Home > Campaigns > Corporates > News > 2005 > 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.
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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. |
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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.
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.
†To view PDF files you will need to download
Adobe Acrobat Reader. Visually impaired users can get extra help with these
documents from access.adobe.com.
Image © Calliste Lelliott/Friends of the Earth
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