As with the forest kingdoms of Borneo and the Amazon rainforest, the Indian forest kingdom of the Golden Langurs and Pygmy Hogs is under siege by palm oil in the north east of India. The region is home to some of the most endangered wildlife in the world. Situated in the foothills of the Himalayas, the whole area is one of the most fertile and diverse places on the planet. This region is earmarked for destruction for palm oil. Renowned British wildlife photographer Craig Jones went there to photograph pygmy hogs and report on their dwindling home.
Category Archives: Palm Oil, Deforestation, Fires & Ecocide
RSPO member SIAT leaves Nigerian farmers without food. Sells their land back to them for €1.23 Euros per hectare, per year
A 5-month investigation by Elfredah Kevin-Alerechi and Kevin Woke of Sahara Reporters reveals how RSPO member SIAT Nigeria Limited is involved in human rights abuses and land-grabbing on host communities’ lands. Journalists Elfredah Kevin-Alerechi and Kevin Woke also discovered that farmers were paid only 600 Naira (N600) per hectare annually – the equivalent of €1.23 Euros per year.
River pollution by pesticides and restriction by the company to land, where locals can grow food has meant that their food and water supply is contaminated – starvation is now an urgent problem.
All of this occurs under the guise of “sustainable” palm oil pushed by the RSPO to consumers. SIAT’s palm oil is used in consumer products by PZ Cussons (source), Nestle (source) and Danone (source). This is wh you should #Boycottpalmoil
Story via Sahara Reporters. Additional info: Chain Reaction Research
India’s oil palm goals raise fears of deforestation and extinction
A corporate monopoly for control over land and resources for palm oil must be dismantled immediately to give humanity, animals and our natural world a fighting chance for survival and to reverse the climate crisis. In Asia, many indigenous peoples are now joining forces and rising up to resist this corruption and ecocide.
Palm oil: a recipe for disaster in India
Given the widespread destruction of rainforests and native biodiversity caused by oil palm plantations in Southeast Asia, environmental experts and politicians are warning that the move to promote palm oil cultivation in India’s northeastern States and in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands could be disastrous. Other concerns include the impact on community ownership of tribalContinue reading “Palm oil: a recipe for disaster in India”
UN report says up to 850,000 animal viruses could be caught by humans, unless we protect nature
Human damage to biodiversity is leading us into a pandemic era. The virus that causes COVID-19, for example, is linked to similar viruses in bats, which may have been passed to humans via pangolins or another species.
Will palm oil watchdog RSPO rid itself of deforestation or continue to pretend its products are sustainable? – EIA
Palm oil produced through the destruction of forestland is still being sold around the world with the blessing of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).
On November 30, 2022 EIA and along with 99 other organisations issued a joint statement calling time on the RSPO and its habitual greenwashing – the act of giving the public or investors misleading or false information about the environmental impacts of a company’s products and activities.
Soy and palm oil agriculture is destroying the planet: algae is the answer
Consumers, businesses and researchers have shown growing interest in microalgae in recent years. Use of Arthrospira platensis (spirulina) as a food supplement is one example. Others include how microalgae can be used as crop support tools, bioplastics or biofuels. Agriculture is destroying the planet: algae is the answer The emerging and predicted impacts on agricultureContinue reading “Soy and palm oil agriculture is destroying the planet: algae is the answer”
Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil: 19 years is enough
For nearly two decades now, the RSPO has failed in its mission to make the industrial palm oil sector “sustainable”. Instead, it has been used by the palm oil industry to greenwash environmental destruction, labour and human rights abuses and land grabbing.
Amazon Palm: Global brands continue to source palm oil from Amazon destroyers Agropalma & BBF
Major international brands sourcing palm oil from Brazilian plantations linked to violence, torture and land fraud. Global supermarket brands Ferrero, ADM, Bunge, Cargill, Danone, Ferrero, Hershey’s, Kellogg, Mondelez, Nestlé, PepsiCo, Unilever and many others source palm oil from Agropalma and BBF.
These supermarket brands along with Agropalma and BBF claim to use “sustainable” palm oil from the RSPO. A story by Global Witness. #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife
Land-grabbing and the climate crisis are strongly linked to palm oil
A corporate monopoly for control over land and resources for palm oil must be dismantled immediately to give humanity, animals and our natural world a fighting chance for survival and to reverse the climate crisis. In Asia, many indigenous peoples are now joining forces and rising up to resist this corruption and ecocide.
