Palm Oil

[Spiral]

Another good reason not to have palm oil.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4273774.stm

Demand for crisps, bread, lipstick and soap could drive orang-utans to extinction, research suggests.
The UK alone imports nearly a million tonnes of palm oil a year for use in such products, but campaigners say plantations for it destroy rainforests.
Friends of the Earth and international ape conservation groups warn in a report that 90% of the animals' habitat in South East Asia has been wiped out.
Their research claims the apes could become extinct within 12 years.

[Pob]

Yeah, I just heard about that, too.

I don't think I eat much food with it in, anyway, but I'll have to change soap and try and avoid any foods with it in. A bad side effect (for humans) may be more reliance on hydrogenated oils in food, if the industry does reduce usage of palm oil.

[Spiral]

Palm oil is pretty bad for us as well.

[The_Lincoln_Imp]

Yes it's not a good fat in large amounts. More damaging to the habitat though is Tsunami affected humans cutting down forests to rebuild their houses as well as the logging for global wood also.

Blaming palm oil sounds like those who say vegans damage rainforest environments via soya production, delve deeper and see that 80% of soya goes to feeding livestock.

All the great apes are doomed in the wild, tipped to go extinct in our generation apparently. Even the closest relative of humans doesn't get any real consideration.

[harpy]

There is an article about this in the "Grauniad" as well:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1576681,00.html

Was thinking of dashing off a couple of e-mails to supermarkets I sometimes use, to ask them to join in the sustainable palm oil initiative mentioned in the article. I gather supermarkets sometimes take more notice of those sort of letters than you'd think, and as the article says, supermarkets have a lot of influence.

Edited to add that I avoid buying foods with palm oil in them as well, but I didn't mention that in my letters to Waitrose and Sainsbury's ;)

[pixeequeen]

My dad told me he saw a tv article on palm oil having a bad effect on ape habitats, I think he said orangutans. anybody heard more on this?

[Pob]

It's true. Problem is that palm oil is not traceable, so it is not possible to say whether palm oil in a product comes from recently cleared rain forest.

Palm oil is a growth oil, as consumers are avoiding hydrogenated oils and saturated animal fats. Palm oil is the heathiest option for a solid fat. Unless you are an orangutan, of course. Demand is increasing, therefore clearing rainforest for planting it is cheap and profitable.

Until there is traceability, we have to assume that any palm oil comes from cleared rain forest.

[Pob]

It isn't just in foods, though, it's in soaps and cosmetics, too.

[harpy]

It isn't just in foods, though, it's in soaps and cosmetics, too.

Yes, indeed. Don't normally buy those in supermarkets so I guess I should e-mail someone else about those...

[Free_Tibet]

Please note this Press Release contains distressing information:

Embargo: 00:01 Friday 14th October 2005

SHOCKING NEW EVIDENCE OF THE DEADLY LINK BETWEEN PALM OIL AND ORANGUTANS

A pamphlet published today by the Borneo Orangutan
Survival (BOS) Foundation UK and Nature Alert provides photographic evidence and witness accounts of the horrific abuse wild orangutans suffer when they enter palm-oil plantations in search of food ¡V including shocking images of animals that have been butchered, burnt or buried alive. Of those that have survived, many have been sold into the illegal pet trade and one young female was shaved and offered up as a prostitute.

In order to catch a wild adult orangutan and tie it
down successfully, you would have to beat it
unconscious first. Most orangutans caught by
plantation workers die from concussion or internal
bleeding.¡¨
Lone Droscher Nielsen, Manager of Nyaru Menteng
Orangutan Reintroduction Project.

Wildlife rescue centres in Indonesia are over-flowing
with displaced and injured wild orangutans, including
orphaned infants, from areas where their forest
habitat is being relentlessly cleared and converted
into oil-palm plantations. One rescue centre, the
Nyaru Menteng Orangutan Reintroduction Project, houses more than 380 victims
alone, with rescue teams operating on a daily basis. Meanwhile the centre is
under immense pressure to find areas of forest where these orangutans can be
released once they are healthy again. However, with the accelerating rate of
forest clearance, these animals have a dwindling chance of ever being
returned to the wild.

Palm oil is found in one in ten products on UK
supermarket shelves, including chocolate, crisps,
margarine, cereals, lipstick and soap. The palm oil
industry has been linked with large-scale forest
destruction, massive forest fires and human rights
abuses. However, palm oil could be produced in a
non-destructive manner: millions of hectares of
already degraded land are available for the
establishment of oil-palm plantations. But forested
areas continue to be cleared because of the quick
profit that can be made from the timber. This practice
places the palm oil industry as the greatest threat to
the continued survival of the orangutan in the wild.

