Source: Wetlands International

The UK think thank Policy Exchange has presented the costs of the most important climate measures. Reducing emissions from tropical peatlands is by far the cheapest way of reducing greenhouse gas emissions; using biofuels is by far the most expensive measure.

The study ‘The Root of the Matter’ shows the magnitude of emissions due to peatland and forest loss. Costs for reducing these emissions range from 0,1 euro per tonne carbon dioxide for peatlands to maximum 30 euro for forests. The costs for nuclear energy, the use of hydrogen and especially biofuels are much higher, up to around 600 euro per tonne.

The environmental NGO Wetlands International welcomes the recommendation of the authors to provide much more support to peatland restoration in tropical regions. This is currently a major work field for our organisation.

Peatland restoration

The study confirms the outcomes of studies of Wetlands International and supports our case to give much more attention to the emissions from peatlands in international climate policies (UN-FCCC). Currently, peatlands emissions are largely ignored. They are rarely reported and there are no incentives to reduce the enormous CO2 emission from tropical peatlands.

Read the study (pdf)

Photos courtesy of Juan Carlos Fernandez, orangutan keeper extraordinaire at the San Diego Zoo. Check out the San Diego Zoo’s live ape cam.

Clyde’s birthday box contained a Boomer toy with some nuts and raisins. Fresh grapes were hung all around the exhibit. Clyde had a blast.

Malaysia is desperately trying to market its palm oil as a different entity in the world market with the European Union and other nations looking at south Asian oil with suspicion.

The European nations have been blaming south Asian nations for resorting to deforestation to grow palm plantations causing severe environmental problems.

Concerned over this allegation, Malaysia has decided to brand its palm oil saying that palm plantations in the country are grown on genuine agriculture land.

With the branding, Malaysia hopes to increase its sales. With Malaysia’s commitment towards sustainability, and to continue palm oil industry’s growth, there is urgent need to differentiate the country’s palm oil from that of other producers in the world, said Yusof Basiron, chief executive of Malaysian Palm Oil Council.

Moreover, the European Union plans to put in place strict regulations on using vegetable oils for making biofuels.

According to Yusof, Malaysia is already complying with strict environmental legislation as oil palm is grown on legitimate agricultural land and is not the cause of any wildlife destruction.

The possible brand name for the country’s palm oil could be ‘Malaysiapalm’. This brand will give an assurance that the palm oil produced under this programme comes from plantations grown on legally approved agricultural land in Malaysia.

All plantations producing the branded oil will be licensed, registered and regulated by law through Malaysian Palm Oil Board and will be verifiable by auditors. Even a certificate of assurance could be offered to buyers that the palm oil is derived from legitimate agricultural land.

Under the EU’s proposed directive, which may be finalised by next year, production of biofuels will be encouraged from those vegetable oils that have been grown without causing damage to the environment.

Malaysia’s programme will be voluntary. A logo will differentiate branded palm oil from the non-branded volumes.

Source: http://www.commodityonline.com/news/Brand-wagon-to-help-Malaysia-sell-palm-oil-11377-3-1.html

By DANNY YAP

Award of first RSPO cert to United Plantations changes whole ball game for the industry

KUALA LUMPUR: United Plantations Bhd being awarded the world’s first Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) certificate on Tuesday has a significance beyond a company-specific milestone.

It sets the benchmark for other players in the industry to follow suit.

More importantly, it changes the whole ball game for industry players as those with RSPO certification would be deemed the “preferred” palm oil companies by the big international buyers, who are likely to insist on dealing with producers that practise sustainability.

Other large palm oil players in Malaysia and countries like Indonesia have taken note of the bar being raised in the industry, and a number of them are in various stages of preparation for RSPO certification.

However, there are some questions that beg to be answered: What about the small and medium palm oil players which might not have the human resource and capital to undergo such a stringent test of sustainability? Would they be marginalised for the lack of RSPO certification?

These smaller players might be wondering what the future would hold for them in the name of sustainability.

Hopefully, the migration to RSPO certification will not be too detrimental for the smaller players, as assured by some RSPO experts and affiliates at the United Plantations’ RSPO certificate presentation ceremony.

