Oil palm is one of the most profitable commercial high-tree crops, and has undergone one of the highest rates of expansion in comparison with other crops in the tropical world. Nevertheless, the conditions under which oil palm plantations expand as well as their social and environmental implications are ambiguous, which makes palm oil one of the most controversial globally traded commodities. On one hand, oil palm expansion has delivered important economic development for its host countries, including indirect benefits for local infrastructure development and rural poverty reduction. On the other hand, its development has often come at the expense of basic human 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 by fire (see Sheil et al. 2009; Sayer et al. 2012). Blended palm oil and palm kernel oil forms an important share of the global vegetable oil market, competing with other oils such as soybean. Its main use is as cooking oil and an ingredient in domestic products (e.g. processed foods, detergents, cosmetics), as well as biodiesel.