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Shoppers 'are threat to orang-utans'

 
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Behemoth



Joined: 01 Dec 2004
Posts: 19023
Location: Leeds
PostPosted: Fri Sep 23, 05 8:55 am    Post subject: Shoppers 'are threat to orang-utans' Reply with quote
    

https://www.foe.co.uk/

Shoppers 'threat to orang-utans'

Demand for crisps, bread, lipstick and soap could drive orang-utans to extinction, research suggests. The UK alone imports nearly a million tonnes of palm oil a year for use in such products, but campaigners say plantations for it destroy rainforests.
Friends of the Earth and international ape conservation groups warn in a report that 90% of the animals' habitat in South East Asia has been wiped out.

Their research claims the apes could become extinct within 12 years. The groups claim British supermarkets do not know where their palm oil is produced.

They are calling on the government to give company directors a legal duty to minimise their environmental impacts. Friends of the Earth palm oil campaigner Ed Matthew accused the government of "failing to clean up its own backyard".

He said: "Over 100 UK companies and every single British supermarket is helping fuel the obliteration of orang-utan habitat."
'Corporate greed'

The report, the Oil for Ape Scandal, said palm oil plantations have now become the primary cause of the orang-utans' decline in Malaysia and Indonesia.

Some experts estimated 5,000 orang-utans perished as a result every year.

The research claimed at least 84% of UK companies failed to take effective action to ensure they do not buy palm oil from destructive sources.

Ian Redmond, chairman of the Ape Alliance, said if the government failed to act, "it is we who will have to explain to our children that the orang-utan became extinct because of corporate greed and a lack of political will".

judith



Joined: 16 Dec 2004
Posts: 22789
Location: Montgomeryshire
PostPosted: Fri Sep 23, 05 8:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Yes, I heard that on Today this morning. Just as I was planning to buy some palm oil for soap-making

Leonie



Joined: 13 Sep 2005
Posts: 731
Location: West Sussex
PostPosted: Fri Sep 23, 05 9:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

That is sad to hear . I've used palm oil for soap making in the past, I'll make sure I don't buy it again. My recipes I use now use vegetable shortening, olive and calendula oil...I'll stick with that recipe.

tahir



Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45389
Location: Essex
PostPosted: Fri Sep 23, 05 9:45 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

The problem is that demonising palm oil isn't going to change a thing, the land will still be cleared for other purposes, people in the developing world want to catch up with us financially, they (by and large) don't care how.

I think it'd be a miracle if any of the great apes make it through to the end of the 21st century as wild animals

dougal



Joined: 15 Jan 2005
Posts: 7184
Location: South Kent
PostPosted: Fri Sep 23, 05 10:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I'm with Tahir on this.

I heard the 'spin' this morning on the radio, but I thought "c**p".

Habitat conservation is a matter for the (sadly relatively restricted) area wherein Orang Utangs live.

Palm Oil is produced, I believe, right around the tropics.

Its hardly a 'good' dietary oil, being very saturated.
But it is damn useful, and an important economic crop in many countries.
The yield of oil, per acre, is one of the highest for any oil-bearing crop.
And yes, that does mean its used as a biofuel, and shows great promise of being an important source of biodiesel raw material.
But that DOES NOT NECESSARILY mean *any* harm to Orang Utangs.

Lozzie



Joined: 25 May 2005
Posts: 2595

PostPosted: Fri Sep 23, 05 10:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

I now feel in quite a quandry about this.

sean
Downsizer Moderator


Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42207
Location: North Devon
PostPosted: Fri Sep 23, 05 10:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Lozzie wrote:
I now feel in quite a quandry about this.


Ah, but that's what trying to act ethically is all about.

Behemoth



Joined: 01 Dec 2004
Posts: 19023
Location: Leeds
PostPosted: Fri Sep 23, 05 10:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

My quandry is often felt.

sean
Downsizer Moderator


Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 42207
Location: North Devon
PostPosted: Fri Sep 23, 05 10:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Behemoth wrote:
My quandry is often felt.


Get one of the cotton ones, they're much easier to clean.

Res



Joined: 07 Apr 2005
Posts: 1172
Location: Allotment Shed, Harlow
PostPosted: Fri Sep 23, 05 10:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

tahir wrote:
I think it'd be a miracle if any of the great apes make it through to the end of the 21st century as wild animals


Well said Tahir. I totally agree

What is ironic, is that we try and impose on third world countries to take steps to preserve habitats, which is good BUT, we are crap at looking after our own native woodlands, marshlands etc.etc. Makes me mad

Res



Joined: 07 Apr 2005
Posts: 1172
Location: Allotment Shed, Harlow
PostPosted: Fri Sep 23, 05 11:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

sean wrote:
Behemoth wrote:
My quandry is often felt.


Get one of the cotton ones, they're much easier to clean.



Andy B



Joined: 12 Jan 2005
Posts: 3920
Location: Brum
PostPosted: Fri Sep 23, 05 11:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

The bottom line is that for a lot of people its either the animals or them, not many people think about room for both. The only ones that do are people in the first world who have already got rid of their big animals and would do the same again tommorow if neccesary.

Res



Joined: 07 Apr 2005
Posts: 1172
Location: Allotment Shed, Harlow
PostPosted: Fri Sep 23, 05 11:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Andy B wrote:
The bottom line is that for a lot of people its either the animals or them, not many people think about room for both. The only ones that do are people in the first world who have already got rid of their big animals and would do the same again tommorow if neccesary.


EXACTLY MY SENTIMENTS!

Thanks Andy

Bec



Joined: 28 Nov 2004
Posts: 71
Location: Newquay, Cornwall
PostPosted: Sun Sep 25, 05 1:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

And now tigers are believed to become extinct in just 5 years if people keep buying their skins
Bec

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