Orang-utans go ape over palm oil

Orang-utans go ape over palm oil

On Saturday 29 October over 90 Friends of the Earth local groups took action on the impacts of palm oil.

Friends of the Earth local campaigners outside Tesco

Local campaigners from around the country took to the streets to tell shoppers that 1 in 10 supermarket products contains palm oil.

Palm oil plantations are the biggest cause of rainforest destruction in South East Asia, making them the biggest threat to orang-utan survival.

The rate of loss of the orang-utan has never been greater than in the last three years, and oil-palm plantations are mostly to blame.

Dr Willie Smits, Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation

Campaigners asked people to sign postcards to their MPs in order to build support for changes to the proposed Company Law Reform Bill.

They targeted Tesco, the UK's biggest supermarket, which has refused to do anything to buy its palm oil from sustainable sources.

Company law needs to change to make UK business take action to minimise its negative social and environmental impact in the UK and overseas.

Resource

The oil for ape scandal: How palm oil is threatening the orang-utan
(PDF† 448K) Sept 2005
This summary report links the demand for palm oil to the impending extinction of the orang-utan, rainforest destruction and human rights abuses.

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