- Few would recognise it, but go into any supermarket and
the chances are the product will be contained in at least one tenth of
your purchases. Palm oil can be found in everything from margarine to soap
and lipsticks.
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- But a report this week reveals the devastating impact
of this global boom. Millions of hectares of precious rainforest and their
plants and animals are being destroyed, wrecking livelihoods and polluting
rivers. Companies must now start to tell consumers if their products contain
palm oil taken from sustainably managed plantations, insists Friends of
the Earth.
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- Palm oil originated in central Africa, but planting spread
to other tropical climates as demand for washing products and processed
foods expanded rapidly last century. Now the world's second most consumed
oil after soy, it is found in cakes, biscuits and crisps, ice cream and
instant noodles, toothpaste and detergents, and even in leather and metal
industries.
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- Indonesia is one of the world's great producers - and
it was there that FoE turned for its report. The country covers only 1.3
per cent of the planet's land, but is home to 10 per cent of all flowering
plants, 17 per cent of birds, 12 per cent of mammals and 16 per cent of
reptiles and amphibians.
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- Much of this, however, is under threat, as Indonesia
has cleared millions of hectares of land for palm plantations. By 1996,
the Indonesian government had set aside an area the size of Hungary for
palm.
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- After the land has been cleared, forest is replaced with
monoculture palm plantations, leading to huge loss of biodiversity: academics
calculate that 80-100 per cent of species are lost when primary forest
is replaced by palm.
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- 'An area [of forest] the size of Wales is lost every
year in Indonesia - not just because of palm oil, but palm oil is a major,
major driver,' said Robin Webster, the main author of the report.
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- The second major issue is the impact on local communities:
nearly half of Indonesia's 216 million people are thought to depend on
the forest.
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- Clearing forests deprives communities of their livelihood,
and sometimes forces them off the land, claims the report. There follows
pollution from the uncontrolled use of pesticides on plantations and effluent
from hundreds of mills where the red, plum-sized palm fruits are sent for
production.
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- Villagers near plantations report local fish stocks declining.
Drinking and bathing water becomes polluted and some blame the pollution
for increases in birth defect and fertility problems.
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- FoE is not alone in its concern: asset management company
ISIS spoke to 24 of the 27 major commercial users of palm oil, and found
that all admitted there was a risk to their business if they were held
responsible for damaging the environment.
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- In the past half-century, palm oils have become the world's
single biggest traded commodity. They are present in at least one in 10
of all consumer products and about one third of foods. However, 20 of the
24 companies did not appear to know where their palm oil originated. Because
of the huge complexity of the palm oil trade - often conducted through
several middle men - and because it is ubiquitous, FoE says a boycott would
be unworkable.
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- Instead FoE - supported by other campaign groups - wants
new legislation on corporate responsibility. It wants to make it mandatory
for companies to report on their environmental and social impacts, and
to introduce a legal duty on directors to take 'reasonable steps' to mitigate
their impact on the environment.
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- Consumers can write to government, and also to supermarkets
requesting information about the origins of palm oil in products. 'There's
a real danger of people thinking, "I can't change my buying habits
and there's nothing I can do". There's something we can do and that's
to make government make a change,' Ms Webster said.
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- The report's claims were challenged by the Indonesian
Embassy. Dewa Made Sastrawan, head of the economic division, said the government
'doubted' that two million hectares was cleared each year, and said it
strived to balance protecting the environment with development.
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- About 19m hectares was designated conservation forest
for the protection of 'unique species'; another 31m hectares was protection
forest; and 64m hectares was designated for sustainable timber production,
he said.
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- 'The missions are protecting the forest area, rehabilitating
forest, encouraging the conservation of resources, optimising the function
of forest utilisation, encouraging people's participation in forestry development,'
Sastrawan said.
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- How palm oil is used
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- Crude palm oil: margarine, ice cream and processed foods
such as crisps, chips, instant noodles
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- Palm kernel oil: biscuit doughs and filling creams, ice
creams and coffee whiteners
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- Derivatives: soaps, shampoos, cosmetics, detergents,
also metal and leather industries
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- Palm kernel meal: feed for livestock
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- Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited
2004
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- http://www.guardian.co.uk/conservation/story/0,13369,1163981,00.html
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