clipped from: www.scidev.net   
The Philippine government has implemented laws requiring the use of coconut-blended biodiesel this week (6 May).

The move by the Philippines came just days before the publication of a report by UN Energy (9 May), which states that adopting biofuels could impact negatively on people's livelihoods and the environment, especially on the biodiversity of plants and animals.

Professor Sandy Gauntlet, Asia program coordinator of the forest-protection organisation Global Forest Coalition (GFC), said that increased biofuel production will ultimately destroy the few remaining forests of the world by converting them into plantations. 

She said biofuel farming was becoming the main cause of deforestation in countries like Indonesia, Malaysia and Brazil.  

Armando Galvez, one of the estimated 3.5 million coconut farmers in the Philippines, is worried about the massive destruction of forests that could occur when farmers rush to meet the biofuel demand.