Papua New Guinea & West Papua: Species Endangered by Palm Oil Deforestation

Papua New Guinea & West Papua: Species Endangered by Palm Oil Deforestation

As rainforest habitats are destroyed for palm oil in Indonesia and Malaysia, Indonesian and Chinese oil palm processing companies are switching focus towards Papua New Guinea, West Papua, Africa and South America to keep up with demand for palm oil.

Papua New Guinea and West Papua were divided up and taken by Indonesian colonial forces in the middle of last century. Yet for the ancestral indigenous owners of the islands of Papua and Melanesia, the Papuans who have lived the region for thousands of years -they simply call this region – home. Read more about this at the bottom of this page.

#WestPapua is home to unusual #animals like tree #kangaroo 🦘 and Papuan #eagle 🦅 The region was taken by force by #Indonesia Forest treasures belong to indigenous peoples NOT #palmoil co’s. Resist! #FreeWestPapua and #BoycottPalmOil 🌴⛔️ @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2021/01/26/papua-new-guinea/

#PapuaNewGuinea and #WestPapua is home to weirdly cute animals you may never get to see 😭😿 because #palmoil #deforestation threatens the lives of #indigenous people and #wildlife there. Take action #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife 🌴🚫 @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2021/01/26/papua-new-guinea/

“When our forests are damaged, there will be a massive climate crisis, species like the birds of paradise will become extinct and not just our Namblong Indigenous culture will be destroyed, but that of all peoples everywhere,”

Orpha Yoshua, an Indigenous Namblong woman from West Papua told Greenpeace.

Endless #deforestation and destruction of #rainforests in #Merauke #WestPapua goes on with silence and complicity by the western media. If you want to help #indigenous #Papuans #BoycottPalmOil in the supermarket!

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— Palm Oil Detectives | #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife (@palmoildetect.bsky.social) 19 November 2024 at 18:14
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Papua New Guinea & West Papua: Species Endangered by Palm Oil Deforestation
Papua New Guinea & West Papua: Species Endangered by Palm Oil Deforestation

Rainforest animals and rainforest peoples in Papua are under attack from global palm oil plantations and industrial-military actions on their illegally taken land

Indigenous Melanesian peoples of West Papua and Papua New Guinea are the rightful and original custodians of Papuan rainforests. Their voices deserve to be heard in environmental campaigns.

Yet Indonesia has embarked on an extensive greenwashing campaign to make these people invisible. Papuans never ceded sovreignty of their land and they have a right to have it back. Palm Oil Detectives works in solidarity with Melanesian and West Papuan support networks to raise the voices of Papuan indigenous activists.

There are many ways you can join the fight too. Become a Palm Oil Detective and Take Action today!

Fake papuans from Indonesia - part of the greenwashing, cultural appropriation and efforts to make Melanesian owners of the land invisible

On Twitter, a South East Asian couple cosplay as Papuan indigenous traditional clothing in an obvious effort to erase Melanesian ethnicity and to normalise Indonesian rule – Spoiler: Papuans never ceded their sovereignty

See original tweet


More stories about Papua’s indigenous peoples and rare animals

Papua harbours uniquely beautiful animals including rare marsupials and birds not found anywhere else on the planet. In the lush and fertile forests of Papua live thinking, feeling and intelligent beings that love their children. Just like us, they just want to survive and have their animal families and communities left in peace. These animals live in Papua New Guinea and have a IUCN Red List status of Critically Endangered, Endangered or Vulnerable. Although animal conservation is still relatively new in Papua New Guinea, there is hope, with conservation foundations working to protect these species and the rainforest they live in.


Take action in five ways!


  1. 1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: 


    Use the one-click buttons to share written posts from this website or videos from Youtube to your own network and connect with Palm Oil Detectives on BlueSky, Twitter, Mastodon, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.


    Certifying products as sustainable is no panacea - Uni Michigan 2023 - take action by boycotting palm oil!


  2. Contribute stories: 


    Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry can contribute stories or get in touch here.

    Anthropologist and author of 'In the Shadow of the Palms' Dr Sophie Chao: In Her Own Words


  3. Supermarket sleuthing: 


    Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands using palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free. Find palm oil free brands here


    Palm Oil Free Products - Palm Oil Detectives


  4. Donate to boost the #Boycott4Wildlife campaign


    Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns that help animals, landscapes and people. Donate here


    Contribute to my kofi
    https://ko-fi.com/palmoildetectives


  5. Download the premium version of the Yuka app


    Yuka is an independent (not industry-funded) mobile app for Android and Apple. The paid version is $10 USD per year and is well worth the money! Simply scan all supermarket items to find out if they contain palm oil along with countless other nasty highly processed and unhealthy ingredients. You can scan cosmetic and personal care items as well as food. Set up alerts for palm oil to be flagged so you can disregard the items. Download the app


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Published by Palm Oil Detectives

Palm Oil Detectives is an investigative journalism non-profit platform that exists to expose commodity greenwashing and corruption in the meat, palm oil and gold industries. Palm Oil Detectives is a global collective of animal rights and indigenous rights advocates. Together we expose the devastating impacts of palm oil, gold and meat deforestation on human health, the environment, wild animals and indigenous communities. The Palm Oil Detectives #Boycott4Wildlife movement empowers activists, scientists, conservationists and creatives worldwide to #BoycottPalmOil and advocate for genuine alternatives to ecocide. Read more: https://palmoildetectives.com/ https://x.com/PalmOilDetect https://m.youtube.co/@Palmoildetectives https://mastodonapp.uk/@palmoildetectives

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