Media Release

Australians urged to act on unsustainable palm oil

Embargoed Until June 5^th, 2007 – World Environment Day

Australian consumers, retailers and manufacturers can play a key role in curbing massive deforestation in South East Asia for palm oil plantations. That’s the view of the Palm Oil Action Group, which is launching a consumer campaign today – World Environment Day.

The Palm Oil Action Group spokesperson Angela Palmer said consumers in particular needed to be aware of the devastating consequences of the palm oil industry in countries like Indonesia, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea, and demand proof from companies involved in the industry who may claim they are not responsible.

“Up to 50 critically endangered orangutans are dying each week from plantation related incidents, and the burning of peat swamp forest lands is one of the major contributors to global warming. These forests that are just too precious to lose,” she said.

“In Indonesia alone, an area of forest equal to 300 soccer fields is being destroyed every hour. There are also widespread human rights abuses in these countries as traditionally owned land is acquired to make way for more plantations.”

While the Palm Oil Action Group is not opposed to palm oil and is not calling for a boycott, the group is asking Australians to write to supermarkets, food manufacturers including KFC, politicians and ambassadors urging fast action, such as a verification system for ‘orangutan friendly’ oil and an improved labeling system.

“Australian consumers should have a right to know exactly what they are buying, but at the moment palm oil is often labeled only as vegetable oil,” Palmer said. “The ideal description we would like to see on products here very soon is ‘sustainably sourced palm oil’, which is the only acceptable form of palm oil.”

"The explosion of the renewable energy market, where palm oil is supplied for use as a biofuel, is a major concern and we are monitoring the Australian situation carefully", Palmer says. “The Palm Oil Action Group is calling on the government to demand importers of biofuel crops to provide verification that their production is not contributing to forest destruction or global warming.”

The Palm Oil Action Group is a coalition of conservation and primate groups who have come together to address this issue.

For more information about the Palm Oil Consumer Campaign, go to www.palmoilaction.org.au.

Contact for comment :

Cam Walker, Friends of the Earth: cam.walker@foe.org.au

Angela Palmer, Coordinator, Palm Oil Action Group: help@grasp.org.au

Mobile 0413213276

Tony Gilding, President, Australian Orangutan Project:  tony@gilding.com
Phone   02 6687 2517 Mobile 0413 123 000

Ruth Rosenhek , Director, Rainforest Information Centre: ruth@ozemail.com.au

Phone 02 66897519

To source photos – orangutans and palm oil processing – please go to

www.palmoilaction.org.au/media/photos. Use password ‘palmphotos’ to access.

Please see the website for campaign brochure and links to useful resources. www.palmoilaction.org.au

Members of the Palm Oil Action Group are ;

Friends of the Earth Australia www.foe.org.au

Rainforest Information Centre www.rainforestinfo.org.au

Borneo Orangutan Society www.orangutans.com.au
Australian Orangutan Project www.orangutan.org.au

Supporters of the campaign include : Great Apes Survival Project Australasia, Humane Society International, Australian Conservation Foundation, Mission Beach Environmental Management Group Inc. , Nature Conservation Council, North  East Forest Alliance, Climate Change Action Network, Rainforest Rescue, Southern Peninsula Indigenous Flora and Fauna Assoc. Inc., Global Climate Change Action, Huon Valley Environment Centre, Sumatran Orangutan Society (New Zealand), Byron Environment Centre, Big Scrub Environment Centre, The Wilderness Society, Northern Territory Environment Centre, Indigenous Justice Advocacy Network, Peak Oil Australia