A little palm oil a day takes the rainforest away
26 September 2008
In the summer of 2003 Bags of Change director Faith Simpson spent several weeks in Borneo and witnessed firsthand the devastation caused to the rainforest by the palm oil industry.
“You could travel for hours and see only palm oil plantations and yet the small amount of remaining rainforest was the most amazing thing I had ever seen – and so rich in plant life and animals. I was very lucky to experience the beauty of Borneo’s forests but all too aware of the impact this ever expanding monoculture was having on the forest, its waterways and its inhabitants.”
We all know by now that the world’s remaining primary forests are essential to human wellbeing and that the key to a healthy planet is biodiversity. But, sadly, Indonesia has one of the highest tropical forest loss rates in the world symbolised by the dramatic decline of the orangutan in Borneo and Sumatra.
The Sumatran Orangutan population is declining by as many as 1000 a year, making extinction within 10 years a very likely outcome, due largely to habitat loss – much of which is attributed to the palm oil industry.
And it’s not just the orangutans that suffer. Forest land is often taken by force from the indigenous peoples who can no longer rely on the forests for their livelihood and are forced to find poorly paid work on the plantations. The pesticides and herbicides used are harmful for the workers and also leach into the rivers and streams making the water no longer fit for human consumption and polluting the waterways that feed the rainforests.
The clearing and burning of forests and the draining of peatland in Indonesia leads to huge amounts of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere. Indonesia is now listed as the third highest producer of CO2 in the world. Making the issue in Indonesia an important part of the global crisis of climate change, influencing all our lives.
So what can we do?
Palm oil is included in so many products it’s not an easy task.
Part of our power as consumers is making ethical and responsible shopping choices. Unfortunately the labelling of palm oil is not always clear – did you know, for instance, that ‘vegetable oil’ could mean palm oil? – so it’s almost impossible to steer clear of palm oil totally.
While writing this article, I went to one of our local organic shops and it was good to see that their products contained only either organic vegetable or organic palm oil. Organic is definitely better – at least that way we know that the oil producers are not contributing to the pollution of the land and the surrounding forests and rivers.
We can also help and support the charities and campaigns doing the hard work for us. Greenpeace’s 2007 report Cooking the climate and more recent updates on their website give a very comprehensive list of products to avoid.
To fight this issue at the highest level, in April 2008 Greenpeace launched a campaign in several countries (including the UK) to push companies at various points along the palm oil supply chain into supporting measures to protect rainforests from further plantation expansion. Their actions led to Unilever and Ferrero agreeing to a moratorium on deforestation for new palm oil plantations. If you’re interested in supporting their cause, check out their website: www.greenpeace.org.uk/
Another organisation is the Sumatran Orangutan Society. Helen Buckland, their UK coordinator, provided us with a wealth of information about palm oil. This non-profit organisation has been working for many years to protect the orangutans and their website contains information on the orang-utans, the palm oil issue and ways you can help with this great cause. www.orangutans-sos.org/
So together with reducing our need for palm oil (without simply switching the problem to soy or corn), asking retailers and food companies to stop trading with those suppliers who are trashing the forests and peatlands, we can hopefully prevent further destruction. In this way we can all help to protect these beautiful forests and the people, plants and animals that populate them, whilst helping to cut the world’s CO2 emissions.
Oh, and did we already mention that the organic crisps were very yummy?! For a great range of ethical and organic shops (and crisps at a discount if you shop with our bag) visit our list of shops: www.bagsofchange.co.uk/shops
Stephanie · Oct 30, 02:50 pm · #
Don’t forget, Friday 14 Nov is Orange for Orangutan Day !