Oil Palm geography

Oil palm on hilly landscapes, this one is a spur.
Location : Zone G

Sawit (Malay) - ffb of oil palm
'Fresh Fruit Bunches'

 The oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) is not a native palm of Sarawak or Borneo.  All the millions of oil palms in South-East Asia are descended from four seedlings planted in the Botanic Gardens of Bogor, Indonesia, in 1848.  It has a long life with the last of the original four toppled over in 1993 at the age of 145 years.  Thus it was initially planted as decorative palms in the gardens.  Much later it was discovered that the oil palm fruits (see inset) were able to produce high quality cooking oil. The introduction of oil palm cultivation in Sarawak brought much prosperity to the  natives people because the crop seemed to enjoy better and better prices as the years go by, due largely to increasing world population that demanded the minimum of cooked vegetables, fishes or other dishes to be served to members of poor families everyday throughout the world.  The Kambatik Park offers many different landscapes or topographies for the cultivation of oil palm.  From hilly areas to rolling landscapes, slopes and valleys, oil palm cultivation creates a beauty of its own.  But when integrated into the native agro-forestry practices its beauty out- class many other commercial crops due to its unique tropical look of a tall feather-like solitary palm, its long economic life, i.e.  20 -25 years and versatility for being able to be planted on many geographical elevations and conditions.

Oil palm along streams
Location : Provinsi Manila, Zone F

Oil palm on plain areas
Location : Provinsi Carpentaria, Zone F

Oil palm on foothills
Location : Zone D

Oil palm on slopes
Location : Zone C

Oil palm on rolling landscapes
Location : Zone A

Oil palm integrated into native agro-forestry practices
Location : Zone C

Oil palm planted at fringe of conserved lowland dipterocarp forest environment
Location : Zone E