The Facts about Palm Oil:
What do Nutella, mac and cheese, Oreos, shampoo and lotion all have in common? They all contain an ingredient called palm oil. Palm oil is a vegetable oil that is used in about half of all packaged foods found in a supermarket. It is also used in soap, makeup, and many other beauty products. The reason palm oil is so widely used is that it’s the cheapest, highest yielding, and most versatile vegetable oil in the world . The global market for palm oil is quickly rising; it accounted for 65% of all vegetable oil bought in 2006, and the demand is expected to double again by 2020. The majority of this highly popular oil is grown on small islands in the warm climates of Malaysia and Indonesia. Indonesia alone holds 6 million hectares (23,166 sq. miles) of palm oil plantations . The biggest world buyers are India, China, and Europe .
Palm oil plantations pose the biggest threats to orangutans in the wild. Being covered in tropical rainforests, Indonesia is not the ideal place for farm land. In order to gain land for farming, many farmers practice burning or clear cutting. When they burn the forests, the orangutans, being slow moving creatures, are unable to escape, and they turn to ash and dust along with their homes. When the forests are clear cut, there are no trees for the orangutans to live in, and no fruit for them to eat, so they starve to death. If the destruction of their habitat continues at the same rate as is currently happening, and nothing is done about it, orangutans will be extinct in the wild within the next ten years. Why are we letting this horrible fate befall our closest relatives? Because palm oil is a product that the world has grown to rely on, and people find it easier to turn a blind eye on the problems it causes rather than try to work out a solution.
So How do we Fix It?
Several solutions have been attempted in the past. If it causes so much damage, many people would ask, why not just stop using palm oil? It is true, substitutes such as coconut oil can work in almost every situation that palm oil can, but simply replacing palm oil won’t solve the problems. It might even make things worse. Palm oil is the highest yielding vegetable oil, which means any other oil produced on the same scale as palm oil would take up way more land. This would lead to more deforestation, and though it might take the problem area away from the orangutans, other environments would be harmed just as much. Another issue is that almost all of Indonesians rely on palm oil for their incomes. If the world stopped buying palm oil, millions of people would be out of work, with no way to support themselves. Many campaigns advocate for people to stop buying products that contain this oil, and though this is better than buying products with palm oil, it is not the ideal solution. There is something called deforestation-free palm oil, that some companies use. Buying only products with deforestation-free palm oil is a much more effective step towards saving the orangutans, and it is something that everyone can easily do.
Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil is an organization promoting the use of sustainable palm oil. Their mission is “To promote the growth and use of sustainable palm oil through cooperation within the supply chain and open dialogue between its stakeholders”. Sustainable palm oil means that it is produced “without undue harm to the environment or society”. RSPO certifies companies as sustainable. The problem is that sustainable palm oil does not mean deforestation free palm oil. Forests are still cut down, and orangutans are still harmed, and left without a place to live. Many different companies have pointed out that RSPO’s standards are not strong enough. They also don’t address the human rights abuse side of this issue. While RSPO is a good step towards responsible palm oil, it is not the perfect solution.
The perfect solution is Education.
In order to empower people to solve this problem, we first have to make sure they're aware of it. That's where Saving Orangutans Society, and the countless other organizations advocating for orangutans, come in. All around the world, there are letter drives taking place. This means that people collect letters targeting a certain unsustainable company, encouraging them to switch to deforestation-free palm oil.
In fact, we are hosting an online letter drive right now! Saving Orangutans Society is targeting a company called Blue Bunny. If you put in a little bit of effort and open your heart a little bit wider, you can be part of the solution. Help us give the orangutans a voice. Help them speak out against their impending oblivion.
Click here to learn more about our current project and what you can do to help.
What do Nutella, mac and cheese, Oreos, shampoo and lotion all have in common? They all contain an ingredient called palm oil. Palm oil is a vegetable oil that is used in about half of all packaged foods found in a supermarket. It is also used in soap, makeup, and many other beauty products. The reason palm oil is so widely used is that it’s the cheapest, highest yielding, and most versatile vegetable oil in the world . The global market for palm oil is quickly rising; it accounted for 65% of all vegetable oil bought in 2006, and the demand is expected to double again by 2020. The majority of this highly popular oil is grown on small islands in the warm climates of Malaysia and Indonesia. Indonesia alone holds 6 million hectares (23,166 sq. miles) of palm oil plantations . The biggest world buyers are India, China, and Europe .
Palm oil plantations pose the biggest threats to orangutans in the wild. Being covered in tropical rainforests, Indonesia is not the ideal place for farm land. In order to gain land for farming, many farmers practice burning or clear cutting. When they burn the forests, the orangutans, being slow moving creatures, are unable to escape, and they turn to ash and dust along with their homes. When the forests are clear cut, there are no trees for the orangutans to live in, and no fruit for them to eat, so they starve to death. If the destruction of their habitat continues at the same rate as is currently happening, and nothing is done about it, orangutans will be extinct in the wild within the next ten years. Why are we letting this horrible fate befall our closest relatives? Because palm oil is a product that the world has grown to rely on, and people find it easier to turn a blind eye on the problems it causes rather than try to work out a solution.
So How do we Fix It?
Several solutions have been attempted in the past. If it causes so much damage, many people would ask, why not just stop using palm oil? It is true, substitutes such as coconut oil can work in almost every situation that palm oil can, but simply replacing palm oil won’t solve the problems. It might even make things worse. Palm oil is the highest yielding vegetable oil, which means any other oil produced on the same scale as palm oil would take up way more land. This would lead to more deforestation, and though it might take the problem area away from the orangutans, other environments would be harmed just as much. Another issue is that almost all of Indonesians rely on palm oil for their incomes. If the world stopped buying palm oil, millions of people would be out of work, with no way to support themselves. Many campaigns advocate for people to stop buying products that contain this oil, and though this is better than buying products with palm oil, it is not the ideal solution. There is something called deforestation-free palm oil, that some companies use. Buying only products with deforestation-free palm oil is a much more effective step towards saving the orangutans, and it is something that everyone can easily do.
Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil is an organization promoting the use of sustainable palm oil. Their mission is “To promote the growth and use of sustainable palm oil through cooperation within the supply chain and open dialogue between its stakeholders”. Sustainable palm oil means that it is produced “without undue harm to the environment or society”. RSPO certifies companies as sustainable. The problem is that sustainable palm oil does not mean deforestation free palm oil. Forests are still cut down, and orangutans are still harmed, and left without a place to live. Many different companies have pointed out that RSPO’s standards are not strong enough. They also don’t address the human rights abuse side of this issue. While RSPO is a good step towards responsible palm oil, it is not the perfect solution.
The perfect solution is Education.
In order to empower people to solve this problem, we first have to make sure they're aware of it. That's where Saving Orangutans Society, and the countless other organizations advocating for orangutans, come in. All around the world, there are letter drives taking place. This means that people collect letters targeting a certain unsustainable company, encouraging them to switch to deforestation-free palm oil.
In fact, we are hosting an online letter drive right now! Saving Orangutans Society is targeting a company called Blue Bunny. If you put in a little bit of effort and open your heart a little bit wider, you can be part of the solution. Help us give the orangutans a voice. Help them speak out against their impending oblivion.
Click here to learn more about our current project and what you can do to help.
This video was made by one of our Staff, Killian. It beautifully
demonstrates the devastation that palm oil brings to orangutans
and their habitat.
demonstrates the devastation that palm oil brings to orangutans
and their habitat.