Palm oil campaign wins award

1 March 2007

Friends of the Earth and the Ape Alliance have won the Observer Food Monthly award for ethical contribution to the food industry.

The award was won for our campaign to help stop the trade in palm oil from driving the orang-utan towards extinction.

The campaign was launched in 2005 in partnership with the Ape Alliance, which includes the:

• Orangutan Foundation (UK)
• Sumatran Orangutan Society
• Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation
• Cockroach Productions

Image © Friends of the Earth

Since its launch the campaign has notched up many successes including:

• Attracting global attention to the devastating impacts of the trade in palm oil.
• Highlighting the need to strengthen UK company law.
• Persuading all the major UK supermarkets to join the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil.
• Helping to stop a mega palm oil plantation on Borneo.

The orang-utan, rainforests of Borneo and the people who depend upon them are still under great threat. We are determined to keep up the struggle.

Ed Matthew, Friends of the Earth Palm Oil Campaigner

Friends of the Earth is continuing to campaign to ensure UK supermarkets deliver on their pledge to only use sustainable palm oil.

Biofuels

The demand for biofuels (PDF†) could also lead to even greater destruction of the orang-utan's home forests.

Friends of the Earth is also calling on the UK Government to ensure no palm oil is imported for bio-fuel.

Further reading

The use of palm oil for biofuel and as biomass for energy
(PDF† 67K) August 2006
Friends of the Earth's position on the use of palm oil for biofuel and as biomass for energy.

Palm oil, the survival or the orang-utan and UK company law reform
(PDF† 56K) May 2006
This briefing explains why the failure of hundreds of UK companies to ensure that they do not buy palm oil from destructive sources is a classic example of how the voluntary approach to corporate responsibility has failed, and why the Company Law Reform Bill must be strengthened.

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.

The oil for ape scandal: How palm oil threatens orang-utan survival
(PDF† 422K) Sept 2005
The full research report containing more information on the impacts of oil-palm plantations on human rights, workers rights, rainforest destruction and the impending extinction of the orang-utan.