ABSTRACT
Oil palm is one of the most controversial global commodity crops, which has undergone one of the highest rates of expansion in comparison with other crops in the tropical world. It is a controversial crop since the conditions under which it expands as well as their social and environmental impacts are ambiguous. On one hand, oil palm expansion has delivered important economic development in host countries, including indirect benefits for local infrastructure development and rural poverty reduction, and multiplier effects for the national economies. On the other hand, its development has often come at the expense of basic human and customary rights and of biodiverse, carbon-rich tropical forests, as local communities have been evicted from their lands and precious primary forest and peatland ecosystems have been destroyed (Sayer et al. 2012; Pacheco et al. 2017; Sheil et al. 2009).
