All agriculture has a footprint and palm oil is here to stay, however it does not need to be grown at the expense of a biodiverse forest. It is by far the world’s most productive oil crop, with so much more land being needed if companies were to switch to alternative oil. For instance to produce the same amount of Soybean oil 10 times more land would be needed (Position statement: Palm oil, 2016).

British supermarkets are routinely failing to take even the most basics steps at protecting our planet and environment, along with numerous famous chefs; Ainsley Harriot to name one. High environmental and social standards should be the norm for first world companies and organisations, not the exception with more than one in ten products containing palm oil (The oil for ape scandal, 2005). The fate of the orangutan and countless other species hangs in the balance. The importance of palm oil as a commodity in both the developing and developed world cannot be denied, nor can its economic welfare to millions of people be denied, but why should the use of non-sustainable palm oil be tolerated?

 The aim of this campaign is to raise awareness of the importance of using only sustainable palm oil and to get all major British supermarkets to sell only sustainable palm oil products. This will be achieved by gaining as many signatures as possible and then forwarding onto all the head offices of the major supermarkets within the UK. Please sign!!!

British supermarkets are routinely failing to take even the most basics steps at protecting our planet and environment, along with numerous famous chefs; Ainsley Harriot to name one. High environmental and social standards should be the norm for first world companies and organisations, not the exception with more than one in ten products containing palm oil (The oil for ape scandal, 2005). The fate of the orangutan and countless other species hangs in the balance. The importance of palm oil as a commodity in both the developing and developed world cannot be denied, nor can its economic welfare to millions of people be denied, but why should the use of non-sustainable palm oil be tolerated? 

The Orangutan Pongo sp are among the most iconic species in wildlife conservation, however the future of the Orangutan is uncertain despite the species high profile and media attention. Orangutans have many unique qualities, they are the only great ape that exists out of Africa and also the only ape that is truly arboreal. They are humans’ closest relatives, sharing 96.4% of our DNA (Taylor, 2016). During the quaternary period 2.6 mya the Orangutan distribution was vast, having suitable habitat across South East Asia and mainland Asia, however today wild populations are only found in two places Sumatra and Borneo. These two islands are isolated by the South China sea and have been for over 8000 years (Wich, 2009). Although both subspecies of orangutan are endangered, only the Sumatran orangutan Pongo abelii is classified as critically endangered as of the year 2000, placing them in the 25 most endangered primates in the world. With this increase in the extinction probability it has given this species a higher level of protection. The most recent estimates of Pongo abelii have been estimated at 7300, this figure is an 80% decline on individual numbers 75 years ago (Iucnredlist.org, 2016), this is due to the massive exploitation of the Sumatran forest habitats which began to occur in the 1970’s and continues to this day.

P.abelii live in primary and secondary forests, although they can be found at 1500m above sea level (Wwf.panda.org, 2016) they are more commonly found on lowland flood plains, this land is often claimed for the establishment of oil palm plantations.

Orangutans face many obstacles from logging both legal and illegal, mining, fragmentation of habitat by roads, forest fires, hunting for the national and international pet trade, as well as being killed as pests when they raid fruit crops on the edge of the forest (Iucnredlist.org, 2016). However the biggest threat to this species is the conversion of forest to palm oil (Elaeis guineensis) plantations, with the majority of the world’s palm oil coming from plantations in Indonesia and Malaysia (Neme, 2014). As one of the primary factors to deforestation in Sumatra, the palm oil industry poses a serious threat to the survival of the orangutan, as well as countless other endemic critically endangered species. Government data has shown that over the last two decades at least 50,000 orangutans have died as a result of deforestation due to palm oil (Saynotopalmoil.com, 2016). Other megafaunas are also affected by this industry, the Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae), the Sun bear (Helarctos malayanus) and the Pygmy elephant (Elephas maximus borneensis) to name only a few of the 300,000 species affected (Saynotopalmoil.com, 2016). In 2008 Indonesia broke the Guinness book of records by being named as the country with the fastest rate of deforestation (Greenpeace.org.uk, 2016), also in that year alone Indonesia and Malaysia produced just under 40 million tonnes of palm oil. As of march 2016 in the first three months of the year both countries have collectively already exported over 50,000 tonnes (Oilseeds: World Market and Trade, 2016), this account to 87% of the global output. Oil palms are originally from West Africa, but were brought to South East Asia at the beginning of the 20th century. The initial demand for palm oil was for its use in candles, however the invention of the hydrogenation process in Europe pushed the demand even further (Saynotopalmoil.com, 2016).

The global palm oil industry is increasing rapidly, with the equivalent of 300 football fields being destroyed every hour to make way for new oil palm plantations (Orangutan.org.au, 2016). As the plantations expand the populations plummet and the incidences of human and wildlife conflict become more frequent. Palm oil fruit is the worlds most consumed vegetable oil (Swarna Nantha and Tisdell, 2008), and is used in an increased array of different products, from cosmetics to food and other household products. A large global demand for palm oil comes from China and India where they use it as cooking oil, however it is finding an increasing application in Europe as it is being used as a source for biodiesel to help mitigate the effects of climate change (Swarna Nantha and Tisdell, 2008). With the commitment from various governments around the globe to increase the amount of biofuels sold the demand for palm oil is dramatically increasing, however in the attempt to reduce the impact of climate change the deforestation and the draining of peatlands to plant oil palm trees will release more carbon emissions than burning fossil fuels (Greenpeace.org.uk, 2016).  

 PLEASE SIGN!!