Palm Oil at the Box Office in the UAE in Autumn 2024
Ozi: Voice of the Forest is a new cartoon film, released in the UAE in autumn 2024. Like many modern films, it carries an environmental message, this time focussed on the palm oil industry.
Palm oil is a near-ubiquitous product, but one not often talked about. It is used as an ingredient in a wide range of products ranging from food to toiletries. According to the World Wide Fund for Nature, it appears in almost half of packaged products available in supermarkets.
Ozi: Voice of the Forest introduces audiences to palm oil, but there is some important factual context which viewers should consumer alongside the film. The reason palm oil’s use is so widespread is because it is by far the most efficient product of its kind.
It is more land-efficient than other oils like rapeseed and soybean, meaning you have to cut down fewer trees to make it. That means it’s cheaper for consumers and better for the planet, too.
Palm oil’s story is much more successful and optimistic than is often suggested. It offers a solution to deforestation thanks to its remarkable efficiency. In recent decades, the industry has made great strides forward to further improve its sustainability.
Malaysia is one of the world’s top palm oil producers. According to research by Global Forest Watch, Malaysia has seen a dramatic decrease in deforestation, thanks to innovations in palm oil production. Since its peak in 2014, deforestation (or more specifically, ‘primary forest loss’) is down 70%.
That means the palm oil exported elsewhere, such as Europe, is almost entirely certified as sustainable. A lot of that progress is thanks to a large majority of Malaysian palm oil producers signing up to a ‘no deforestation, peat and exploitation’ commitment.
There is more good news for viewers of Ozi: Voice of the Forest. The movie follows a young orangutan named Ozi. Thanks to projects like the Malaysian Palm Oil Green Conservation Foundation (MPOGCF) Malaysian orangutans enjoy more support than ever before in preserving their natural rainforest habitats.
Back in 1992 at the Rio Earth Summit, the ball began rolling on a number of initiatives designed to combat deforestation and protect orangutans. Malaysia pledged at the summit to uphold 50% of its land under forest cover.
According to the Global Forest Resources Assessment from the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation, Malaysia smashed that target, with 58.8% of its total land area still covered by forest.
The results of that work are plain to see. Sabah, the Malaysian state with the largest population of orangutans, now features a whopping 1.9 million hectares of Totally Protected Areas, a special status designed to safeguard nature’s most beautiful wildlife. That’s up from 800,000 hectares as recently as 2007, and the land covered continues to increase. It is projected to hit 2.1 million hectares in 2025.
More than ever, there is cause for optimism. For consumers, palm oil is cheaper, more accessible and more efficient than other products. For orangutans, the extent of programmes designed to improve their welfare continues to grow. And eco-conscious viewers of Ozi: Voice of the Forest can sleep easy in the knowledge that palm oil sustainability is on a roll.
