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

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Press Release

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:

„X New graphic images of orangutans and palm-oil

development can be downloaded from

http://www.SafePalmOil.org

„X 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.

„X 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

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

 

 

 

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