palm oil
Last edited 1 January 1970 at 1:00am
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Posted by jamie — 4 December 2007 at 3:37pm
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Last night, ITV News featured an excellent report from Indonesia about palm oil and how plantations are replacing forests at a horrific rate. Shown as part of a series of reports about climate change to tie in with the Bali climate change conference, it showcases some aerial footage which clearly shows the devastation. Also featured is Hapsoro, one of Greenpeace South East Asia's forest campaigners, who was working at the Forests Defenders Camp when he was interviewed.
If you missed it, the report is available to view online - confusingly, it's on the CNN website but only because the ITV News site is so darned tricky to use.
Posted by jamie — 30 November 2007 at 6:10pm
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Taking up the western half of New Guinea island, the Indonesian province of Papua is a bit of a mystery. It's off-limits to outsiders and journalists, so the activities of the palm oil industry there haven't been widely reported. Until now, that is. With the help of the Environmental Investigation Agency, local communities have been making their own films about what's happening to the forests they rely on.
Two of these films have appeared on the web. In the first, Tears of Mother Mooi, members of the eponymous Mooi tribe explain why the forest is so important to them and what they are already losing as a result of the advancing wave of oil palm plantations. The second, Defenders of the Tribal Boundaries, goes into detail about the activities of the palm oil companies - it's frankly depressing to see the devastation being wrought to provide us with a cheap, convenient commodity.
Posted by jamie — 28 November 2007 at 6:17pm
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Last week, Sainsbury's announced that it aims to use only sustainable palm oil in its own-brand products. Sounds great, and with Asda having made a similar announcement earlier this year, you might think supermarkets will soon be stocking only those palm oil products that weren't helping to cause the indiscriminate destruction of forests in places like Indonesia. The truth is that, while both companies score top marks for excellent intentions, delivery is going to be decidedly tricky as there is currently no credible way of telling whether palm oil is 'sustainable' or not.
Posted by jamie — 15 November 2007 at 6:08pm
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View from the Rainbow Warrior of the MT Westama, laiden with 30,000 tonnes of palm oil © Greenpeace/Christian Aslund
Events in Indonesia have stepped up apace, and the Rainbow Warrior is currently blockading a tanker in the port of Dumai in Sumatra. The tanker, the MT Westama, is carrying 30,000 tonnes of palm oil and the Warrior is positioned so that tugs can't reach the tanker to assist it out of the port.
Exporting the palm oil is a company called Permata Hijau Sawit - their suppliers are known to be involved in the destruction of rainforests and peatlands in Riau province, temporary home of our Forest Defenders Camp.
I'll post back when I know how it turns out, but in the meantime read the full story on our international site.
Update: After two days, the blockade finally came to an end on Saturday.
Posted by jamie — 13 November 2007 at 3:01pm
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Lately, I've been working a lot on our palm oil campaign, so my spider senses are highly atuned to anything coming out of Sumatra and Indonesia in general. But two stories I found this morning, both on New Scientist, really underlined what's going on west of Java.
The first article features some astonishing images from the Zoological Society of London, caught by a motion-sensitive camera left in the middle of the forest. The impressive snaps include a herd of elephants and a golden cat, but the stand-out picture is of an inquisitive and rare Sumatran tiger, it's eyes glowing in the camera's flash. Take a look at the slideshow - they're incredble.
Last edited 1 January 1970 at 1:00am
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Posted by jamie — 8 November 2007 at 10:55am
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KitKat, Flora and Pringles are among the brands linked to destruction of forests and peatlands for palm oil © Greenpeace/Oka Budhi
If, as you
read this, you're tucking into a KitKat or dipping into a tube of Pringles, you
might be interested to know that they feature in our new report about the impact of the palm oil industry on tropical rainforests and climate change. Along
with Flora margarine, these products contain palm oil which is linked to the
destruction of forests and peatlands in Indonesia. As the report shows,
it's a recipe for disaster.
Last edited 8 November 2007 at 10:44am
Forested peatlands cleared for oil palm plantations in Riau, Indonesia © Greenpeace/Oka Budhi
Why is palm oil a problem?
The global palm oil industry is expanding rapidly: it's used in an increasing number of food and cosmetic products, while demands for its use in biofuels like biodiesel are set to soar in the near future. Tropical rainforests and peatlands, in South East Asia are being destroyed to make way for oil palm plantations. Not only is this a disaster for biodiversity and local communities, it will also release vast amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, accelerating climate change.
Last edited 5 November 2013 at 1:37pm
Demand for palm oil is growing - and fast. At the moment, most of it ends up in hundreds of food products - from margarine and chocolate to cream cheese and oven chips - although it's also used in cosmetics and increasingly, for use in biodiesel. But the cost to the environment and the global climate is devastating - to feed this demand, tropical rainforests and peatlands in South East Asia are being torn up to provide land for oil palm plantations.
Fruit from the oil palm © Greenpeace/Solness
