After viewing the heart-wrenching film Rise of the Eco-Warriors, in which a group of inspiring young people set off for Borneo to see first-hand the catastrophic effects palm oil plantations are having on the rainforests there, I was initially despairing as the problem just seemed too big and too far gone.
But then one feisty young eco-warrior said, ‘It just makes me want to fight!’, and I started thinking, ‘What can we do?’
One immediate thing is just stop buying products with palm oil in them. There’s a website (www.orangutans.com.au) which gives lists of the various products that are palm oil free in Australia.
Consumer awareness translating into people’s purchasing choices is a hugely powerful tool against greedy, heedless international companies destroying developing countries’ livelihoods for quick-term gain.
We can all help.
Sue Vader, Wilsons Creek
It is a shame that this film did not present any sustainable solutions for the crisis created by the unsustainable production of palm oil. All the major NGOs working on this issue, such as Greenpeace, Rainforest Action Network, Oxfam, WWF, Orangutan Land Trust and others, do NOT suggest boycotting palm oil. Instead, we ask the public to encourage companies to commit to deforestation-free and exploitation-free Certified Sustainable Palm Oil. Only this will change what is really happening on the ground.
Michelle Desilets
Executive Director
Orangutan Land Trust