nitrogen-fixing plants (for example, Mucuna bracteata or Calopogonium caeruleum).
How many plant species are in oil palm trees?
One study found 298 plant species in the oil palm undergrowth 30 and another found 16 species of fern on oil palm trunks 31, while a meta-analysis of plant diversity in a range of annual crops, including oil crops, found between one and 15 associated plant species 32.
What percentage of oil palms are cultivated in Nigeria?
Estimates suggest that the proportion of oil palm area under smallholder cultivation (typically less than 50 ha of land per family 15) varies from 30¨C60% in parts of Malaysia and Indonesia 11 to 94% in Nigeria 5.