the orange testicle is DESTROYING the nation's national parks AND FOR WHAT? his regime has spent more money in just a FEW DAYS on murdering innocent Iranian schoolgirls than spent on ALL national parks in ONE YEAR
#ecocide #NationalParks #biodiversity morethanjustparks.substack.com…
Operation Epic Fury has burned through more in a few days than Congress spends on every national park in a year. And the meter’s still running.Will Pattiz (More Than Just Parks)
Our wild boars, deer & several birds completely disappeared from our ecosystems after US terrorists sprayed Agent Orange over our matriarch village lands. We lost 3/4 of wild jungles from that aerial terrorism & all of our food crops.
I spoke out about this in a documentary film.
Every war involves #ecocide. Legal wars or not.
This #Halloween, as you revel in terrifying tales and creepy costumes, remember that the most terrifying tale of all isn’t enjoyable folklore—it’s the horrifying truth about palm oil. This ingredient causes #deforestation, #ecocide, #humanrights abuses and #indigenous land-grabbing. The production of #palmoil casts a dark shadow over our planet, as it can only be grown on destroyed tropical rainforests. So-called “sustainable” palm oil used by the world’s biggest food brands like Nestle, Mondelez, Hersheys, Ferrero and Mars is a complete greenwashing lie. So don’t buy any of it! All palm oil threatens the very existence of wildlife, polluting our air and water, accelerates climate change, and tramples on the rights of indigenous communities worldwide. This Halloween, take action and use your wallet as a weapon. 🌍🌳🦍 #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife
What is #Halloween’s most terrifying tale? #Palmoil #greenwashing 🧐💰🤑👿 #ecocide contained in your favourite #chocolate ☠️🌴🪔☠️ and #candy! Take action for #wildlife when you #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect palmoildetectives.com/2023/10/…
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DYK so-called “sustainable” #palmoil is a #greenwashing lie that still causes #deforestation?🤯 Learn how to #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife this #Halloween 🎃👻🪦 Instead enjoy #palmoilfree and #vegan treats and #candy @palmoildetect palmoildetectives.com/2023/10/…
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Palm oil is commonly used in Halloween candies and treats for one reason only – it is cheap to manufacture.
The production of palm oil has severe environmental and social impacts. Deforestation and ecocide caused by palm oil production threatens wildlife habitats, contributes to air pollution and water pollution, is strongly linked to climate change, and infringes on the rights of indigenous peoples all over the tropical world.
Although proponents of palm oil claim that it helps farmers to earn a living wage, a 2021 report by Chain Reaction Research found that the world’s biggest brands earn the lion’s share of profit from palm oil, 66% or more of gross profit flows back to the world’s biggest FMCG companies such as Nestle, Unilever, Hersheys and Colgate-Palmolive. In contrast, almost 0% of profit flows back to farmers themselves.
Palm Oil Detectives is a website that gathers together evidence from dozens of different sources in order to clearly show the elaborate and widespread greenwashing of so-called “sustainable” palm oil. Take a look at the 10 forms of “sustainable” palm oil greenwashing to see how this works, using a network of zoos and fake NGOs in order to push the narrative of “sustainable” palm oil to consumers.
University of Michigan research reveals that RSPO certification is associated with deforestation and human rights abuses in Guatemala. Boycott palm oil! The…
71 rights groups warn that certification schemes like RSPO and FSC fail to stop deforestation and abuses. Learn why they are called…
A 5-month investigation by Elfredah Kevin-Alerechi and Kevin Woke of Sahara Reporters reveals how RSPO member SIAT Nigeria Limited is involved in…
Greenwashing Tactic 9. Corporations use NGOs, Zoo partnerships, sponsorships, and research funding to give an industry or brand a ‘green image.
This website also provides evidence in the form of many research papers and reports from many non-profits (those organisations not partnered with the palm oil supply chain). These reports expose the immense corruption, ecocide and greenwashing in the palm oil industry along with its human rights abuses, violence, land-grabbing and animal cruelty – all associated with RSPO members supposedly using “sustainable” palm oil.
Since its inception two decades ago, the global certification for palm oil the RSPO continues to promote “sustainable” palm oil. Yet not one of its supply chain members has actually eradicated deforestation or human rights abuses from their palm oil supply chains. This constant promotion of the palm oil industry in spite of evidence of its ongoing failures is clear evidence of the RSPO’s greenwashing.
Palm Oil Free
Brands to Boycott
The global demand for palm oil contributes significantly to deforestation, particularly in countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, Brazil, Colombia, Nigeria and Uganda. These regions are rich in biodiversity, and the loss of their rainforests impacts numerous species non-human beings of all shapes and sizes. This includes not only the poster child for palm oil ecocide – the three orangutan species, but also rare and endangered plants and animal species.
From the smallest insect to the most magnificent elephant, to exquisite and vibrantly coloured birds – all are under threat by palm oil’s relentless growth across all tropical regions of the world. Indigenous peoples with their unique cultures, customs and languages are also endangered by palm oil expansion as well.
If this terrifying tale of palm oil has alarmed you, the good news is – there are actions you can take.
One powerful and effective way to help rare animals, plants and indigenous peoples is to use your wallet as a weapon and boycott palm oil. By learning how to identify palm oil in products and choosing products that are palm oil free, you can contribute to reducing demand for this destructive commodity.
A great place to start is by searching for palm oil-free alternatives on this website and also by promoting the #Boycottpalmoil and #Boycott4Wildlife on movement on social media.
Remember, every purchase you make has an impact. This Halloween, support the wildlife you love and use your wallet as a weapon.
The reality of these chocolate and confectionery brands is the spookiest story you will ever hear this Halloween Learn how to boycott with handy lists for the US, Uk and Australia. Discover the spookiest story of #Halloween 🎃👻💀: “sustainable” #palmoil is not sustainable! Major brands continue to buy #palmoil infused with #ecocide. Make sure you…
#Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #candy #chocolate #confectionery #consumerBoycott #consumerRights #Danone #deforestation #ecocide #ethicalConsumerism #greenwashing #Halloween #Hersheys #HumanRights #indigenous #Mars #Mondelez #Nestle #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #palmoilfree #treats #vegan #wildlife
This #Halloween, as you revel in the spooky tales and creepy costumes, remember that the most terrifying tale of all isn't enjoyable folklore—it's the horrif...Palm Oil Detectives (YouTube)
Air Pollution from Palm Oil: A Human Rights Issue
Forest-fire haze drifting from Indonesia to neighbouring countries every dry season has eluded efforts to curb it.Land clearing by burning is prohibited in Indonesia and Malaysia. However, penalising foreign companies for palm oil and timber deforestation has been hampered by cronyism and corruption.
Under-explored legal avenues may provide new solutions to the decades-old problem.