The Washington Post recommends that you boycott palm oil in 2022 and beyond
The original version of this article was published as ‘How to Make More Socially Conscious Halloween Candy Choices in The Washington Post on the 14th of October 2022. Originally written by Allyson Chiu and was republished via syndication by MSN While chocolate is a crowd-pleaser, the ubiquitous candy “has some pretty close associations with twoContinue reading “The Washington Post recommends that you boycott palm oil in 2022 and beyond”
What is causing the latest outbreak of Ebola in Uganda?
The answers to preventing future zoonotic diseases are staring us right in the face: we should stop eating animals and consuming animal products and we should stop destroying rainforests for palm oil, soy and other crops! Many research papers and books have been written about the connection between the relentless capitalist growth imperative of multinationalContinue reading “What is causing the latest outbreak of Ebola in Uganda?”
Every day deserves to be World Orangutan Day
Although #WorldOrangutanDay falls on the 19th of August, in our opinion, every day deserves to be World Orangutan Day! So here is an infographic that you can download, print and share however you please.
All three species of orangutan are classified as ‘endangered’ or ‘critically endangered’ in S.E. Asia. Their main threat is palm oil deforestation in Indonesia and Malaysia
Without tropical forests, global temperatures would be 1°c warmer
Lausanne, Switzerland (24 March)—New research released today offers the most comprehensive and detailed evidence to date that forests are more important to the climate (globally and locally) than we think due to the way in which they physically transform the atmosphere. The first-ever research to pinpoint the local, regional and global non-carbon dioxide benefits ofContinue reading “Without tropical forests, global temperatures would be 1°c warmer”
Palm oil industry lobbying and greenwashing is like Big Tobacco – World Health Organisation (WHO) Bulletin
What does the $60 billion USD palm oil industry have in common with Big Tobacco? A lot according to this report by the World Health Organisation. Palm oil industry lobbying tactics are used to influence research into the health impacts of palm oil and also to influence consumer buying habits. The dire health and environmental impacts of palm oil are hidden from consumers by clever marketing. These lobbying, marketing and greenwashing tactics are reminiscent of tobacco and alcohol health lobbying.
Why Peanut Butter Might Trigger the Next Pandemic
Palm oil is found in roughly 50 percent of packaged household products ranging from peanut butter to lipstick. Now, researchers link its harvesting to disease outbreaks that could spread to humans. This is the first study to examine the cause-and-effect relationship between changes in forest cover and subsequent disease outbreaks on a global scale.
Treespiracy: Forests are being destroyed against a background of corruption, illegality and apathy
The world’s forests are being destroyed against a background of corruption, illegality and apathy. This article was originally published in The Ecologist magazine, 28th March, 2022 A complex web of financial instruments allowing crime, corruption and wrong-doing, hidden behind shell corporations and offshore companies was exposed with the release of the Panama Papers. This shadow networkContinue reading “Treespiracy: Forests are being destroyed against a background of corruption, illegality and apathy”
10 reasons why ecolabels & commodity certification are not a solution to stop the EU importing tropical deforestation
71 environmental and human rights groups from around the world – wrote to the EU Commission warning that certification schemes and ecolabels were not sufficient to prevent human rights abuses and deforestation from entering the European Union. Meanwhile industry lobbyists are attempting to weaken the proposed EU laws with these ineffective and corrupt certification schemesContinue reading “10 reasons why ecolabels & commodity certification are not a solution to stop the EU importing tropical deforestation”
Nigeria’s nature reserves need more help to protect biodiversity
Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Environment recently nominated Finima Nature Park in River State as a Ramsar site: a wetland of international importance. Tajudeen Amusa, University of Ilorin These sites are designated under the Ramsar Convention, an intergovernmental environmental treaty established in 1971 by UNESCO. It aims to protect representative, rare or unique wetlands, or thoseContinue reading “Nigeria’s nature reserves need more help to protect biodiversity”
Ecocide: why establishing a new international crime would be a step towards interspecies justice
A movement of activists and legal scholars is seeking to make “ecocide” an international crime within the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC). The Stop Ecocide Foundation has put together a prestigious international panel of experts that has just proposed a new definition of the term. Heather Alberro, Nottingham Trent University and Luigi Daniele,Continue reading “Ecocide: why establishing a new international crime would be a step towards interspecies justice”
Palm Oil Detectives 