You might be wondering what the fuss about palm oil is? In itself it is not a bad product. The problem is that to grow this product companies cut down hectares of rain forest destroying the habitat of several endangered species. Indonesia and Malaysia are the two main sources of palm oil. Every year in Indonesia 340,000 hectares of rainforest is cut down to start new plantations. That's equivalent to the size of two Stewart Islands! Be wary buying wood products from these countries too as they choose to cut down young rainforest to sell wood such as kwila to make extra profits.
The Auckland Zoo has been running a campaign to encourage consumers to avoid buying products which contain palm oil. It is their belief that if the demand for palm oil decreases then production will slow down. We have seen the effects of such a campaign when Cadbury introduced palm oil in their products. Sales went down, people protested and Cadburys NZ no longer uses palm oil. Good on them!
At the end of the day it is consumer choice. However, I believe that we all have a moral obligation to be aware of the issues affecting our planet and do what we can to stop corporations exploiting our planet. Ignorance is not an excuse to contributing to destruction of precious habitats and species.
Do you really want to see these (and many more) animal species become extinct?
Thanks Auckland Zoo website for the photos. I'm sure you won't mind as I am championing your cause.
If you are interested in more information see the Auckland zoo website:
http://www.aucklandzoo.co.nz/conservation/buy-palm-oil-free.aspx
The zoo website has a good summary of information, ideas for what you can do, and links to more indepth articles such as this one from the UK:
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/the-guilty-secrets-of-palm-oil-are-you-unwittingly-contributing-to-the-devastation-of-the-rain-forests-1676218.html
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