Everybody in the world deserves to breath in #cleanair. #Palmoil air #pollution is a global problem. Domestic and international laws could combat it together and provide solutions. #TheAirWeShare Story via @360info_global #Boycottpalmoil @palmoildetect palmoildetectives.com/2024/03/…
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Share to TwitterPenalising foreign companies for #palmoil and #timber #deforestation in #Indonesia and #Malaysia has been hampered by #cronyism and #corruption at the highest levels of government. Story: @360info_global #TheAirWeShare #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife palmoildetectives.com/2024/03/…
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Share to TwitterWritten by Cecep Aminudin, a PhD candidate in environmental law at Padjadjaran University, Indonesia. Originally published as ‘Laying down the law on air pollution’ by 360info.org and republished under Creative Commons License.
Forest and land fires in Indonesia have attracted global attention since the great fires in 1982–83 and 1997–98. Large haze events occurred again in 2007, 2012 and 2015, causing international alarm and cross-border pollution throughout Southeast Asia. Smoke from these sorts of fires is the biggest source of air pollution in Indonesia after transportation and energy emissions.
Companies – mostly oil-palm producers – have usedfire as a tool to clear forests and peatland areas for agriculture, even though Indonesia and Malaysia are well aware of the need to strictly enforce bans on the practice.
- Indonesian and Malaysian laws since the 1997 haze event have not prevented local burning.
- And penalising foreign companies for their actions in Indonesia and Malaysia has been hampered by cronyism and corruption, lack of awareness and education, weaknesses in the institutional framework and lack of political will.
- Also, the penalties are too low to deter further pollution.
- In recent years Indonesia’s environment ministry has brought more land- and forest-fire cases to court. Civil laws holding businesses accountable for the fires they cause have had some effect, according to a ministry report.
The ministry filed 21 cases between January 2015 and September 2020, and of these 10 were successful and 11 are still pending. Businesses have been ordered to pay compensation and restoration costs totalling almost US$1.38 billion.These outcomes are related to the application of the precautionary principle in decision-making by Indonesian civil courts, as is common in environmental cases that involve scientific evidence.
According to this principle, lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used to make a decision regarding environmental protection. Indonesian courts applied the precautionary principle in the determining liable party and judging evidence even when there was scientific uncertainty.
Providing sufficient evidence in forest- and land-fire cases is often very difficult
Scientific evidence in the form of studies and expert opinion plays a crucial role in proving illegal fires have occurred, who started them, and how much environmental damage and loss they have caused.Laboratory test reports can also be used as evidence in civil environmental-justice cases. Entirely at the judge’s discretion, these reports can be treated as expert testimony. Their relevance, which includes validity and reliability, and support from other expert testimonies, is a critical point in a judge’s decision to admit them as compelling legal evidence.
External regulation could complement and support the legal framework in each Southeast Asian country to ensure the activities of transnational companies meet environmental standards and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) notion of cooperation.
Holding palm oil companies to account for air pollution under international law
A legitimate legislative framework could impose and enforce international environmental standards recognised under human rights obligations. In this way, palm oil plantation companies could be held accountable under international law for the pollution they cause elsewhere.The victims of transboundary pollution and other environmental destruction are the people whose health will suffer, either in the short or the long term. Many countries have also suffered economic loss from direct damage and loss of economic activity.
Holding polluters accountable will not just uphold domestic laws but also demonstrate political willingness to recognise air pollution as a human rights issue.Cecep Aminudin is a PhD candidate in environmental law at Padjadjaran University, Bandung, Indonesia. He is the Chairman of ECOTAS, a research institute on sustainability. Apart from pursuing his doctoral degree, Aminudin conducts research, delivers training and consults on environmental law. He declares no conflict of interest in relation to this article and does not receive special funds in any form.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™.
Written by Cecep Aminudin, a PhD candidate in environmental law at Padjadjaran University, Indonesia. Originally published as ‘Laying down the law on air pollution’ by 360info.org and republished under Creative Commons License.
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A 2019 World Health Organisation (WHO) report into the palm oil industry finds extensive greenwashing of human rights abuses, deforestation, air pollution and human health impacts
Big brands using “sustainable” RSPO palm oil yet still causing deforestation (there are many others)
Nestlé
Nestlé is destroying rainforests, releasing mega-tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere, and killing hundreds of endangered species. Once these animals are gone – they are gone for good. See Nestlé’s full list of…
Read moreby Palm Oil DetectivesFebruary 9, 2021March 2, 2025
Colgate-Palmolive
Despite global retail giant Colgate-Palmolive forming a coalition with other brands in 2020, virtue-signalling that they will stop all deforestation, they continue to do this – destroying rainforest and releasing mega-tonnes of carbon…
Read more
Mondelēz
Mondelez destroys rainforests, sending animals extinct and release mega-tonnes of carbon into air for so-called “sustainable” palm oil. Boycott them!
Read more
Unilever
In 2020, global retail giant Unilever unveiled a deforestation-free supply chain promise. By 2023 they would be deforestation free. This has been and gone and they are still causing deforestation. This brand has…
Read more
Danone
Savvy consumers have been pressuring French Dairy multinational Danone for decades to cease using deforestation palm oil. Yet they actually haven’t stopped this. From their website: ‘Danone is committed to eliminating deforestation from…
Read more
PepsiCo
Despite decades of promises to end deforestation for palm oil PepsiCo (owner of crisp brands Frito-Lay, Cheetos and Doritos along with hundreds of other snack food brands) have continued sourcing palm oil that…
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Procter & Gamble
Despite decades of promises to end deforestation for palm oil Procter & Gamble or (P&G as they are also known) have continued sourcing palm oil that causes ecocide, indigenous landgrabbing, and the habitat…
Read more
Kelloggs/Kellanova
In late 2023, Kelloggs became Kellanova for their US arm. Savvy consumers have been pressuring Kelloggs for decades to cease using deforestation palm oil. Yet they actually haven’t stopped this. From their website:…
Read more
Johnson & Johnson
Global mega-brand Johnson & Johnson have issued a position statement on palm oil in 2020. ‘At Johnson & Johnson, we are committed to doing our part to address the unsustainable rate of global…
Read more
PZ Cussons
PZ Cussons is a British-owned global retail giant. They own well-known supermarket brands in personal care, cleaning, household goods and toiletries categories, such as Imperial Leather, Morning Fresh, Carex, Radiant laundry powder and…
Read moreTake Action in Five Ways
1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
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2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
Wildlife Artist Juanchi Pérez
Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings
Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao
Health Physician Dr Evan Allen
The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status…
twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status…
twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1…
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
#360infoOrg #airPollution #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #carbonemissions #cleanair #corruption #cronyism #deforestation #fire #fossilFuels #fossilfuel #fossilfuels #greenwashing #humanHealth #Indonesia #Malaysia #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #pollution #SouthEastAsia #TheAirWeShare #timber
PZ Cussons
PZ Cussons is a British-owned global retail giant. They own well-known supermarket brands in personal care, cleaning, household goods and toiletries categories, such as Imperial Leather, Morning Fr…Palm Oil Detectives
IUCN Status: Vulnerable
Locations: Endemic to Yamdena and Larat islands, Tanimbar Archipelago, Indonesian occupied West Papua.
