<P> Palm oil, produced from the oil palm, is a basic source of income for many farmers in South East Asia, Central and West Africa, and Central America . It is locally used as a cooking oil, exported for use in many commercial food and personal care products and is converted into biofuel . It produces up to 10 times more oil per unit area than soyabeans, rapeseed or sunflowers . </P> <P> Oil palms produce 38% of the world's vegetable - oil output on 5% of the world's vegetable - oil farmland. Palm oil plantations are under increasing scrutiny for their effects on the environment, including loss of carbon - sequestering forest land . There is also concern over displacement and disruption of human and animal populations due to palm oil cultivation . </P> <P> An estimated 1.5 million small farmers grow the crop in Indonesia, along with about 500,000 people directly employed in the sector in Malaysia, plus those connected with related industries . </P>

What effect does palm oil have on the environment