The Problem
Palm oil plantations are the likely cause for over 74 million hectares of Indonesian forests being destroyed in the last 50 years. Last year New Zealand imported 1,104,187 tonnes of plam kernel, a high quality by-product of palm oil extraction, for stock feed. (Environment article 'The Case Against palm oil').
The Worldwatch Institute, in their article 'Global Palm Oil Demand Fueling Deforestation,' said that from 2000-2009 Indonesia supplied more than half of the global palm oil market.
The rainforest is being chopped down (deforestation) because the wood is worth a lot of money.
Deforestation is destroying the habitats for Sumatran tigers, Orang utans and other animals in Indonesia.
Palm oil is cheap and gets used in products like: beauty products (like make-up, shampoo), food, bath products, food for stock (PKE - palm kernel feed).
In New Zealand we only have to label three oils that go into food because of allergies: sesame, soybean and peanut oil. See our movie about Palm oil.
There is a demand for palm oil to be used as a bio fuel. Click here to read more bio fuel facts. According to Greenpeace 'Indonesia is the world's highest manmade carbon emitter.' Click here for the full article.
Interview:
We wrote to Peter Fraser, the Conservation Officer at Auckland Zoo and asked him some questions about palm oil.
What is sustainable palm oil?
Truly sustainable palm oil would be that produced with no negative impact on the environment however the reality is that an accurate definition now would be oil produced with a reduced impact on the environment.
Do Indonesia have any sustainable palm oil plantations?
There are some plantations in both Indonesia and Malaysia that have been certified as sustainable however some of the rules (there are 39) plantations have to meet to get certification are weak, ambiguous and are not understood by the plantation owners.
What do you think NZ food company's using palm oil, in their foods, and not having to put this on the label?
I think until the production of palm oil ceases to cause deforestation it is irresponsible for companies to keep using palm oil. I believe we should have the right to make the decision to buy products containing palm oil or not however without the information on labels we are denied this right to know what we are eating.
What do you think NZ people could do about the palm oil issue?
We can:
Reduce palm oil consumption.
Tell the food standards authority NZ Australia to review labelling requirements for palm oil.
Make sure any hard wood furniture or flooring has FSC approval.
Share our concern with members of parliament.
Contribute to conservation organisations trying to help.
Keep talking about this issue with others.
What other animals are affected by palm oil plantations in Indonesia? (We know about Sumatran tigers and Orang utans)
The South East Asian rainforest is a bio diversity hotspot meaning there are literally hundreds of species of mammal, reptile and bird species affected not to mention about 15 000 species of plants. At Auckland Zoo other examples are Siamang Gibbon, Asian elephants and Otter. Hamilton Zoo have Tapir and Wellington Zoo Sun bear.
To find out more about the problems with palm oil click here.
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