We all like a break, but the orang-utans of Indonesia don't seem to be able to get one. We have new evidence which shows that Nestlé - the makers of Kit Kat - are using palm oil produced in areas where the orang-utans' rainforests once grew. Even worse, the company doesn't seem to care.
So the Greenpeace orang-utans have been despatched to Nestlé head offices in Croydon to let employees know the environmental crimes their company is implicated in, and begin an international campaign to have Nestlé give us all a break.
Greenpeace has tracked down the palm oil being used in Nestlé products, including Kit Kats, and exposed how they are using palm oil from Indonesia's largest palm oil producer, Sinar Mas. This company is clearing orang-utan habitats and breaking Indonesian law in order to expand production.
Our report provides evidence of how Nestlé's supplier Sinar Mas is destroying Indonesia's last remaining rainforests and the habitat of orang-utans - a species on the brink of extinction.
Today is the start of international action by Greenpeace to expose Nestlé’s role in the destruction of the last remaining forests and peatlands of Indonesia.
It's likely that many of you don’t know your employer is involved in destroying these rainforests, so we want to give you this opportunity to find out more about it. After you've read the evidence and watched the slideshow detailing the chain of destruction, if you have any questions or comments, post them below and we'll answer them.
And come back here at 11am to see the global premiere of Nestlé's new Kit Kat advertising campaign... or at least the one we think it should be.
Posted by ianduff — 11 December 2009 at 2:34pm
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As world leaders line up in Copenhagen to agree a new climate treaty, we've also been working hard to secure a result that will have a positive impact on the global climate - by protecting Indonesia's forests.
Today we're publicly releasing new evidence that Sinar Mas, Indonesia’s biggest palm oil producer, has been persistently engaging in widespread illegal deforestation and peatland clearance. We presented presented the evidence in this dossier to one of their biggest customers, the giant Unilever corporation. Now Unilever has decided to stop buying palm oil from Sinar Mas.
Posted by jamie — 30 December 2008 at 10:27am
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Remember the palm oil tanker which the Esperanza prevented from docking in Indonesia last month? That same tanker - the Isola Corallo - arrived in European waters on Christmas Eve en route to Rotterdam, and was met by a group of Greenpeace activists who painted 'Forest Crime' along its hull.
I was on board the Esperanza during that first Indonesian action against the Corallo and it's brilliant to see this tanker - which is carrying 29,000 tonnes of palm oil belonging to Sinar Mas, Indonesia's largest producer - becoming the centre of attention once more here in Europe. It draws a thick line across the globe between the causes of deforestation in Indonesia and demand for products like palm oil on this side of the world.
It's been a few weeks since the Esperanza's
tour of Indonesia
wrapped up with an exhausting
but thrilling week of direct action focused on various palm oil tankers, and
I've since left those humid equatorial climes to return to a chilly British
winter. But even though the ship has moved on to other countries and campaigns,
the palm oil campaign continues and in the past few weeks there have been some developments.
The most obvious has been annual meeting of
the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) in Bali - this could have been
the moment the industry got its act together and did something other than spin the
usual load of greenwash over its involvement in the destruction of south east
Asia's rainforests. Sadly, it was
not to be. Although our ship painting/blockading actions drew a lot of
attention, as did our earlier revelations about United
Plantations and their 'sustainable' palm oil, no real progress was made.
After painting and obstructing various palm
oil tankers in Dumai earlier this week, we of the Esperanza have been playing a
waiting game. There was one tanker due in which the campaigners were
particularly interested in - not only was it bound for Europe, but it was
picking up a cargo of palm oil from Sinar Mas, the largest palm oil company in Indonesia. As
soon as it arrived, a climber was installed on the anchor chain and then there
was some more waiting. A lot more waiting.
Last week, campaigners from Greenpeace
South-East Asia met with palm oil producers and traders to discuss the
challenges faced by the industry if it's going to get a grip on the problem of
deforestation. The seminar was designed to get these companies thinking about
the impact their trade is having on forests in the region, and working groups
brought together industry reps and campaigners to discuss the issues involved,
particularly our demand for a moratorium on clearing forest areas for palm oil
plantations.
Indonesian conglomerate, the Sinar Mas group, has extensive interests in both the palm oil and pulp and paper sectors.
Remember the palm oil tanker which the Esperanza 
