Oil Palm
You should have your notes on oil palm processing already right?
Let's look at the bigger picture here; the palm oil industry as a whole.
Palm oil is used as a raw material in many products, including lipstick, soap, chocolate and plastics. Malaysia and Indonesia account for nearly 83% of the world's palm oil production.
Recently, the fuel shortage (and rising petrol prices) have created a search for alternative fuels. Bio-fuels therefore rose to be an alternative. Biofuels can come from oil palm or from corn. The palm oil industry in Sarawak therefore seems ready for a boom.
Food vs biofuels
Since these crops can potentially fetch high prices, many farmers have switched from planting vegetables to planting oil palm or corn. When corn is sold for fuel, less is sold as food for humans. The corn that goes to feeding chickens also becomes more expensive. Meat and vegetable prices therefore increase. The switch to bio-fuels has therefore been blamed for rising food prices.
What are the pros and cons of oil palm cultivation?
Employment - Our guide told us that 100 people are employed at the oil palm processing factory. What about before and after the oil palm is processed?
Jobs like oil palm harvesting, drivers and refinery jobs are created. When jobs are created, people get money and they are happy.
Forest clearance
Since some companies burn forests instead of clearing them by chopping, this has been blamed for the haze problem in Indonesia.
Like flooding of Batang Ai Lake, biodiversity like animals and plants are lost when forests are cleared.
Good to read
A long newspaper article that generally covers what I wrote above but in more detail
http://www.spp.nus.edu.sg/CAG/Handler.ashx?path=Data/Site/SiteDocuments/Sovacool-Carroll-StTimes.pdf
Learn more about biofuels and how they affect you!
http://www.grist.org/news/maindish/2006/12/04/biofuels/index.html
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Hydro-electric power
Again, pros and cons of HEP (aka positive and negative impacts)
Was it worth it to build the dam?
Social?
Environmental?
Economic?
Who gained and who lost?
We covered these during the night briefing at Hilton Batang Ai. I hope you all didn't just remember the wonderful buffet dinner but remember what we discussed as well.
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Ecotourism
In your textbook it says ecotourism is tourism to enjoy the environment right?
It's more than that! And many other students who didn't go to Sarawak don't know this secret.
Ecotourism includes
- Educating the visitors about the place so that they will conserve the environment
- Benefiting the locals who stay around the area
- Environmentally friendly
Let's look at Hilton Batang Ai as a case study 
They organise trips (some are free) to share with guests on the history and environmental value of the place. It is hoped that through these activities, visitors will treasure the environment more, both at home and in Sarawak. I took these 2 photos from the room table. They show the activities and try to educate guests on the hotel design.
The boatmen who ferried us across the lake and the staff working from the resort are supposedly villagers staying nearby. Such employment opportunities encourage locals to support the hotel and help conserve the environment for tourism.
Pattaya, a beach resort in Thailand, allowed uncontrolled development of hotels. There was no proper sewage disposal and rubbish and human waste was disposed right into the sea. The sea is now so polluted that it is harmful to swim in it. Hilton Batang Ai, in contrast, has proper sewage treatment and rubbish is transferred to mainland for clearance. It is therefore more environmentally friendly.
Read more about Pattaya Beach here.
Take-away message
There's more to palm oil than the processing. Look at the bigger picture.
HEP brings about positive and negative impacts and affects different groups. It's a difficult choice to make.
Eco-tourism is more than just enjoying a natural place.
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