Shoppers' thirst for palm oil threatens to wipe out orangutan

May 25, 2006

Dear Friends of the Orangutan, A very good article from UK’s The Independent.

(Although I don’t agree with the Orangutan Foundation’s statement that “the

orangutan is one of the monkeys closest to us.”—italics mine.) Michelle

Desilets Director, Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation UK Shoppers' thirst

for palm oil threatens to wipe out orangutan

http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article570195.ece By Martin Hickman,

Consumer Affairs Correspondent Published: 23 May 2006 The demand for a cheap

ingredient found in thousands of products, from shampoo to biscuits, is

contributing to the extinction of the orangutan, warn conservationists. One in

10 mass-produced foods on Britain's shelves is estimated to contain palm oil, a

bulking agent and preservative, but supermarkets and food manufacturers have

been accused of doing too little to ensure their supplies are not threatening

forests that are vital to the survival of Asia's only great ape.

An estimated 5,000 orangutans are killed each year in Malaysia and Indonesia

by the burning of vast tracts of virgin forest to supply the world's growing

demand for palm oil. Building roads to the plantations has made the situation

worse, by opening up the jungle for poachers, who kill orangutan mothers and

sell their babies as pets to Asian families.

WWF, formerly the World Wildlife Fund, estimates that 80 per cent of orangutan

habitat has been lost in the past 20 years. Experts warn that at current rates

of deforestation, the orangutan will be extinct in the wild in just 12 years.

Its disappearance would set a dismal precedent for the survival of other

endangered animals such as the polar bear and the tiger.

" The orangutan is one of the monkeys closest to us. We still have a lot to

learn about them, " said Mark Attwater of the Orangutan Foundation.

Dr Willie Smits, of the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation, said the loss of

the orangutan had hastened in the last three years, " and palm oil plantations

take the brunt of the blame " .

Conservationists say Britain, the second biggest importer of palm oil in the

EU, could do more. They want the Government to make companies responsible for

the environmental impact of their activities in the Company Law Reform Bill.

Five major food retailers - Sainsbury, Marks & Spencer, Waitrose, the Co-op and

Asda - have joined a not-for-profit organisation aiming to clean up the palm oil

industry. But Britain's biggest retailer Tesco and the major store chains

Morrisons and Iceland, have refused to join the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm

Oil.

Membership of the Roundtable, which has agreed what constitutes sustainable

palm oil and hopes to certify ethically produced supplies of the ingredient

within two years, costs £1,300 a year.

According to Friends of the Earth there are now fewer than 60,000 orang-utans

left and the United Nations lists the Bornean orangutan as " endangered " and the

Sumatran orangutan as " critically endangered " .

The threat facing the orangutan is outlined in a report, The Oil for Ape

Scandal, by five wildlife groups - Friends of the Earth, the Ape Alliance, the

Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation, the Orangutan Foundation and the Sumatran

Orangutan Society.

The report says that year after year satellite pictures have shown vast fires

raging through their habitat, clearing land to meet the global demand for

hardwood and palm oil.

Demand is growing quickly for palm oil because of its cheapness and

versatility. Friends of the Earth is not calling for a consumer boycott because

the prevalence of palm oil would make such a call almost unworkable: it is often

listed as " vegetable oil " on labels. But it wants retailers such as Tesco to do

more.

Tesco said it was working with its three big suppliers of palm oil to secure

sustainable sources. A spokeswoman said the grocer was also seeking to identify

the sourcing of the " small amounts " of palm oil which did not come from its

three major suppliers.

Ed Matthew, corporate responsibility campaigner for Friends of the Earth,

said: " How on earth can Britain's biggest retailer not take this seriously?

" If we can't save the orangutan what hope do we have of saving the natural

environment? "

The hidden ingredient

* More than 100 million tons of vegetable oil are produced worldwide every

year, of which at least 30 million tons are palm oil.

* The UK is the second biggest importer of palm oil in Europe, after the

Netherlands.

* Palm oil increases a food's shelf life.

* Palm oil is found in one in 10 supermarket products in the UK.

* 90 per cent of the world's palm oil exports come from the oil- palm

plantations of Malaysia and Indonesia.

* Global palm oil production is projected to double by 2020 to meet increasing

demands.

* Oil palm plantations are thought to be responsible for at least half of the

observed reduction in orangutan habitat between 1992 and 2003.

* Orangutans used to be found throughout South-east Asia, but now only

surviveonBorneo and Sumatra.

* Products containing palm oil include: Bread, biscuits, cereals, chocolate

(including Cadbury's chocolate), cooking oil, cosmetics, crackers, crisps

(including Walker's crisps), detergents, ice cream, margarine, soap, soup

(including Heinz soups), toothpaste

* Tesco own-brand products containing palm oil:

All bread, all crisps, iced buns, value fry chips, vegetable gravy granules,

lightly salted tortilla chips, sunflower oil spread, American oven chips, big

chips, mushroom quiche, crinkle-cut fry chips, organic shorties, rough oat

cakes, finest maple and pecan cookies, fish fingers, mixed nuts and raisins,

organic ginger crunch, finest savoury biscuit selection, sage and onion

stuffing, hot-cross buns, shredded vegetable suet, value chocolate spread, soap,

value seafood sticks

(SOURCE: FRIENDS OF THE EARTH)

The demand for a cheap ingredient found in thousands of products, from shampoo

to biscuits, is contributing to the extinction of the orangutan, warn

conservationists. One in 10 mass-produced foods on Britain's shelves is

estimated to contain palm oil, a bulking agent and preservative, but

supermarkets and food manufacturers have been accused of doing too little to

ensure their supplies are not threatening forests that are vital to the survival

of Asia's only great ape.