The United Coconut Associations of the Philippines (UCAP) said the production of coconut oil production in the country is not an environmental and biodiversity threat.
UCAP issued the statement after the recent publication of articles which indicated that the process of producing coconut is an environmental threat and is “worse” than palm oil production.
The group quoted a report from the United Kingdom’s University of Exeter, which claimed that the production of coconut oil threatens around 20 animal species for every million tons made.
UCAP said what is happening at the local scene is the opposite. The group said the main problem facing the local industry is the near extinction of coconut trees, most of which were planted during the Spanish colonial period that started in the 1600s when local coconuts were already exported to other countries, such as Mexico, as these were also ruled by the Spaniards.
“We are pleading to government regulators to immediately address and avert the collapse of the industry,” UCAP said.
Export earnings of locally-harvested coconuts amount to about $2 billion annually, making the Philippines one of the world’s top coconut suppliers.
The Philippine coconut sector also provides livelihood to about 3.5 million Filipino farmers, the group said.
UCAP said only Indonesia and Malaysia are open to corporate farming in the region, but involving mostly palm trees.
Palm oil, meanwhile, corners nearly 45 percent of the global market while coconut oil accounts for just about 2 percent, UCAP said.
“But coconut’s usefulness compared to palm goes beyond oil. Coconut, many times referred to as a low-cost but nutritious poor man’s food, is being used to manufacture oil health supplements, beauty products, biodiesel, and even aesthetic decors. Palm, on the other hand, is solely for industrial usage only. The use of palm oil as biodiesel ingredient is banned in the European Union.”
Victoria Espaldon, former Dean of the University of the Philippines-Los Baños School of Environment Science and Management, said the transformation of Philippine landscapes to coconut began hundreds of years ago.
“At the moment, it is not expanding, rather, coconut areas are receding and being transformed into other land uses or mixed uses (agroforestry),” she said, adding that coconut-based diversified farms are turning into habitats for wildlife, particularly for birds and insects.”
“Coconut oil processing plants are now much improved and have been more environmentally conscious as much as palm oil production. Wastes from coconut production like husks are now being turned into big enterprises—garden media, coco coir, coco-dusts.”
Espaldon said, however, that all agricultural production for commercial uses has adverse environmental impacts.
“If we do not do anything, the negative impacts can be devastating; however, like all human managed enterprises, these environmental issues can be mitigated.”
Image credits: Philippine Coconut Authority