The Tanimbar Eclectus Parrot Eclectus riedeli also known as the Eclectus Parrot or Tanimbar Eclectus is a rare and striking #parrot found only on the #Tanimbar Islands of Indonesian occupied #WestPapua. Males display a brilliant emerald green plumage, while females are adorned in deep crimson and cobalt blue feathers, making them one of the most visually stunning #parrots in the world. These parrots face growing threats from habitat destruction, the pet trade, and climate change.Forests are disappearing due to timber logging and #palmoil monoculture, while #poaching for the illegal #pettrade continues to remove individuals from the wild, disrupting their populations. #Climatechange also poses an increasing risk, with rising temperatures, storms, and unpredictable weather patterns affecting their habitat and food sources. The best way to protect these parrots is to keep them in the wild, not in cages. Use your wallet as a weapon in the supermarket and choose #PalmOilFree #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife.
Stunning and vibrantly coloured Tanimbar Eclectus #Parrots 🦜💚💋are #vulnerable due to the illegal pet trade and #palmoil’s endless devastation. Fight for their survival when u #Boycottpalmoil 🌴🪔☠️⛔️ #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect.bsky.social wp.me/pcFhgU-a7t
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The curious Tanimbar Eclectus #Parrots 🦜 of #WestPapua fall in love with each other’s exquisite plumage 🌈😻 #PalmOil #ecocide is a big threat 😿 Resist for these #birds and go #PalmOilFree #Boycottpalmoil 🌴🛢️💩🤮❌ #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect palmoildetectives.com/2025/07/…
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Tanimbar Eclectus parrots are known for their dramatic sexual dimorphism. Male birds are covered in vibrant green feathers, with a yellow-orange beak, while females are deep red with bright blue undersides and a striking black beak. Their unique colours provide camouflage in the dense tropical foliage of their island home. These parrots are highly intelligent, social, and vocal, using a range of calls to communicate with their mates and flock members. They are strong fliers and spend most of their time in the high canopy, searching for food and nesting sites.
The Tanimbar Islands still hold large areas of forest, but deforestation for timber and palm oil is rapidly increasing. Logging, agricultural expansion, and human settlement rapidly shrinking the habitat of the Tanimbar Eclectus Parrot. This bird species’ range has already experienced an estimated 8% loss over the past three generations, and this rate is expected to accelerate as pressure on the islands’ forests grows.
Although the Tanimbar Eclectus is not yet widely traded internationally, it is still caught and sold within local markets. Parrots stolen from the wild often die from stress and injury before they even reach a buyer. The pet trade not only depletes populations but also leaves chicks abandoned in nests, causing further losses.
Rising temperatures and unpredictable weather patterns threaten the Tanimbar Eclectus in multiple ways. Intense storms and cyclones damage the forests they rely on, destroying nesting trees and food sources. Heatwaves and prolonged droughts also impact their breeding success and reduce fruit availability, making survival even more challenging.
The Tanimbar Eclectus Parrot is found exclusively on the islands of Yamdena and Larat in the Tanimbar Archipelago, of West Papua, a region illegally occupied by Indonesia. They primarily inhabit lowland and forest edges, relying on dense tropical forests for nesting and foraging.
The Tanimbar Eclectus Parrot feeds primarily on fruit, seeds, nuts, and flowers. They are particularly dependent on native fig trees and tropical fruiting plants found in their lowland forests. Their role as seed dispersers is crucial for maintaining the health of their ecosystem.
These parrots are monogamous and form strong pair bonds. Breeding pairs nest in large tree hollows, where the female seals herself inside for protection while incubating eggs. The male is responsible for feeding his mate and chicks throughout this period. They typically lay 2–3 eggs, though only one chick often survives due to competition for food.
Yes, the Tanimbar Eclectus is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List due to habitat destruction and the pet trade. While not as heavily trafficked as some other bird species, local trapping remains a threat, and deforestation is reducing their available habitat.
The real cost of buying an Eclectus parrot is far greater than any price tag. Whether wild-caught or captive-bred, keeping these intelligent, highly social birds in cages is cruel and unnatural. In the wild, they soar across vast rainforests, flying hundreds of kilometres each day, foraging, socialising, and raising their young in the towering canopy. No cage—no matter how large—can ever replace this freedom.
Parrots are not ornaments, conversation pieces, or living decorations. Confined to captivity, they suffer from boredom, frustration, and loneliness, often plucking out their own feathers, screaming incessantly, or developing neurotic behaviours. Their wings, meant for the open skies, become symbols of imprisonment.
Rather than supporting the pet trade, which fuels the demand that threatens wild populations, the best way to protect the Tanimbar Eclectus is to advocate for their conservation, protect their rainforest habitat, and reject the captivity of wild animals altogether.
Keeping a wild Tanimbar Eclectus or Eclectus Parrot as a pet is an incredibly damaging and selfish act. Many parrots captured for the pet trade are taken from their nests as chicks, leading to the destruction of their family units. Parrots stolen from the wild often die from stress and malnutrition before they even reach a buyer. Removing them from their habitat weakens their population, pushing them closer to extinction. Parrots born in a cage live in unnatural and cruel conditions all of their lives. These intelligent beings never know what its like to fly for 100’s of kilometres a day as they are meant to do. How would you feel to be born in a cage, live for around 70 years and then die in a cage?
Eclectus parrots are not naturally aggressive, but they are highly intelligent and require constant social interaction and mental stimulation. In captivity, frustration and isolation can cause behavioural issues, including biting and screaming. This is another strong reason why these birds should be left in the wild.
Climate change poses a serious threat to this species. Rising temperatures, unpredictable storms, and habitat degradation are already having negative effects. More frequent cyclones destroy nesting trees and fruiting plants, while prolonged droughts limit their food supply. Changes in seasonal patterns may also disrupt their breeding cycles.
The Tanimbar Eclectus Parrot needs your help. The pet trade and palm oil deforestation are driving them toward extinction. Every time you shop, make ethical choices to protect their future.
This animal has no protections in place. Read about other forgotten species here. Create art to support this forgotten animal or raise awareness about them by sharing this post and using the #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife hashtags on social media. Also you can boycott palm oil in the supermarket.
Bishop, K.D., & Brickle, N. W. (1999). The status of the Tanimbar Eclectus in Indonesia. Retrieved from dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.201….
BirdLife International. 2019. Eclectus riedeli. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T155073764A155087808. dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.201…. Accessed on 07 February 2025.
Parrots.org. (n.d.). Tanimbar Eclectus species profile. Retrieved from parrots.org/encyclopedia/tanim….
