Palm Oil and Orangutans-
An Urgent Plea
“How can the choices you make in the
supermarket today affect the existence
of orangutans in the wild?”
Palm oil is found in a variety of items on our
supermarket shelves from 
potato chips to bread to
cookies to detergents to cosmetics. Unfortunately
89% of the palm oil in products sold globally comes
from the Southeast Asian rainforest. Palm oil for
our consumption is harvested in the last remaining
home of orangutans in the wild.
“What is palm oil?”
Palm oil is a major crop in Southeast Asia. The new
FDA requirements that food labels include trans-fat
levels have led to the promotion of this antioxidentrich
oil. In addition, the use of palm oil in bio-diesel is
on the rise. Currently an $11 billion dollar industry, it
is forecast to become the world’s most
internationally traded edible oil by 2012. Ironically,
its value is deceiving. Although not as harmful as
partially hydrogenated oil, palm oil is not as healthful
as other vegetable oils and consumption of it has
been linked directly to heart disease. Although the
United States imports less palm oil than other
countries such as the United Kingdom and China, that is about to change dramatically.
“Is anything being done to stop this?”
In November of 2007 in Singapore the Roundtable on
Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) was held, consisting of
palm oil industry and government officials in Malaysia,
Indonesia and China, along with representatives from
several NGOs. Discussions centered on trying to find
ways to stop the conversion of high conservation value
forest for palm oil plantations. (There are already 25
million hectares of degraded land suitable for palm oil
plantations that should be used first.) Profits off the
timber when virgin forest is cleared is one reason this
is not being done. Stopping the destruction of virgin
forest is difficult to implement, verify and enforce. Illegal logging is already rampant in Indonesia and the
increased demand for palm oil will be too tempting to
those seeking to cash in on the profits.
“So, what’s the problem?”
Sumatra and Borneo are home to 96% of the
Indonesian oil palm plantations. The severe decline
in orangutan populations is a direct result of the
palm oil industry. In the last eight years more
than 50% of the Sumatran orangutans have died.
Destruction of the habitat, leading to their
starvation, and the deliberate killing of orangutans
who venture into the palm oil plantations are the
main reasons. Current plans for new palm oil
plantations will destroy 26,300 more acres of
forest. Experts predict the palm oil industry will
drive orangutans to extinction within ten years.
“What in the world can I do?”
Putting pressure on companies to ensure the palm oil they use is grown sustainably is an easy and necessary step. Proctor and Gamble, for instance, has announced they will be using more palm oil than ever before. Making sure the palm oil is grown sustainably will only happen if consumers demand it. Call, write, or email the companies today that can make a difference. Two examples are:
“Let us remember, always, that we are the consumers. By exercising free choice, by choosing what to buy, what not to buy, we have the power, collectively to change the ethics of the business of industry. We have the potential to exert immense power for good–we each carry it with us, in our purses, checkbooks, and credit cards.”
~
Dr. Jane Goodall |
Text was prepared by the
AZA Orangutan SSP. Questions or comments
should be directed to Sandi Linn,
Orangutan SSP Education Liaison. For a printable form of this information click here.