They said that fair consideration and time would be given to these players to move to an “acceptable level” of sustainabiilty.

An RSPO certification expert said the organisation was looking seriously at the issue and how to make adjustments for the smaller players so that they would not be marginalised.

The move by the palm oil industry to have a sustainable business model is likely to set a precedent for a slew of commodities to be produced by sustainable means.

Stringent standards similar to the RSPO for the palm oil industry are likely to be introduced in a host of commodity-based industries.

This will have far-reaching implications in terms of the survival of many big as well as small players in the various industries.

Source: http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/8/28/business/1902087&sec=business

Click on the drawing to see a larger version in a new window.

By Kami Lanting

Our daughter Hannah thoroughly enjoys the Orangutan Island program. It has truly inspired her and she now has a huge place in her heart for the orangutans. She often tells anyone new she meets about the orangutans on the island, what they have gone through and some of the dangers they still face, such as the pit viper.

Hannah adores Lone and her staff and is grateful for all they do. One day she wants to go to Borneo to help them. For now, she spends all her time drawing pictures for Lone! She is even saving her money so that she can make a donation to help protect the orangutans.

When I asked Hannah what she would like to say about the orangutans, she told me:

“I want those people who are cutting down those trees to please stop! The orangutans need them for their homes. Please don’t cut down anymore! I hope they stop so that Daisy, Donald, Cha-Cha and Jasmine have a long life.”