1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
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Sign Up
Join 3,179 other subscribers
2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status…
twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status…
twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1…
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
Global
South America
S.E. Asia
India
Africa
West Papua & PNG
Lying
Fake labels
Indigenous Land-grabbing
Human rights abuses
Deforestation
Human health hazards
#animals #Asia #birds #Birdsong #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #climatechange #deforestation #ecocide #ForgottenAnimals #hunting #Indonesia #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #palmoilfree #PapuaNewGuineaSpeciesEndangeredByPalmOilDeforestation #Parrot #Parrots #pettrade #poaching #song #songbird #songbirds #Tanimbar #TanimbarEclectusParrotEclectusRiedeli #vegan #vulnerable #VulnerableSpecies #WestPapua #WestPapua
Discover the environmental and social issues caused by palm oil production. Learn about its impacts on wildlife, indigenous communities, and how to take action with Palm Oil DetectivesPalm Oil Detectives
Deforestation-driven Climate Change and Natural Disasters
Deforestation in Indonesia is worsening the impact of severe weather events such as floods and landslides, as seen in West Sumatra in March 2024. Environmental groups cite deforestation and environmental degradation as key factors in intensifying natural disasters. Indonesia’s rainforests, crucial for biodiversity and indigenous livelihoods, have been heavily logged for palm oil, paper, and mining. Despite government efforts to slow deforestation, including a palm oil permit freeze, illegal logging and large-scale developments continue to threaten forest areas. Experts warn that more equable land planning is needed to mitigate future disasters. #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife#Palmoil 🌴 #nickel 🧺 and #paper 📰 #deforestation in #Indonesia 🇮🇩 has accelerated the frequency and severity of extreme weather: #floods and #landslides as seen in #Sumatra. Fight back and #BoycottPalmOil 🌴🔥⛔️ #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect palmoildetectives.com/2024/11/…
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Share to Twitter#Climatechange ⛈️ and #deforestation 🔥🔥 in #Indonesia 🇮🇩 is being driven to a point of no return say experts, citing massive #forest loss for #palmoil 🌴⛔️ and #nickel #mining. Take action when you #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect palmoildetectives.com/2024/11/…
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Share to TwitterWritten by Victoria Milko. Originally published by Associated Press, 30 March, 2024. Original title: ‘In Indonesia, deforestation is intensifying disasters from severe weather and climate change’. Excerpt published, read the original article.
The shelves in supermarkets and stores are full of certified products. The packaging displays different labels indicating products were made with “sustainable” paper or wood, food or cosmetic products made with “sustainable” palm oil, “responsible” soybeans and so on and so forth.
In Jakarta Indonesia, roads turned to murky brown rivers, homes were swept away by strong currents and bodies were pulled from mud during deadly flash floods and landslides after torrential rains hit West Sumatra in early March, marking one of the latest deadly natural disasters in Indonesia.
Government officials blamed the floods on heavy rainfall, but environmental groups have cited the disaster as the latest example of deforestation and environmental degradation intensifying the effects of severe weather across Indonesia.“This disaster occurred not only because of extreme weather factors, but because of the ecological crisis,” Indonesian environmental rights group Indonesian Forum for the Environment wrote in a statement. “If the environment continues to be ignored, then we will continue to reap ecological disasters.”
A vast tropical archipelago stretching across the equator, Indonesia is home to the world’s third-largest rainforest, with a variety of endangered wildlife and plants, including orangutans, elephants, giant and blooming forest flowers. Some live nowhere else.For generations the forests have also provided livelihoods, food, and medicine while playing a central role in cultural practices for millions of Indigenous residents in Indonesia.
Since 1950, more than 74 million hectares (285,715 square miles) of Indonesian rainforest — an area twice the size of Germany — have been logged, burned or degraded for development of palm oil, paper and rubber plantations, mining and other commodities according to Global Forest Watch.
Indonesia is the biggest producer of palm oil, one of the largest exporters of coal and a top producer of pulp for paper. It also exports oil and gas, rubber, tin and other resources. And it also has the world’s largest reserves of nickel — a critical material for electric vehicles, solar panels and other goods needed for the green energy transition.
Indonesia has consistently ranked as one of the largest global emitters of plant-warming greenhouse gases, with its emissions stemming from the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation and peatland fires, according to the Global Carbon Project.Read the remainder of the article on AP
Written by Victoria Milko. Originally published by Associated Press, 30 March, 2024. Original title: ‘In Indonesia, deforestation is intensifying disasters from severe weather and climate change’. Excerpt published, read the original article.
ENDS
Read more about human rights abuses and child slavery in the palm oil industry
Indigenous Peoples Fight Climate Change
After wildfires, Belize’s indigenous people rebuild stronger based on “se’ komonil”: reciprocity, solidarity, gender equity, togetherness and community.
SOCFIN’s African Empire of Colonial Oppression: Billionaires Profit from Palm Oil and Rubber Exploitation
Investigation by Bloomberg exposes that despite being RSPO members, #SOCFIN plantations in #WestAfrica are the epicentre of #humanrights abuses, sexual coercion, environmental destruction, and #landgrabbing. Operating in #Liberia, #Ghana, #Nigeria, and beyond, SOCFIN’s…
Palm Oil Threatens Ancient Noken Weaving in West Papua
Colonial palm oil and sugarcane causing the loss of West Papuans’ cultural identity. Land grabs force communities from forests, threatening Noken weaving
Family Ties Expose Deforestation and Rights Violations in Indonesian Palm Oil
An explosive report by the Environment Investigation Agency (EIA) details how Indonesia’s Fangiono family, through a wide corporate web, is linked to ongoing #deforestation, #corruption, and #indigenousrights abuses for #palmoil. Calls mount for…
West Papuan Indigenous Women Fight Land Seizures
Indigenous Melanesian women in West Papua fight land seizures for palm oil and sugar plantations, protecting their ancestral rights. Join #BoycottPalmOilLoad more posts
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Take Action in Five Ways
1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
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Join 3,174 other subscribers
2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
Wildlife Artist Juanchi Pérez
Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings
Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao
Health Physician Dr Evan Allen
The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
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twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status…
twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1…
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
#Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #climateChange #ClimateAction #climatechange #climatecrisis #ClimateEmergency #deforestation #floods #Forest #Indonesia #landslides #mining #nickel #palmoil #paper #Sumatra
The curious Tanimbar Eclectus #Parrots 🦜 of #WestPapua fall in love with each other's exquisite plumage 🌈😻 #PalmOil #ecocide is a big threat 😿 Resist for these #birds and go #PalmOilFree #Boycottpalmoil 🌴🛢️💩🤮❌ #Boycott4Wildlife palmoildetectives.com/2025/07/…
Tanimbar Eclectus Parrot Eclectus riedeli
Tanimbar Eclectus Parrot Eclectus riedeli
IUCN Status: VulnerableLocations: Endemic to Yamdena and Larat islands, Tanimbar Archipelago, Indonesian occupied West Papua.
The Tanimbar Eclectus Parrot Eclectus riedeli also known as the Eclectus Parrot or Tanimbar Eclectus is a rare and striking #parrot found only on the #Tanimbar Islands of Indonesian occupied #WestPapua. Males display a brilliant emerald green plumage, while females are adorned in deep crimson and cobalt blue feathers, making them one of the most visually stunning #parrots in the world. These parrots face growing threats from habitat destruction, the pet trade, and climate change.Forests are disappearing due to timber logging and #palmoil monoculture, while #poaching for the illegal #pettrade continues to remove individuals from the wild, disrupting their populations. #Climatechange also poses an increasing risk, with rising temperatures, storms, and unpredictable weather patterns affecting their habitat and food sources. The best way to protect these parrots is to keep them in the wild, not in cages. Use your wallet as a weapon in the supermarket and choose #PalmOilFree #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife.