¡§The rate of loss of orangutans has never been
greater than in the last three years, and oil-palm
plantations are mostly to blame. We are facing a
silent massacre, taking place far from where people
can see what is going on. ¡§
Dr Willie Smits, Founder of the Borneo Orangutan
Survival Foundation

UK companies have been accused of failing to take
effective action to ensure they do not buy palm oil
from destructive sources. Recent research carried out
by Friends of the Earth found that not one single UK
supermarket was able to reveal where the palm oil
originates in the products it sells.[1]

Due to corporate reluctance to take responsibility for
the impacts of their business, BOS is calling on the
UK Government to give company directors a legal duty
to minimise their environmental impacts through the
Company Law Reform Bill, which will have its first
reading in Parliament next month. They are also
imploring the Indonesian and Malaysian governments to introduce and enforce
legislation banning the
conversion of forests for agriculture.

The pamphlet and its accompanying website, also
launched today (www.SafePalmOil.org), demonstrate to consumers how they can
make a difference, and help save the orangutan from extinction. Actions
include writing to the CEO¡¦s of the top five supermarket chains to demand
non-destructive sourcing of palm oil, and contacting politicians to urge them
to support the Company Law Reform Bill.

Consumers must demand a commitment from
manufacturers and retailers to provide products which
meet basic expectations so that we are not unwittingly contributing to forest
destruction, species extinction and human rights abuses every time we visit
the supermarket.¡¨

Michelle Desilets, Director, Borneo Orangutan Survival
Foundation UK

Notes:
New graphic images of orangutans and palm-oil
development can be downloaded from
http://www.SafePalmOil.org
Broadcast quality footage of orangutans and
oil-palm plantations, newly acquired from the field,
is available from Nick Lyon & Evie Wright @ Cockroach
Productions, t: 01823 451 790,
cockroachproductions@....

Interviews with leading orangutan scientists and
campaigners, including Dr Willie Smits and Ian
Redmond, are available.

[1] A report, The Oil for Ape Scandal ¡V How palm
oil is threatening the orang-utan¡¨, is published by
Friends of the Earth together with the Borneo
Orangutan Survival Foundation. For a copy of the
summary or full report please go to:
www.palmoil.org.uk

For further information please contact:

Michelle Desilets, BOS UK Tel: 01296 640 542 Mobile:
07910 230 196
Email: bos_uk@...

Helen Buckland, BOS UK Tel: 01732 460902 Mobile:
07970 666 051 Email: palmoil@...

Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation UK Charity No:
1099591

Michelle Desilets
Director
BOS UK
www.savetheorangutan.org.uk
www.savetheorangutan.info
"Primates Helping Primates"

Please sign our petition to rescue over 100 smuggled orangutans in Thailand:
http://www.thePetitionSite.com/takeaction/822035733

[fragrantfree]

I heard not too long ago that palm oil should be avoided as it contributes to the distruction of the rain forest... doesn't stop there!

Here's a link for your reference:
http://www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/biodiversity/case_studies/palm_oil/

I noticed that the Pure margerine with sunflower has palm oil in it - I presume this is good palm oil? :)

[xwitchymagicx]

Oh I hope it is or I'll have to change it. :confused:

[DianeVegan]

Oddly enough, I just read that the cutting of iron wood trees in Indonesia has lead to the decrease of orangutan habitat. Let me give you my personal opinion. The overpopulation of humans has led to the decrease in all animal habitats. Just my 2 cents worth.

(By the way, 2 years ago I was replacing my deck and the salesperson offered us "formerly endangered iron wood, now available from Indonesia." I said "No thanks, I don't think I want to contribute to the rape of the Indonesian forests." Well, the salesperson almost fell off of his chair (and proceded to give me the composite wood, not the recycled composite wood I ordered - bastard) and my husband just left the room chuckling.

Why am I giving you this story? Look further into the history behind Indonesia and you may find more problems than answers. I am not saying that palm oil is bad (I need to look further into this myself). I'm just saying that there is seldom one culprit in any problem.

[fragrantfree]

If anyone can provide any information with regard to palm oil that would be fab - if palm oil really is a thumbs down, is the pure sunflower spread also a thumbs down since it contains palm oil? :)

[Yogini]

I recently bought a box of palm wax tealights because they're a vegan alternative to the cheap version. Are these bad, too?

Love,
Anna

[Seaside]

Here's (http://www.wrm.org.uy/plantations/material/oilpalm.html) some information. I guess if you could source palm oil of African origin it might be more ethical than the Asian or South American stuff, since oil palms are native to Africa.

