New oil palm film

4 February 2008

Palmed Off film online

A new film, Palmed Off, shows how oil palm companies are destroying precious tropical forest and the lives of its inhabitants ... and how forest communities are fighting back.

LifeMosaic, who made the film, have been working with Friends of the Earth and Sawit Watch to protect Indonesian forest and the people that live in it.

Rainforest is being cleared at horrifying speed to make way for palm oil plantations.

The problem with oil palm

Oil palm is an important part of the Indonesian economy and has been strongly promoted by it and other governments and institutions as a route to prosperity and development.

However, oil palm plantations have also led to:

• Enormous human suffering
  An increase in poverty and human rights abuses.
• Destruction of forests
  That communities rely on to keep themselves and their cultures alive.

Knowledge is power

When communities know what they'd be getting into they refuse the bribes and pressure of Government and companies to convert or sell their land for oil palm plantations.

But, not enough communities have access to accurate information about oil palm plantations.

What we're doing to help

Since 2005 Friends of the Earth has worked with Lifemosaic and Sawit Watch (the main Indonesian NGO working on oil palm issues). We're helping communities to help themselves through:

• Objective information sharing
  Communities share their experiences of oil palm plantations and company tactics.
• Alternatives
  Life without oil palm.
• Document and publicise
  Tell the world the truth about oil palm plantation expansion.

Hear for yourself

There has recently been a lot of reporting on the terrible environmental impacts of oil palm plantations, but there is little international awareness of the human rights issues associated with plantation development.

Palmed off allows you to hear the voices of affected communities directly and sends a powerful and simple message regarding the oil palm industry.

And you can find out more by reading Losing Ground - an in-depth report into the human rights impacts of oil palm plantation expansion.

See the rest of the video on LifeMosaic's YouTube channel.