Stunning and vibrantly coloured Tanimbar Eclectus #Parrots 🦜💚💋are #vulnerable due to the illegal pet trade and #palmoil’s endless devastation. Fight for their survival when u #Boycottpalmoil 🌴🪔☠️⛔️ #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect.bsky.social wp.me/pcFhgU-a7t
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Share to TwitterThe curious Tanimbar Eclectus #Parrots 🦜 of #WestPapua fall in love with each other’s exquisite plumage 🌈😻 #PalmOil #ecocide is a big threat 😿 Resist for these #birds and go #PalmOilFree #Boycottpalmoil 🌴🛢️💩🤮❌ #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect palmoildetectives.com/2025/07/…
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Tanimbar Eclectus parrots are known for their dramatic sexual dimorphism. Male birds are covered in vibrant green feathers, with a yellow-orange beak, while females are deep red with bright blue undersides and a striking black beak. Their unique colours provide camouflage in the dense tropical foliage of their island home. These parrots are highly intelligent, social, and vocal, using a range of calls to communicate with their mates and flock members. They are strong fliers and spend most of their time in the high canopy, searching for food and nesting sites.
Threats
Palm Oil and Timber Deforestation
The Tanimbar Islands still hold large areas of forest, but deforestation for timber and palm oil is rapidly increasing. Logging, agricultural expansion, and human settlement rapidly shrinking the habitat of the Tanimbar Eclectus Parrot. This bird species’ range has already experienced an estimated 8% loss over the past three generations, and this rate is expected to accelerate as pressure on the islands’ forests grows.The Illegal Pet Trade
Although the Tanimbar Eclectus is not yet widely traded internationally, it is still caught and sold within local markets. Parrots stolen from the wild often die from stress and injury before they even reach a buyer. The pet trade not only depletes populations but also leaves chicks abandoned in nests, causing further losses.Climate Change
Rising temperatures and unpredictable weather patterns threaten the Tanimbar Eclectus in multiple ways. Intense storms and cyclones damage the forests they rely on, destroying nesting trees and food sources. Heatwaves and prolonged droughts also impact their breeding success and reduce fruit availability, making survival even more challenging.BoycottPalmOil" title="Tanimbar Eclectus Parrot boycott for wildlife #BoycottPalmOil" class="has-alt-description">
Geographic Range
The Tanimbar Eclectus Parrot is found exclusively on the islands of Yamdena and Larat in the Tanimbar Archipelago, of West Papua, a region illegally occupied by Indonesia. They primarily inhabit lowland and forest edges, relying on dense tropical forests for nesting and foraging.
Diet
The Tanimbar Eclectus Parrot feeds primarily on fruit, seeds, nuts, and flowers. They are particularly dependent on native fig trees and tropical fruiting plants found in their lowland forests. Their role as seed dispersers is crucial for maintaining the health of their ecosystem.Mating and reproduction
These parrots are monogamous and form strong pair bonds. Breeding pairs nest in large tree hollows, where the female seals herself inside for protection while incubating eggs. The male is responsible for feeding his mate and chicks throughout this period. They typically lay 2–3 eggs, though only one chick often survives due to competition for food.FAQs
Are Eclectus parrots endangered?
Yes, the Tanimbar Eclectus is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List due to habitat destruction and the pet trade. While not as heavily trafficked as some other bird species, local trapping remains a threat, and deforestation is reducing their available habitat.How much do Eclectus parrots cost?
The real cost of buying an Eclectus parrot is far greater than any price tag. Whether wild-caught or captive-bred, keeping these intelligent, highly social birds in cages is cruel and unnatural. In the wild, they soar across vast rainforests, flying hundreds of kilometres each day, foraging, socialising, and raising their young in the towering canopy. No cage—no matter how large—can ever replace this freedom.Parrots are not ornaments, conversation pieces, or living decorations. Confined to captivity, they suffer from boredom, frustration, and loneliness, often plucking out their own feathers, screaming incessantly, or developing neurotic behaviours. Their wings, meant for the open skies, become symbols of imprisonment.
Rather than supporting the pet trade, which fuels the demand that threatens wild populations, the best way to protect the Tanimbar Eclectus is to advocate for their conservation, protect their rainforest habitat, and reject the captivity of wild animals altogether.
How to keep an Eclectus Parrot as a pet?
Keeping a wild Tanimbar Eclectus or Eclectus Parrot as a pet is an incredibly damaging and selfish act. Many parrots captured for the pet trade are taken from their nests as chicks, leading to the destruction of their family units. Parrots stolen from the wild often die from stress and malnutrition before they even reach a buyer. Removing them from their habitat weakens their population, pushing them closer to extinction. Parrots born in a cage live in unnatural and cruel conditions all of their lives. These intelligent beings never know what its like to fly for 100’s of kilometres a day as they are meant to do. How would you feel to be born in a cage, live for around 70 years and then die in a cage?Are Eclectus parrots aggressive?
Eclectus parrots are not naturally aggressive, but they are highly intelligent and require constant social interaction and mental stimulation. In captivity, frustration and isolation can cause behavioural issues, including biting and screaming. This is another strong reason why these birds should be left in the wild.How does climate change affect the Tanimbar Eclectus / Eclectus Parrot?
Climate change poses a serious threat to this species. Rising temperatures, unpredictable storms, and habitat degradation are already having negative effects. More frequent cyclones destroy nesting trees and fruiting plants, while prolonged droughts limit their food supply. Changes in seasonal patterns may also disrupt their breeding cycles.Take Action!
The Tanimbar Eclectus Parrot needs your help. The pet trade and palm oil deforestation are driving them toward extinction. Every time you shop, make ethical choices to protect their future.
- 🐦 Do not support the illegal pet trade!
- 🌳 Support indigenous-led conservation efforts to protect forests.
- 🛑 Avoid products containing palm oil.
- 🔥 Use your wallet and supermarket choices to help save them—#BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife.
Support the Tanimbar Eclectus Parrot by going vegan and boycotting palm oil in the supermarket, it’s the #Boycott4Wildlife
Support the conservation of this species
This animal has no protections in place. Read about other forgotten species here. Create art to support this forgotten animal or raise awareness about them by sharing this post and using the #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife hashtags on social media. Also you can boycott palm oil in the supermarket.Further Information
Bishop, K.D., & Brickle, N. W. (1999). The status of the Tanimbar Eclectus in Indonesia. Retrieved from dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.201….BirdLife International. 2019. Eclectus riedeli. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T155073764A155087808. dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.201…. Accessed on 07 February 2025.
Parrots.org. (n.d.). Tanimbar Eclectus species profile. Retrieved from parrots.org/encyclopedia/tanim….
