Demand an end to the deforestation due to palm oil cultures Now!

We know that the palm oil production causes a wild and massive deforestation. We have been denouncing it for several years now. Not only this deforestation for the palm oil cultivation continues, but it expands and accelerates dramatically. Between 1990 and 2010, 21.5 million acres of forest have been razed in Indonesia, in Malaysia and Papua New Guinea. That is already more than twice the entire French forest (40.3 million acres), but the palm oil tree planters would have burnt another 15 million acres of forest from 2011 to 2013, which equals to the surface of Ireland in only 3 years. By 2020, the expansion of palm oil trees threatens to destroy another 10 million acres in Indonesia only. We evaluate that 98% of rainforests in Indonesia, only habitat of orangutans, will disappear by 2022!
5.000 orangutans, which equal only ONE QUARTER of the remaining population, die EVERY YEAR only because of the destruction of their habitat, making this species one of the most emblematic of the deforestation. But this concerns just as much all the wildlife (including tigers, rhinoceroses and elephants) and the plant life that reside there.
Africa is now threatened as well. Indeed, the Cameroon rainforest is another target for palm oil plantations which will have the same devastating effect on flora and fauna that we know, but also would jeopardize the livelihoods of local people who have already faced intimidation and arrest in case of protest.
We know all of that…but we let happen.
Today, palm oil is used in the majority of food products that we buy in supermarkets often identified as “vegetable oil”: chips, croutons, soups spreads, cookies, canned sardines, instant chicken broth, mayonnaise, tomato sauce, cereals, chocolate, ice cream, grated cheese, pre-made sauces, pie dough, ready prepared-dishes, biscuits, buns. Palm oil is also found in cosmetics, used as a moisturizer in body lotions including baby lotions and in the manufacture of Savon de Marseille which is soap traditionally made from olive oil. In short, it is everywhere, while for centuries, it was exclusively used for the manufacture of candles, soap and as a mechanical lubricant.
But producing palm oil turns out to be much too profitable.
According to the Research Center for the Study and Observation of Living Conditions (CREDOC), each French person consumed an average of 2.8 g of palm oil per day in his/her diet. We actually consume a lot of it WITHOUT KNOWING IT, by lack of information. It is unhealthy because of its very high content of saturated fatty acids, and this at the cost of Nature and of the many species in which these great apes threatened with extinction in the short term.
LET’S ACT BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE!
We can act against this phenomenon by using our power of consumers against the consequences of the pursuit of profit at all cost:
- Require a warning statement added to nutrition facts label: “Contains palm oil” along with the percentage of content on the packaging of palm oil products;
- Please, take the time to look carefully at the ingredients of industrial food products and cosmetics, and preferably avoid buying any of them. Remember that if you read only “vegetable oil” for food products or “palmitic acids” for cosmetics, it is actually palm oil. Though your choice may be narrower, you always will be able to find palm oil-free products.
As an inhabitant of this Planet, please demand not to keep going with such a disaster of deforestation, which incidentally officially accounts for about 10% of the world’s global warming.
Concerning the already existing crops, request them to be transformed into sustainable culture with partial reforestation between fields.
Thank you for making the difference by signing this petition.