Palm oil, coconut and soybean drive more species extinction than previously thought

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https://phys.org/news/2026-06-palm-oil-coconut-soybean-species.html

The study examined 19 oil crops. “Three of which caused a particularly large share of the impacts: oil palm, soybean and coconut,” says Shuntian Wang, a doctoral student on Pfister’s team. Together, they account for some 75% of the biodiversity loss caused by oil crops.

At the same time, the study highlights a clear development: Between 1995 and 2020, biodiversity loss rose by around 80%. But this is not primarily caused by global population growth.

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Palm oil, even though plant based, must be considered equally harmful as meat, eggs and dairy from a vegan standpoint.

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Ugh, is coconut oil also terrible for the local environment then, like palm oil? What a shame.

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Palms are usually hard and slow to grow due to how fast the soil nutrients get depleted by them, they also alter the soil a lot. I can’t read the article but I guess the reason has something to do with it.

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Comments in Wildlife Conservation and Protection@slrpnk.net

Being part Japanese, soybeans are a significant part of my diet. But looking into this a bit, it seems most of the surge in production from places like Brazil is going towards animal feed (particularly for poultry and pork). Bottom line is animal protein is expensive and environmentally impactful. Best go for the bowl of miso over the yakitori I guess?

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some 80% or more of the global soybean crop is pressed for oil. it’s the industrial waste from that process that we give to animals, thus conserving resources.

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