Demand for palm oil, a vegetable oil present in 1 in 10 supermarket products, is the most significant cause of rainforest loss in Malaysia and Indonesia. In Indonesia, the area of land occupied by palm oil plantations has doubled in the last 10 years. Palm oil is found in bread, crackers, chips, margarine and cereals as well as many personal care and beauty products. The majority of palm plantations (even ones producing organic palm oil) are grown on areas of cleared rainforest ... which can have implications for local wildlife species, including Orang-utan populations who live in the indigenous forest. Demand for palm oil is fuelling the destruction of virgin rainforest in South East Asia, the only remaining home of the orang-utan. Almost 90 percent of the orangutan's habitat in Indonesia and Malaysia has now been destroyed. Reports worryingly predict that the palm oil industry could drive the orang-utan to extinction within 12 years.
Other species are also under threat by the growing emergence of palm oil plantation, and the resulting cleanrance of rainforest; these include: Sumatran tiger: The Sumatran tiger is one of only five remaining tiger subspecies, reduced from eight by recent extinctions. Only 250 of these animals may now exist in the wild.
Bornean and Sumatran orang-utans: These are the only great apes that exist outside of Africa. Both species are in crisis and may well become extinct within 12 years. One study found that the orang-utan population decreased by 45 percent in the 1990s, and much of their remaining habitat is slated for conversion to oil palm agriculture.
Asian elephant: Only about 2,900 elephants are estimated to remain in all of Sumatra, 800 in peninsular Malaysia, and 1,000 in Borneo. The home range of one family of elephants is about 25 to 65 square miles, so a breeding subpopulation of 20 elephant families would need to roam over about 500 to 1,300 square miles.
Sumatran rhinoceros: The two biggest threats to the Sumatran rhino are illegal hunting and habitat loss. Road building shrinks the animals' travel corridors and makes them more accessible to poachers. Their total population is estimated at fewer than 400. (With thanks to Jenny from Akamuti for this additional research)
Read more about the problems caused by palm oil plantations and see what you can do to help stop the destruction of the rainforests, on the Friends of the Earth website: http://www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/biodiversity/case_studies/palm_oil/
At Pure Skin Care, we are extremely concerned with the use of palm oil which has been obtained from destructive sources. In March 2007 we contacted our suppliers to find out whether they have already moved away from the use of palm oil in their products (or plan to do so), or, if they do use palm oil, whether this is obtained from sustainable sources.
Read what our suppliers' ethos is on the palm oil issue below
Pure Nuff Stuff
Pure Nuff Stuff have reformulated all of their soaps so that they do not contain any palm oil. No other product in the Pure Nuff Stuff range uses palm oil.
Essential Care
"Due to concerns over wildlife habitat destruction, we do not use palm oil in any of our products."
Balm Balm
Balm Balm do not use any palm oil in their products.
Yaoh
"We don’t use palm oil in our products, only things like hemp and coconut. We are aware of the destruction that palm oil is causing, and urge anyone to replace palm oil products with hemp ones, as they are better for you and better for the environment!!"
Akamuti
"The palm oil we use is 100% sustainable & all our products are free from plantation palm oil. The palm oil used is wildcrafted & sustainably harvested from palms growing naturally & wild across Togo. They have not been 'planted' & no forests have been cleared to grow them. We only use oil from the native palm tree not the hybrid kind."
Trevarno Organics
Trevarno Organics has made the conscious decision only to use Certified Sustainable Palm Oil in their products. This is obtained from a supplier who is a member of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), which has as its objective the promotion of the sustainable production of palm oil.
The palm oil Weleda use (a component in the ingredient Glyceryl Sterate SE) is Certified Sustainable Palm Oil and is also certified Organic according to EU organic regulation.
Dr Bronner
"Dr. Bronner Organic Palm Oil (used in their soap bars only) is supplied by Daabon International, a member and sponsor of the Round Table on Sustainable Palm (http://www.rspo.org/) a world-wide organization of palm growers, refiners and importers who are committed to sustainability. Our palm oil comes from Columbia, so there is absolutely no infringement on the South East Asian orangutan’s habitat. By early 2007 the round table on sustainable palm oil will have created a certification procedure and seal that identifies palm oil growers and refiners who meet these standards. In the meantime, the farming and refinery operators of our supplier were certified by ProForest (www.proforest.net) which ensures that they meet strict social, environmental and technical criteria. With regard to environmental criteria, the ProForest assessments are carried out at the landscape and operational level at both the plantations and processing facilities. These assessments cover environmental impact on the soil, water, air, biodiversity and local communities. This certification protects natural forest by ensuring that no plantations are planted on lands deforested since the end of 1994."
Aubrey Organics
The only products which Aubrey Organics make which contain palm oil are their cleansing bars/soaps. The company source their palm oil from a supplier which is a member of the RSPO (Roundtable Sustainable Palm Oil Organisation), the organisation which promotes the growth and use of sustainable palm oil through co-operation within the supply chain.
