Nature Alert: The real cost of palm oil.

Sunday, 28 June 2009

The real cost of palm oil.

Letter to South Wales Argus but not published.

The real cost of palm oil.

Mr Harvey West of Vogen Fuel (see Campaign launched against Newport biofuel plan; Saturday 13th June) intentions are no doubt good, but if he thinks he can source palm oil from SE Asia that has not contributed to mass deforestation and the slaughter of thousands of orangutans, he is mistaken.

Despite the best efforts of the RSPO it is my personal opinion, based on visiting Indonesia and Malaysia over 15 years, including six visits in the past 18 months, no palm oil company can be trusted.

It is simply impossible for any company to be independently monitored.

At a time when food retailers are rapidly distancing themselves from palm oil sourced in SE Asia, it would be a great shame and, I suggest, a

PR disaster for Vogen Fuel, if it was to do the exact opposite. Hopefully, this is not a commercial risk Vogen Fuel are prepared to take.

If the company was to import palm oil from SE Asia, directly or otherwise, it will be tainted with the blood of orangutans - amongst literally millions of other animals killed when rainforests are cleared.

Sean Whyte, Chief Executive

Hall of Shame for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and the Palm Oil Industry.

Nothing can prepare one for the sight of the systematic extermination of orangutans by the government of Indonesia.

Look at the photos and news articles on these pages in the context of a statement the President made to the media on 10th December 2007.

“In the last 35 years about 50,000 orangutans are estimated to have been lost as their habitats shrank. If this continues, this majestic creature will likely face extinction by 2050,” President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said at the launch of an orangutan conservation plan at the climate talks in Bali.

“The fate of the orangutan is a subject that goes to the heart of sustainable forests … To save the orangutan we have to save the forest.”

Statements like these are most welcome, but unless backed up by action, such words fall on deaf ears within the Ministry of Forestry....who are busy granting licences to cut down the very forests the President says they should protect!

When you think you are to busy to help, please could you reflect for a moment on .........

The following extract refers to environmental problems in general. I just hope you find it as thought provoking and relevant to orangutans as I have.

"This is such a shocking and unpalatable fact that most people deny it, or they just don't want to think about it. They believe as individuals, they can do little about it, so push it to the back of their minds. But I can't do that.

When something has to be done, we need to do it. It doesn't matter how big the challenge is or how hard the solution; if I know something is wrong, and I am in a position to help, I will do my best to make it right." Duncan Bannatyne, successful British businessman.