How can I help the #Boycott4Wildlife?
Take Action in Five Ways
1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
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2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
Wildlife Artist Juanchi Pérez
Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings
Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao
Health Physician Dr Evan Allen
The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status…
twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status…
twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1…
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
Learn about other animals endangered by palm oil and other agriculture
Global
South America
S.E. Asia
India
Africa
West Papua & PNG
Marsupials thought extinct for 6,000 years found in West Papua
Gursky’s Spectral Tarsier Tarsius spectrumgurskyae
Sunda Flying Lemur Galeopterus variegatus
Western Parotia Parotia sefilata
Capped Langur Trachypithecus pileatus
Mountain Tapir Tapirus pinchaque
Learn about “sustainable” palm oil greenwashing
Read more about RSPO greenwashing
Lying
Fake labels
Indigenous Land-grabbing
Human rights abuses
Deforestation
Human health hazardsA 2019 World Health Organisation (WHO) report into the palm oil industry and RSPO finds extensive greenwashing of palm oil deforestation and the murder of endangered animals (i.e. biodiversity loss)
#animals #Asia #birds #Birdsong #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #climatechange #deforestation #ecocide #ForgottenAnimals #hunting #Indonesia #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #palmoilfree #PapuaNewGuineaSpeciesEndangeredByPalmOilDeforestation #Parrot #Parrots #pettrade #poaching #song #songbird #songbirds #Tanimbar #TanimbarEclectusParrotEclectusRiedeli #vegan #vulnerable #VulnerableSpecies #WestPapua #WestPapua
The Problems with Palm Oil
Discover the environmental and social issues caused by palm oil production. Learn about its impacts on wildlife, indigenous communities, and how to take action with Palm Oil DetectivesPalm Oil Detectives
A landmark Greenpeace report reveals that more than 25% of food labels fail to meet trustworthy sustainability standards. Clear and severe failures in ecolabel effectiveness were awarded to Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (#RSPO) which certifies palm oil as “sustainable” and Marine Stewardship Council which certifies seafood as “sustainable”. Consumers are increasingly sceptical, with 62% expressing concerns that these labels are a form of #greenwashing. Greenpeace is calling for stricter regulations and transparency in the use of terms like “sustainable” or “climate-friendly” to prevent misleading environmental claims. #Greenwashing #ConsumerRights #Transparency. If you want to resist and fight against greenwashing, adopt a #vegan lifestyle and #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife in the supermarket.
Read Greenpeace report in German
@Greenpeace report finds #seafood certified by #MSC 🐠 and #palmoil certified by #RSPO is “absolutely untrustworthy” in 2025. Resist the #ecocide and #greed. Adopt a #Vegan lifestyle and #BoycottPalmOil 🌴⛔️ #Boycott4Wildlife when you shop @palmoildetect wp.me/pcFhgU-am5
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Environmental organisation Greenpeace Austria has analysed 42 of the most widely used food labels and found that over 25% of them are unreliable. The findings highlight growing consumer concerns over greenwashing in the food industry.
A representative survey by the research institute Integral found:
Greenpeace has singled out certain labels, such as the MSC certification for fish and the RSPO label for palm oil, as potentially harmful to environmental goals. Meanwhile, some labels remain credible, including Demeter, “Prüf nach!” and Bio Austria.
Greenpeace is demanding that terms like “sustainable” or “climate-friendly” only be used when backed by scientific evidence and transparent certification standards. The upcoming EU Green Claims Directive aims to prevent companies from making false or exaggerated environmental claims without scientific proof.
Consumers are calling for honest and transparent labelling, while environmental advocates warn that without stricter regulations, greenwashing will continue to deceive shoppers.
Read the full English article on Kronen Zeitung and the report (in German) on the Greenpeace website.
The report itself is in German and can be read here. The RSPO and MSC sections have been machine translated below for your convenience. Greenpeace considers both MSC and RSPO ecolabels to be “absolutely untrustworthy” for consumers in 2025.
Austria has a jungle of quality seals, certification labels, and brand or quality marks. Hundreds of them appear on products when shopping in supermarkets. But which ones are truly trustworthy?
Greenpeace has examined the quality labels in the food sector. The alarming result: more than a quarter of the 42 certification labels are not or only moderately trustworthy. Some are even detrimental to achieving environmental goals – such as the MSC fish label or the RSPO palm oil label.
The analysis of quality labels and brands, particularly those relevant to climate and the environment, focused on four key areas:
For certification labels that do not primarily focus on environmental standards but instead prioritise animal welfare, social standards, or other aspects, a broader classification was used. This evaluation focused on:
The categories for these labels were:
REPORT : greenpeace.at/uploads/2025/02/…
The label of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) is an association comprising producers, traders, banks, investors, and some NGOs.
NEGATIVE ASPECTS:
ABSOLUTELY NOT TRUSTWORTHY
RSPO’s criteria are too weak to genuinely protect rainforests and are frequently not enforced. Despite RSPO certification, forests continue to be destroyed, and human rights continue to be violated. Greenpeace classifies the RSPO label as absolutely untrustworthy.
WARNING: GREENWASHING
Many food products carry labels such as “certified palm oil” or “sustainable palm oil,” which are often RSPO-certified. However, from an environmental perspective, the term “sustainable” is misleading in this context. Greenpeace considers this to be greenwashing.
The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) was founded in 1997 by Unilever and WWF as an initiative for responsible fishing. However, little remains of its once ambitious goals.
NEGATIVE ASPECTS:
• Even fisheries that use bottom trawling, which causes long-term destruction of the seafloor ecosystem, can receive MSC certification.
• MSC certification is still granted even when fisheries target species that are scientifically recognised as endangered. For example in Australia, the endangered orange roughie was certified as “sustainable” by MSC despite their population that is in grave peril.
NOT TRUSTWORTHY
Neither MSC nor other certification schemes apply the precautionary principle, which is essential for protecting marine life. Instead of addressing the real issues in global fisheries, MSC gives the destructive fishing industry a greenwashed image.
This is particularly alarming given that MSC’s own website acknowledges that fishing is the greatest threat to endangered marine species. Greenpeace considers this label to be untrustworthy.
WARNING: GREENWASHING
The MSC label is widely used and serves primarily as a marketing tool to boost fish product sales, claiming to be an “eco-label for wild-caught fish” and a seal of approval for sustainable fisheries. However, our oceans are already severely overfished. The only truly sustainable choice is to stop buying and consuming seafood and predatory fish altogether.
Greenpeace. (2025, February 13). Greenwashing & Co.: Ein Viertel der Gütesiegel ist nicht vertrauenswürdig. Kronen Zeitung. Retrieved February 24, 2025, from krone.at/3688558.
Greenpeace. (2025, February). Greenpeace quality label guide: Food products 2025. Greenpeace Austria. Retrieved February 24, 2025, from greenpeace.at/uploads/2025/02/….
ENDS
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Mondelēz International who make Oreos keep sourcing palm oil from suppliers linked to violence and deforestation. Their RSPO certification is pure greenwash!