Keep up the great work and thank you for inspiring my daughter!

~~~~~

Thank YOU, Hannah and Kami… for inspiring us to keep working to save the orangutans! ~ Rich

Watch the Video

Source: http://www.peta.org/mc/NewsItem.asp?id=11874

Oscar Winner Stars in Heartfelt Role in PETA Video About Cruelty to Great Apes Used in Film and Television

For Immediate Release: August 27, 2008

Contact: Michael McGraw 757-622-7382

Los Angeles — “Having worked with actors for many years, I find it hard to believe that anyone would have to be dragged, kicking and screaming, into show business. But the next time that you see a chimpanzee in a movie, on TV, or in an ad, chances are, that’s exactly what happened.” So says Academy Award-winning actor Anjelica Huston in a hard-hitting new video that she hosted for PETA, in which she exposes a type of abuse that tears at her heart: the use and abuse of young chimpanzees and orangutans by the entertainment industry.

In the video–which PETA is sending on her behalf to Hollywood producers and directors and to advertising agencies along with a plea to end all use of great apes–Huston explains, “It’s a sad story that starts when the animals are babies, when they are torn away from their mothers and forced to depend upon human trainers. Great ape mothers are fiercely protective of their newborns, which means that they must be tricked, sedated, or forcibly restrained when their infants are pulled from their arms. This cruel practice leaves lifelong emotional scars on both the mothers–who go into a deep depression–and the babies.”

Huston goes on to describe how young animals are beaten with fists and kicked in the head during terrifying training sessions. Trainers have also used sawed-off pool cues and electric shocks to make young animals obey and perform meaningless and confusing tricks on the set over and over again for long hours at a time. By age 8, young chimpanzees and orangutans used in the entertainment industry have grown too strong to be handled, and PETA has found them discarded–often at dismal roadside zoos or filthy pseudo-sanctuaries. There, they can languish for decades–chimpanzees can live to age 60–in barren cages or dank, barren concrete cells with nothing to do and no companionship.

Reports of abuse continue to plague Hollywood productions that use great apes. In the filming of this year’s box office bomb Speed Racer, a young chimpanzee was hit on the set. PETA is asking the entertainment industry to use only computer-generated imagery (CGI) or animatronics when scripts call for animals.

For more information and to view Huston’s video, please visit NoMoreMonkeyBusiness.com.

Big thanks to Amanda Enright at OrangAction for bringing this to our attention… ~ Rich
Visit her sight

Woolworths buys raw material for its “Select” brand of paper from the corrupt Indonesian company, Asian Paper and Pulp (APP). Even while other companies shun APP’s environmentally and ethically tainted products, Woolworth’s only motive is profit.

The General Manager – Private Label, Greg Calvert stated that their “mission is to source the best-quality and best-priced products to satisfy our customers needs”. There is no room in Woolworth’s selection criteria regime for good environmental stewardship – “trash and profit” is their catch-cry.

Recently Woolworths has announced that it will drop its contract with APP but the announcement was vague and many are concerned that Woolworths will re-establish its trade connections with APP once the controversy has died down.

Now is the opportune time to persuade Woolworths to stop financially profiting from rainforest destruction, indigenous impoverishment and displacement and wildlife annihilation. Tell Woolworths to cancel their contract with APP forever.

Please write to CEO Michael Luscombe at mluscombe@woolworths.com.au, Greg Calvert at gcalvert@woolworths.com.au, Woolworths Group Sustainability Manager, Armineh Mardirossian at mardirossian@woolworths.com.au and homeshop@woolworths.com.au just to send the message home.

Dear Mr Luscombe,

I wish to complain about your use of paper products sourced from the Indonesian timber company Asian Paper and Pulp (APP) in your ‘Select’ brand of paper.

Woolworths has announced that it is dropping its contract with APP, but concerned groups like “Wake Up Woolworths” have genuine concern that this vague assertion will soon be forgotten if Woolworth’s past conduct is anything to go by.

Asian Paper and Pulp (APP) has one of the worst reputations of any fibre manufacturer in the world, earning the honour of “triple bottom line unsustainable”. As a result, they have been dropped as a supplier by many reputable international companies – eg. Office Depot, Wal-Mart, and Staples.

In 2004-2005 alone, 70 percent of APP’s logging was in natural forests. They are notorious for converting rainforest into plantations which they then harvest unsustainably. In additional they have been caught logging illegally in both China and Indonesia. Their activities have resulted in removing indigenous people from their land and placing endangered species like the orangutan in real peril of extinction.

APP is building a road through the buffer zone of Bukit Tigapuluh National Park in Sumatra. The Perth Zoo recently released a female orangutan, Temara, into this National Park with the goal of rebuilding the orangutan population. Due to its inaccessible nature, this National Park was one of the last safe havens for orangutans on the island of Sumatra. The road will provide easy access for loggers, hunters and poachers who will undermine the zoo’s work and place the entire orangutan population of this significant National Park in great danger.

A year ago, Woolworths designed their own “environmentally friendly’ label for their ‘Select’ brand of paper sourced from APP in an attempt to fool consumers. An investigation by the ACCC resulted in Woolworths removing this false, green washing claim. And today, Woolworths continues to buy its paper products from APP even though the disgusting environmental record of this company has been brought to its full attention.

Even after Woolworths was informed of APP’s shameful involvement in the serious undermining of our own unique Australian orangutan rehabilitation and release initiative, they still have not reviewed and changed their paper sourcing decisions. If the released orangutan, Temara, falls prey to hunters that have been introduced to the Bukit Tigapuluh National Park through the road building activities of APP, Woolworth’s “Select” brand of paper products will bear witness to this sacrifice and her death will come to represent the depravity of corporate greed.

Woolworth’s decision to continue purchasing paper products from APP is an economic decision, pure and simple. The cheapest paper supplier is selling the soul of the rainforest to Woolworth’s and Woolworths is passing this terrible legacy on to all it unknowing customers. And in the process, Woolworths is undermining those Australian companies who are doing the right thing – who are purchasing their paper products locally, for a fair price, from Australian plantation timbers.

By buying from an Indonesian paper company like APP, Woolworths is supporting the unethical and often illegal deforestation practices that are directly contributing to the suffering of local people, the extinction of biodiversity and the fuelling of global warming.

Woolworths must wake up to the environmental and ethical responsibility it has to its customers. The future of rainforest habitat is of the highest critical nature. This precious natural resource is the responsibility of the world to protect, including Woolworths. Buy locally. Stop putting money into the pocket of rainforest destroyers and orangutan killers. Drop Asian Pulp and Paper as a supplier for good.

Yours sincerely,
Amanda Enright