Destroying the Last Rainforests: Palm Oil in Indonesia
Friday, October 31st, 2008Written by Rita Sastrawan/BOS International

The establishment of oil palm plantations in Kalimantan and Sumatra constitutes the biggest threat to orangutans today. In fact, the clearing of forests and the establishment of oil palm plantations does not only put the orangutan close to extinction, it also contributes to climate change by emitting large amounts of CO2, brings water cycles out of balance and poisons water with pesticides and fertilisers. The establishment of oil palm plantations has many negative impacts on local communities, additional to changed climate and undrinkable water, oil palm companies have often stood in the centre of land right conflicts and demonstrations against socially unfair practices.
Although many people are aware of these facts and oppose the development of agro-fuels from palm oil and the establishment of these plantations, the destruction of the rainforest continues.
You may only really understand the effects of land clearing once you have seen it with your own eyes, even more if you witnessed the rescue of orangutans or experience breathing difficulties and stinging eyes as a result of the smoke of burning forest and peat. When we consume destructive palm oil in crispy chips or delicious chocolate, or wash our hands with sweetly fragranced soap, we are very rarely aware of the adverse effects of our activities. As consumers, we don’t feel the negative impacts and we can’t imagine the way our behaviour influences nature and the lives of people on the other side of the planet. As a result of our ignorance, the business with the destructive oil continues and the market keeps growing.
Unilever is one of the biggest palm oil consumers worldwide, using 1.3 Mt every year. Its heart-shaped ice cream brand and numerous other known soaps and detergents as Dove, Sunsilk, Omo, as well as food brands Knorr, Blue Band, Becel, Best Foods, Ben & Jerry’s and Findus are only a few of many Unilever-owned companies.

Avoiding products which may contain palm oil is nearly impossible, but as consumers, we can all try to do what we can. Many consumers, in fact, have made an effort to avoid products containing palm oil, and Unilever was forced to respond and has promised improvement by way of ensuring the palm oil they use is “sustainably” produced. But where should sustainable palm oil come from? As demand for palm oil worldwide is extremely high, it can’t be fulfilled with sustainable palm oil only, simply because there is not enough available.
With limited supplies of certified sustainable palm oil available in the market, Unilever has to buy unsustainable palm oil from producing companies, one of which is Wilmar Group, the biggest palm oil trading company in the world, handling at least a quarter of all global palm oil output. Besides supplying Unilever with palm oil, Nestle and Cargill are also amongst Wilmar’s customers.
Not only are we eating palm oil, washing our clothes and our bodies with palm oil, fuelling our cars and using electricity produced with palm oil, even our money savings in banks are often invested in destroying our own planet. Financiers of Unilever´s supplier Wilmar are Rabobank, ABM Amro, Standard Chartered Bank, Citibank, IFC of the World Bank, OCBC Bank, Fortis and ING Bank.

Wilmar International was founded by Mr Martua Sitorus, an Indonesian of Chinese origin from Medan, and Mr Kuok, owner of PBB Oil of the Malaysian Kuok Group. Recently, Wilmar merged with the Malaysian Kuok Group and the American Archer Daniels Midland, ADM, to form the broader Wilmar group. Corporate Accountability International has named ADM one of the worst corporations and reserves a place for them in their hall of shame.
Just as Unilever has many brands which one might have thought were independent local companies, Wilmar International also has plantations under different company names and additionally buys palm oil from family related companies, as from the Indonesian Ganda Group. Wilmar’s plantations are situated in Sumatra, Kalimantan, Malaysia and Uganda. Wilmar´s plantation area in Indonesia alone covers about 800,000 ha, and are proposed to expand up to 1 mio ha, an area as large as South Korea. Two-third of this land area is not yet planted with palms, but will have to be cleared of forest.
Last year a case study was published by Milieudefensie (Friends of the Earth Netherlands), and the Indonesian Lembaga Gemawan and Kontak Rakyat Borneo, which showed evidence of illegal clear cutting, burning and land right abuses in Wilmar-owned plantations in Kalimantan. Forest where orangutans were known to live has been cleared illegally. Plantations have been established without official permissions and Environment Impact Assessments. Wilmar International has reacted on the immense pressure of NGOs and has admitted in February 2008, that it has violated its own plantation development policies in Indonesia.
Now, as Wilmar is planning to set up plantations in Central Kalimantan, Borneo, large-scale forest destruction and burning awaits that region. With the merge of PPB Palm Oil and Wilmar International, Wilmar now has 16 subsidiaries in Central Kalimantan alone. Most of the approximately 250,000 ha still is not yet developed. Another 250,000 ha in Central Kalimantan are allocated for plantations of other companies; concessions of 1 mio ha have been given out already.
No more forest should be allowed to be cut down for plantations – this recommendation hopefully will be the result from the “The Strategy and Action Plan for National Conservation of Orangutans”, and this should be enforced and implemented. “To save orangutans we must save the forests,” the Indonesian President has said in December 2007. That is quite true, but its implementation looks quite different. Companies are still cutting down forest and using fire on peat land as the cheapest and quickest method to establish new oil-palm plantations.
As the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation looks into the future, we see a nightmare relentlessly approaching us. Forests will be burning, orangutans fleeing and dying of hunger. Borneo is a hotspot of endemic plants and animals, creatures most people haven’t seen in their lives, natural medicines which the Dayak tribes have knowledge of, but Borneo is also a hotspot of destruction, suffering and death.
Let your voice be heard. We, as consumers are driving the market. Because of our consumption, companies make a profit from rainforest destruction.
Be concerned about your consuming behaviour and show your concern by writing to companies. Help us to save what is left! BOS and other organisations need your co-operation in fighting forest destruction. Prove President Yudhoyono right, when he said: “This is a time when all these initiatives have new hope for success, even for avoided deforestation.”
Sources and further Information:
Policy, Practice, Pride and Prejudice, A Review of legal, environmental and social practices of oil palm plantation companies of the Wilmar Group in Sambas District, West Kalimantan, July 2007, a joint publication of Milieudefensie, Lembaga Gemawan and Kontak Rakyat Borneo is available in English at http://www.milieudefensie.nl/english/forests
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Buyers and Financiers of the Wilmar Group, Profundo, July 2007; Making Waves, Greenpeace weblog, 17/Nov/07; Reuters 13/May/2008 http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/UPDATE-3-Wilmar-profit-soars-sees-prices-staying-f-ELPW3?OpenDocument, http://www.rspo.org/Complaint_against_Wilmar_International_Ltd.aspx.
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http://www.greenpeace.org/raw/content/usa/press-center/reports4/how-unilever-palm-oil-supplier.pdf
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http://news.smh.com.au/world/indonesia-treasures-rainforest-says-sby-20071210-1g77.html#






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