Our sweet tooth is killing orangutans
AS AN ecologist who has visited Sabah in Borneo and seen how incursions into the rainforests by palm oil plantations have affected orangutans, I avoid any product that contains this oil. However, this is becoming more and more difficult because palm oil is insidious. It is used in all types of products, from margarine, biscuits, cakes and chocolate to shampoo, cosmetics and cleaning agents. Yet palm oil is not a cheap ingredient — in terms of habitat and species lost, it is very expensive indeed. I shop at Tesco and I am not expecting the supermarket to stop stocking goods that contain palm oil. But there is the opportunity for it to take the moral high ground and make sure none of its branded products contain it. This could show how ethical it is and how committed it is to protecting the environment. Not knowing which foods contain palm oil means it is difficult to treat myself to something sweet — at least this means it’s easier to watch my weight! I wrote to Tesco expressing my concerns and a customer service manager replied that the supermarket has committed to zero net deforestation in its sourcing of palm oil, soy and timber, and is working closely with leading environmental organisations, such as the World Wide fund for Nature (WWf). However, I still don’t believe it is doing enough to protect what is left of the rainforest. When I see palm oil listed in the ingredients of a product, I have no idea if it has been sourced ethically. There is no industry symbol I am aware of that indicates this. I am not even certain what constitutes ‘ethical’. Does oil from established plantations cut from the jungle 20 years ago fall into this category, while oil from later plantations doesn’t? I understand that palm oil is important to Borneo’s economy, but so is the tourism industry. I visited a research station growing rainforest trees for re-planting, but it is minuscule in light of the scale of illegal logging. So, I am limited to buying products that are labelled palm oil-free, or that do not list it in their ingredients, or that state they contain palm oil from sustainable sources. David Attenborough’s recent BBC series, Seven Worlds, One Planet, showed that about half of Borneo’s orangutan population has been wiped out because their rainforest habitat has been cleared for palm oil plantations. If this has the same impact as Attenborough’s previous investigation into the effect of plastics on wildlife, supermarkets may find there is increased awareness among their customers of the significance of the use of palm oil.