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The legal trade is largely to blame for African grey parrots becoming endangered. Regulator CITES is broken allowing exploitation, massive reform needed now!
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Wealthiest people in USA and China responsible for 2/3 of global warming since 1990. Climate policies needed to target the richest people on the planet now!
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Commodifying forests as merely an investment for ‘carbon credits’ has many dangerous loopholes that human rights to indigenous peoples, take action!
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1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
Enter your email address
Sign Up
Join 3,179 other subscribers
2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status…
twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status…
twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1…
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
#Boy #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottMeat #BoycottPalmOil #consumerBoycott #consumerRights #ConsumerRights #diet #ecocide #ecolabel #EU #EUDR #govegan #greed #Greenpeace #greenwashing #MarineStewardshipCouncil #MSC #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #plantBasedDiet #RSPO #RSPOGreenwashing #seafood #Transparency #vegan
The environmental protection organization Greenpeace has taken a close look at the 42 most important quality labels for food. The result is ...krone.at (Kronen Zeitung)
Major Food Giants Sued Over Addictive UPFs Given To Kids
A landmark lawsuit filed in Philadelphia names major food companies: Kraft Heinz, Mondelez, Post Holdings, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, General Mills, Nestlé, Kellogg’s, Mars, and ConAgra and accuses them of designing and marketing ultra-processed foods (UPFs) with addictive qualities, particularly targeting children. The suit alleges that these practices have led to serious childhood health issues, such as Type 2 diabetes, obesity, heart disease and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.The case and its repercussions echo sinister marketing tactics employed by Big Tobacco in decades past. In a similar way it is alleged, global food giants manipulate consumers with misleading health claims and aggressive marketing. A large body of research shows that cutting UPFs could save millions of lives, while palm oil’s role in deforestation and biodiversity loss compounds the crisis. It’s time to reject harmful foods and demand accountability. Choose wholefoods, protect wildlife, and fight for a healthier planet. #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife every time you shop.
#FMCG food brands #KraftHeinz #Mondelez 🥫 & #CocaCola 🥤 face lawsuit for using #tobacco 🚬🚭 style tactics to hook kids on #UPF #ultraprocessed foods, causing chronic #health issues 🤮🌎 Resist when you eat #wholefoods and #BoycottPalmOil @palmoildetect wp.me/pcFhgU-9E1
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Share to TwitterIn a groundbreaking legal action, some of the world’s largest food and beverage corporations are facing allegations of deliberately engineering ultra-processed foods (UPFs) to be addictive, with a specific focus on marketing these products to children. The lawsuit, filed in the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County, names companies including Kraft Heinz, Mondelez, Post Holdings, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, General Mills, Nestlé, Kellogg’s, Mars, and ConAgra.
The 148-page complaint drawing unsettling parallels with insidious strategies employed by the tobacco industry, asserts that these companies have employed strategies reminiscent of those used by tobacco giants, utilising research on addiction to create hyper-palatable food products that are difficult to resist. This approach is alleged to have contributed to a rise in serious health conditions among children, notably Type 2 diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease—ailments that were once rare in this age group.
youtu.be/EpRiqCVtDRA?si=hNH-aZ…
The plaintiff, represented by the law firm Morgan & Morgan, contends that the defendants have prioritised profit over public health, leading to a public health crisis characterised by increased rates of chronic diseases linked to diet. The lawsuit seeks to hold these corporations accountable for their role in promoting and distributing products that may pose significant health risks to consumers, particularly vulnerable populations like children.
This case underscores the growing scrutiny of ultra-processed foods and their impact on health, especially among younger demographics. It raises critical questions about corporate responsibility, marketing ethics, and the need for greater transparency in the food industry.
The compliant alleges that these tactics originate from a time when tobacco giants acquired and operated major food brands, using the same addiction research once employed to hook smokers on cigarettes. This same research was subsequently applied to make ultra-processed foods tasty and irresistible to children.
This lawsuit represents a pivotal moment in the fight against corporate practices that prioritise profits over human health and planetary well-being. With childhood obesity rates and diet-related illnesses climbing, the case forces society to reckon with the profound consequences of marketing UPFs to vulnerable populations.
Big Food Taking from Big Tobacco’s Playbook of Deception
The lawsuit alleges that Big Food employs tactics alarmingly similar to those pioneered by the tobacco industry, including targeting children, engineering addiction, and lobbying to obstruct regulation. These claims echo findings from the World Health Organisation (WHO) Bulletin (2021), which likened the palm oil industry’s tactics to Big Tobacco’s playbook. The report detailed how industries undermine health policies through lobbying, greenwashing, and misleading claims.In the context of ultra-processed foods, companies exploit health-conscious messaging to disguise their products’ true impact. Misleading packaging, claims of “low-fat” or “fortified” products, and cartoon characters lure children into consuming foods with little to no nutritional value. These strategies mirror the tobacco industry’s decades-long effort to obfuscate health risks while marketing addictive products to the public and in particular to children.
The Hidden Danger of Ultra-Processed Foods
Ultra-processed foods, rich in refined palm oil, sugars, salts, and additives, are engineered to override natural satiety signals, encouraging overconsumption. They not only fuel obesity and chronic diseases but also wreak havoc on cardiovascular health.Dawn Harris Sherling, in her research published in The American Journal of Medicine (2024), highlights the immense influence of multinational corporations producing ultra-processed foods:
“The multinational companies that produce ultra-processed foods are just as, if not more, powerful than tobacco companies were in the last century, and it is unlikely that governments will be able to move quickly on policies that will promote whole foods and discourage the consumption of ultra-processed foods,” said Sherling.
She argues that this corporate dominance makes swift government action to promote whole foods and discourage ultra-processed food consumption unlikely, underscoring the challenges of addressing this public health crisis. (Sherling, Hennekens, & Ferris, 2024).Palm Oil’s Role in the UPF Crisis
Palm oil is a cornerstone of UPFs, contributing not only to their health risks but also to widespread environmental destruction. As detailed on Palm Oil Detectives, the palm oil industry drives deforestation, biodiversity loss, and violations of indigenous rights. The unchecked expansion of palm oil plantations continues to exacerbate climate change and disrupt ecosystems vital to planetary health.Companies like Kraft Heinz, Coca-Cola, and PepsiCo rely heavily on palm oil, underscoring their complicity in both public health and environmental degradation. Addressing these interlinked crises requires holding corporations accountable and rethinking our food systems.
Take Action!
The evidence is clear: ultra-processed foods are a health hazard, and the industries behind them profit from addiction, environmental destruction, and misleading marketing. Here’s what you can do:• Boycott Palm Oil: Refuse to buy products containing palm oil to combat deforestation, biodiversity loss, and corporate greenwashing.
• Choose Whole Foods: Opt for fresh, minimally processed plant-based foods to prioritise your health and reduce dependency on harmful UPFs.
To learn more about the dangers of UPFs and the palm oil industry’s impact on health and the environment, visit Palm Oil Detectives. Share your commitment to change with the hashtags #BoycottPalmOil and #Boycott4Wildlife every time you shop.
