Palm oil must be labeled more clearly or removed from products completely. It is fuelling deforestation and causing the extinction of Orangutangs.

Palm oil must be labeled more clearly or removed from products completely. It is fuelling deforestation and causing the extinction of Orangutangs.

The use of palm oil in certain food products results in it being mass produced, this causes entire forests to be cut down to harvest the palm oil. The orangutangs and so
 many other parts of the amazing wildlife in these forests are losing their homes.

The orangoutangs are already an endangered species and these palm oil extraction efforts are putting them on the verge of extinction.
Palm oil development accounted for an estimated 36% of deforestation in Sumatra between 1985 and 2016, and 42% in Borneo between 1973 and 2015. These numbers are only continuing to rise and we need to take action now.

The orangutangs' rainforest habitat is disappearing at an unprecedented rate, with 80% decimated in the past 20 years. Much of what remains is degraded by drought, forest fires and illegal logging.

On average, 2,000 to 3,000 orangutang are killed every year. While exact orangutang population counts are always a challenge – estimates put current counts between 50,000-65,000 orangutan left in the wild. At this rate of loss, many experts believe orangutangs could be extinct in the wild in less than 50 years.

I am calling for some form of a disincentive to use palm oil in products. This means if a company is to extract palm oil from forests they are required to plant new trees in its place and ensure they are reducing the amounts of palm oil they use in their products.