Endangered Species The Orangutan

Palm Oil

Use an interactive mind map at the InstaGrok website http://www.instagrok.com/

What is palm oil?

• In fact, palm oil is now the most widely used vegetable oil on the planet, accounting for 65 per cent of all vegetable oil traded internationally

The benefits of palm oilPalm oil is an edible vegetable oil, high in saturated fats, derived from the fruit of the oil palm tree. It is grown commercially in several tropical countries but mainly in Indonesia and Malaysia, which account for 85% of global palm oil production.

The palm fruit yields two distinct oils – palm oil and palm kernel oil. Palm oil is extracted from the pulp of the fruit, is edible and used primarily in food products. Palm kernel oil is extracted from the seed of the fruit and is used mainly in the manufacture of soaps and cosmetics, while palm kernel expeller (PKE) is used as a feed for livestock and as biofuel for generating electricity.

Palm oil quick facts

Australia• Palm oil is found in about half of the packaged products on supermarket shelves;

• Australia imports approximately 110,000 tonnes of palm oil annually, which is about 0.2% of global production.

• Global• Total consumption of palm oil has increased tenfold since 1980 and now stands at around 50 million tonnes per year;

• Some forecasts suggest that palm oil consumption will increase by a further 50% by 2050;

• Together, Malaysia and Indonesia produce over three quarters of the palm oil consumed globally.

The impacts of palm oil.

Clearing land for oil palm plantations has led to widespread deforestation in Indonesia and Malaysia as well as other regions. This has pushed many species to the brink of extinction, such as rhinos, elephants, orang-utans and tigers.

In some cases, forest clearance has forced indigenous peoples off their land, deprived them of their livelihoods and reduced essential ecosystem services such as clean water and fertile soil.

ABC Splash video (higher level) http://splash.abc.net.au/media/-/m/525335/palm-oil

Video notesBefore viewing Palm oil is extracted from the oil palm tree. What do you know about palm oil and where the oil palm tree grows best? How have people changed the environment to grow the oil palm in plantations?As you view List some of the reasons given in the clip as to why palm oil is used in so many products. Why is there an issue with oil palm plantations in Malaysia and Indonesia? What impacts of creating land for plantations are raised in the clip?After viewing In what ways are the oil palm plantations of Malaysia and Indonesia different from those of Papua New Guinea? Would you buy products that were labelled Certified Sustainable Palm Oil (CSPO) even if they cost a little bit more? Why or why not?

BTN video (lower level) http://www.abc.net.au/btn/story/s2502368.htm

What can we do?

• 1. Raise people’s awareness of the plight of the orang-utans and other animals whose habitat is being destroyed, exposing the link between consumers and orang-utan survival

• 2. Send a letters, emails or postcards to companies who use palm oil

• 4. Look for products which either don’t contain palm oil or use sustainable palm oil - is 100% Certified Sustainable Palm Oil (CSPO)

What is sustainable palm oil?

What products are linked to palm oil?• This websitehttp://www.palmoilinvestigations.org/products-australia

lists products in alphabetical order. It shows 2 columns – in the left hand column are products that contain palm oil. The adjacent right hand column contains palm oil free alternatives.For example:

This website lists palm oil free alternativeshttp://www.orangutans.com.au/Orangutans-Survival-Information/Helping-you-buy-responsibly-Palm-oil-free-alternatives.aspx

Write a postcard

• Collect a postcard and write a message to a company which is using palm oil in its products. We can then scan the cards and email them to the companies we have chosen.

A success story

This website http://www.zoo.org.au/zoopermarket shows you a number of products that use palm oil. Choose a product and find out where it is on the scale of sustainable use of palm oil. Choose a product and write a letter or compose an email to say why you think the company should start using sustainable palm oil.