Green Desert

Green Desert shows the complex story of what may seem an inconspicuous primary commodity – palm oil. As one of the most traded commodities from Borneo, it has become an ecological time bomb. Original rainforests are lumbered to become palm plantations and with the vanishing rainforest the animals lose their natural habitat. This results in a rapid population decrease of Bornean orangutan and other Bornean fauna and flora. The situation is made worse by the illegal practices of palm oil companies which illegally confiscate the land of the inhabitants and burn more hectares of the original forest. As a result, the island is being consumed by palm trees, which suck the life and a large amount of water out of the land. Unlike native plants palm oil plants do not give anything back to the ecosystem. This phenomenon is called the “green plague” by many ecologists. The solution seems simple – reduce the demand for palm oil, which is something each one of us can influence during our daily shopping for food and other products containing this oil. Michal Galik draws our attention to our daily decisions and the impact they have on a fragile ecosystem on the other side of the world. (Academia Film Olomouc)