Archived press release

Orang-utans go ape in Tesco

29 October 2005

Two life-size orang-utans will go shopping in Tesco today (Saturday 29^th October 2005) to highlight how the UK supermarket is threatening the survival of their species. The action will be just one of 90 protests against Tesco around the country to raise awareness of the plight of the orang-utan.

The apes are at risk because rainforests in South East Asia are being destroyed to make way for palm oil plantations, with palm oil now found in one in ten supermarket products in the UK.

Friends of the Earth wrote to Tesco, Britain's biggest supermarket, at the beginning of 2005 and asked them to trace their palm oil and adopt minimum production standards. But Tesco refused. Their failure to act means that Tesco shoppers are unwittingly contributing to rainforest destruction and the extinction of Asia's only great ape.

The orang-utans will be supported by Friends of the Earth campaigners around the country talking to shoppers about the threat posed to the orang-utan by Tesco [1]. Research published by Friends of the Earth last month found that the species could face extinction within just 12 years unless urgent action is taken to prevent their habitat being destroyed [2].

Campaigners, wearing orang-utan masks, will be asking members of the public to send postcards to MPs urging action to stop UK companies contributing to environmental destruction overseas. The UK Government is about to introduce a bill to Parliament on company law and Friends of the Earth wants the Government to ensure that company directors have a duty to minimise the destructive impacts of their activities on the environment.

Friends of the Earth Palm Oil Campaigner Ed Matthew said:

"Palm oil is found in one in 10 products in our supermarkets and is threatening the survival of the orang-utan. But Tesco is refusing to do anything about it. We want Tesco and other supermarkets to find ways of sourcing palm oil which do not destroy precious rainforest. And we want the UK Government to act to stop British companies profiting from the destruction of the environment overseas. Customers don't want to buy products linked to rainforest destruction or be responsible for the extinction of species like the orang-utan."

Notes

[1] Details of the participating groups are available from the press office at Friends of the Earth.

[2] See The Oil for Ape Scandal: How palm oil threatens orang-utan survival. The report summary is available at: www.foe.co.uk/resource/reports/oil_for_ape_summary.pdf (PDF)

Full report: www.foe.co.uk/resource/reports/oil_for_ape_full.pdf (PDF†)

Orang-utan images can be downloaded from: www.foe.co.uk/resource/images/orangutan_report/

†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.

If you're a journalist looking for press information please contact the Friends of the Earth media team on 020 7566 1649.

Published by Friends of the Earth Trust