The globalization of the palm oil trade poses a menace to the ecosystem integrity of Southeast Asia. In this short communication, we briefly discuss why palm oil certifications may have failed as an effective means to halt forest degradation and biodiversity loss. From a comparison of multiple new datasets, we analysed recent tree loss in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Papua New Guinea, and discovered that, from 2001 to 2016, about 40% of the area located in certified concessions suffered from habitat degradation, deforestation, fires, or other tree damages. Certified concessions have been subject to more tree removals than non-certified ones. We also detect significant tree loss before and after the start of certification schemes. Beyond non-governmental organisations' concern that Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) and Palm Oil Innovation Group (POIG) certifications allow ongoing clearance of any forest not identified as of high conservation values (HCV) or high carbon stock (HCS), we suggest an alarming and previously overlooked situation, such as that current “sustainable palm oil” is often associated with recent habitat degradation and forest loss. In other words, certified palm oil production may not be so sustainable.

棕榈油贸易的全球化对东南亚的生态系统完整性构成了威胁。在简短的交流中，我们简要讨论了为什么棕榈油认证可能无法作为阻止森林退化和生物多样性丧失的有效手段。通过对多个新数据集的比较，我们分析了印度尼西亚，马来西亚和巴布亚新几内亚最近的树木损失，并发现从2001年到2016年，经过认证的特许区内约40％的区域遭受了栖息地退化，森林砍伐，大火的困扰或其他树木损害。经过认证的特许经营权比未经认证的特许权采伐的树木更多。在认证计划开始之前和之后，我们还检测到大量树木损失。超越非政府组织的 担心可持续棕榈油圆桌会议（RSPO）和棕榈油创新组织（POIG）认证允许对未鉴定为具有高保护价值（HCV）或高碳储量（HCS）的任何森林进行持续清理，我们建议采取一个令人震惊且先前被忽视的措施这种情况，例如当前的“可持续棕榈油”通常与最近的栖息地退化和森林流失有关。换句话说，经过认证的棕榈油生产可能不那么可持续。