[Yogini]

My tealights are by Palm Wax Candles. The box says that they are made in Indonesia. They also boast that this is a fair trade product and claim that their workers are treated very well. But they say nothing about being environmentally friendly. Sigh. What do other people here do for candles? I use the tea lights for aromatherapy jars, so they need to be unscented.

Love,
Anna

[fragrantfree]

I'm still a little lost... is it ok to use the product Pure spread, I know it states vegan on the packaging, but it does contain palm oil, but because of the vegan mark, are they telling us that their palm oil was from a good source? I suppose I could contact the manufacturer of the product, not sure? :) If there is a good and bad palm oil, how do you tell them a part?

[DianeVegan]

Okay, I look at it like this. I definitely know which oils are bad. I need to learn which oils are better. In the meantime, I will use what I think is best. And I will remember that anytime I use any resource on this earth, there will be negative repercussions. Only I can decide which repercussions are okay by me. So there will always be a "wrong" reason to burn a candle. (or make a flaky pie crust).

Face it, every time you flush a toilet, you do damage to the earth. Just know that you can justify your damage.

[dresdown]

Shoppers 'threat to orangutans'

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40831000/jpg/_40831938_orangutan_ap203long.jpg Campaigners fear orangutans could become extinct


Demand for crisps, bread, lipstick and soap could drive orangutans to extinction, research suggests.



The UK alone imports nearly a million tonnes of palm oil a year for use in such products, but campaigners say plantations for it destroy rainforests.
Friends of the Earth and international ape conservation groups warn in a report that 90% of the animals' habitat in South East Asia has been wiped out.
A senior Malaysian politician dismissed the findings as "not correct".


Legal duty

The groups claim British supermarkets do not know where their palm oil is produced.
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/shared/img/o.gifhttp://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/start_quote_rb.gif It is we who will have to explain to our children that the orangutan became extinct because of corporate greed http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/img/v3/end_quote_rb.gif


Ian Redmond
Ape Alliance


They are calling on the government to give company directors a legal duty to minimise their environmental impacts.

Friends of the Earth palm oil campaigner Ed Matthew accused the government of "failing to clean up its own backyard".
He said: "Over 100 UK companies and every single British supermarket is helping fuel the obliteration of orangutan habitat."


'Corporate greed'
The report, the Oil for Ape Scandal, said palm oil plantations have now become the primary cause of the orangutans' decline in Malaysia and Indonesia, which could result in the apes becoming extinct within 12 years.

Some experts estimated 5,000 orangutans perished as a result every year.

The research claimed at least 84% of UK companies failed to take effective action to ensure they do not buy palm oil from destructive sources.

Ian Redmond, chairman of the Ape Alliance, said if the government failed to act, "it is we who will have to explain to our children that the orangutan became extinct because of corporate greed and a lack of political will".

Pehin Sri Haji Abdul Taib Mahmud, the chief minister of Sarawak, Malaysia's largest state, challenged the report's findings, calling it "not correct, and misleading".

Mr Mahmud said palm oil plantations were mainly grown on land that had already been cultivated or in "secondary jungle".
He added that environmental impact studies were carried out before any oil palm trees were planted.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4273774.stm

[BadBoredBony]

just saw this on the news:

http://www.five.tv/news/?id=13500243&type=world_news

:( !

bbb
xxx

[veggiewoman]

I have jsut found these links about palm oil .
http://www.safepalmoil.org/index.html
http://www.foei.org/media/2005/0923.html
http://search.bbc.co.uk/cgi-bin/search/results.pl?scope=all&edition=d&q=palm+oil

[veggiewoman]

also on the following link it says that Tesco to Join Sustainable Palm Oil Group
http://www.orangutan.org.uk/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1
http://www.savetheorangutan.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2006/04/BOSPalm_Oil_Reportfinal.pdf

[veggiewoman]

just found this too
http://portal.campaigncc.org/?q=node/584&PHPSESSID=ba5c81843c21ba91001b43e1ad5e2d37

[veggiewoman]

ALthough all the morrisons I have been in recenlty are rubbish anywa for selling vegan friendly products-none of them even had soya milk in , this next article is a very very veyr good reason to boycott them and make other peole aware that Morrisons dont care about the rainforests.
http://www.orangutan.org.uk/downloads/exclusive_to_morrisons.pdf

hope the link works and on your pc you should be able to zoom in to read it , if not it is basically saying that British supermarkets have been asked to join the roundtable on using sustainable palm oil, but Morrisons has refused ,saying it doesnt care where its palm oil comes from.