Malaysia and Indonesia account for 80% of the world’s palm oil production and also contain 80% of Asia’s primary forests. The authors examine the ecological impacts of palm oil is examined from many angles, including sustainability and deforestation, and review possible solutions and opportunities to reduce its biodiversity impact. It is difficult to determine if oil palm is a direct cause of deforestation, although it may contribute to it in several ways, whether as a primary motive for clearing a forest or indirectly being associated with a cleared forest. For example, a forested land that had previously been cleared due to logging may eventually be turned into a plantation, and thus palm oil may be wrongfully viewed to be the culprit, as it fits the current narrative. Also, the authors found that due to corruption within the Indonesian government (due to high regional autonomy) and logging companies, along with murky land ownership rights, millions of hectares of forested land have been sold to logging companies under the pretext of palm oil development, but the company merely clears the trees for their timber and leaves the land without any development. Most interestingly, between 1990 and 2005, the area of oil palm in Indonesia increased from 4.4 million hectares to 6.1 million hectares, yet the total forest loss was 28.1 million hectares, meaning that oil palm could only have directly contributed to at most 16% of total forest loss during this time. However, the authors agree that oil palm as a potential agent for future deforestation is very high. Next, the affect of oil palm conversion on biodiversity was examined. In terms of species richness, oil palm plantations had less than half of the number of vertebrate species found in primary forests, but also more richness in invertebrate species. Compared to secondary or disturbed forests, oil palm showed diminished biodiversity as well, although the differences are less significant. Across all taxa, a mean of only 15% of species in primary forests were found in oil palm plantations. The greatest cause of concern is the act of clearing forests for plantation use, which was mostly done by slash and burn, although many of the larger companies have moved away from this practice. In conclusion, the authors suggest that there is little further than can be done, other than conforming to established organizations like the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) and monitoring whether palm oil contributes to future large scale deforestation. This deforestation may be prevented by better government land zoning policies and more informed producers and consumers. This article offers very interesting insight on the actual numbers behind the deforestation and habitat loss, which suggests that deforestation may be over-contributed to palm oil by environmentalists.