References
Dawn Harris Sherling, Charles H. Hennekens, Allison H. Ferris. (2024). Newest updates to health providers on the hazards of ultra-processed foods and proposed solutions. The American Journal of Medicine, DOI: 10.1016/j.amjmed.2024.02.001Kadandale, S., Marten, R., & Smith, R. (2019). The palm oil industry and noncommunicable diseases. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 97(2), 118–128. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/…
LawInc Staff. (2024, December 10). Hooked by design: Landmark lawsuit alleges Kraft, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and others used Big Tobacco tactics to addict kids to ultra-processed foods. LawInc. Retrieved from lawinc.com/hooked-by-design-la…
Palm Oil Detectives. (2024). Cutting down on ultra-processed foods could save lives, research reveals. Retrieved from Palm Oil Detectives.
Palm Oil Detectives. (2022). Four things to know about cholesterol. Retrieved from Palm Oil Detectives.
Hanley-Jones, S, Wood, L, Letcher, T and Winstanley, M. 5.13 Products and packaging created to appeal to new users. In Greenhalgh, EM, Scollo, MM and Winstanley, MH [editors]. Tobacco in Australia: Facts and issues. Melbourne: Cancer Council Victoria; 2022. Available from tobaccoinaustralia.org.au/chap…
ENDS
Read more about deforestation and ecocide in the palm oil industry
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Forests offer climate protection and safeguard indigenous peoples, endangered animals and rare plants. Deforestation is a major threat. Boycott palm oil!
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Critically endangered Phayre’s langurs and endangered capped langurs of Bangladesh, are interbreeding raising concerns about their survival, take action!
Read moreLoad more posts
Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.Take Action in Five Ways
1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
Enter your email addressSign Up
Join 3,179 other subscribers
2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
Wildlife Artist Juanchi Pérez
Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings
Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao
Health Physician Dr Evan Allen
The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status…
twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status…
twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1…
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
#BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #breakfastCereal #breakfastFoods #childhood #chips #CocaCola #corruption #crisps #deforestation #FMCG #health #KraftHeinz #Mondelez #News #PalmOil #palmOilBiofuel #palmOilDeforestation #sugar #sugarCane #sugarcane #tobacco #ultraprocessed #UPF #vegan #wholefoods
Mondelēz International, the company behind Oreo biscuits, continues to source palm oil from suppliers linked to rainforest destruction, exploitation of workers, and #violence against #Indigenous land defenders. Despite marketing its palm oil as “sustainable” and RSPO-certified, investigations show that these claims amount to greenwashing, with human rights abuses and #deforestation ongoing in its supply chain. We demand urgent action to expose these deceptive practices and protect marginalised indigenous peoples, endangered animals and endangered plants. #BoycottPalmOil #HumanRights
🍪🔥 #Mondelez maker of #Oreos is fuelling rainforest #ecocide and #humanrights abuses. They source #palmoil linked to #childlabour and exploitation 💀🌴 Use your wallet as a weapon to help animals and indigenous people! #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife palmoildetectives.com/2026/02/…
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Oreo’s “sustainable” #palmoil is a #greenwashing myth—deforestation and human rights abuses continue in #Mondelēz’s supply chain. Demand real change! #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife #HumanRights @palmoildetect 🌴☠️🚫 palmoildetectives.com/2026/02/…
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Rainforest Action Network. (2025, May 14). The maker of Oreos is not taking its human rights responsibilities seriously.
Mondelēz International, the global food giant responsible for Oreo biscuits, faces renewed scrutiny for its palm oil sourcing practices. Despite public claims of using “sustainable” RSPO-certified palm oil, evidence from multiple investigations shows that human rights abuses and deforestation remain widespread in the company’s supply chain.
Between 2015 and 2017, 22 of Mondelēz’s palm oil suppliers cleared over 70,000 hectares of rainforest, including 25,000 hectares of orangutan habitat in Indonesia. These suppliers have also been accused of child labour, worker exploitation, illegal deforestation, forest fires, and land grabbing. Much of this palm oil is sourced from Wilmar International, the world’s largest palm oil trader, which has repeatedly failed to monitor or control its suppliers’ destructive practices.
Despite adopting a “No Deforestation, No Peat, No Exploitation” policy, Mondelēz’s reliance on RSPO certification has been widely criticised as ineffective and misleading. The RSPO standard has failed to prevent land grabs, forced labour, and environmental harm, while the company continues to market its products as ethical and sustainable.
Kiki Taufik, head of Greenpeace Southeast Asia’s Indonesia forests campaign, said: “It’s outrageous that despite promising to clean up its palm oil almost ten years ago, Mondelēz is still trading with forest destroyers. Palm oil can be made without destroying forests, yet our investigation discovered that Mondelēz suppliers are still trashing forests and wrecking orangutan habitat, pushing these beautiful and intelligent creatures to the brink of extinction. They’re literally dying for a cookie”.
The article highlights that these issues are not isolated incidents but reflect systemic failures in the palm oil sector’s self-regulation and corporate accountability. The continued use of “sustainable” palm oil claims is described as greenwashing, misleading consumers while abuses persist.
The article calls for urgent action from consumers, advocates, and policymakers to demand real accountability from companies like Mondelēz. Protecting Indigenous communities, upholding workers’ rights, and halting deforestation are identified as urgent priorities.
Rainforest Action Network. (2025, May 14). The maker of Oreos is not taking its human rights responsibilities seriously.
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Virgin Atlantic airlines now uses ‘sustainable aviation fuel’ however experts call it greenwashing and industry spin causing climate change. Boycott palm oil!
Read more
Gursky’s spectral tarsiers AKA Wusing of North Sulawesi are vulnerable due to palm oil and timber deforestation. Take action for them and boycott palm oil!
Read more
Forests offer climate protection and safeguard indigenous peoples, endangered animals and rare plants. Deforestation is a major threat. Boycott palm oil!
Read more
Critically endangered Phayre’s langurs and endangered capped langurs of Bangladesh, are interbreeding raising concerns about their survival, take action!
Read more
Sunda flying lemurs AKA Malayan colugos rely on ancient forests to survive, despite being skilful gliders, palm oil is a major threat, boycott palm oil!
Read more
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3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
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#BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #childlabour #corruption #deforestation #ecocide #GHG #greenwashing #HumanRights #indigenous #landgrabbing #Mondelez #News #Oreos #PalmOil #palmOilBiofuel #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #violence
Palm oil deforestation in Guatemala: Certifying products as ‘sustainable’ is no panacea: University of MichiganNewly published research led by the University...Palm Oil Detectives (YouTube)
How Brands Exploit “Green” Certification
Brands and businesses may be tempted to exploit “green” certifications to garner a larger market share at the expense of integrity.Around 400 #ecolabels 🏆 claim to provide #consumers with choice ⁉️ Yet they’re unreliable in holding #corporates to account for widespread #deforestation and #humanrights abuses and #greenwashing #Boycottpalmoil 🌴🪔🔥 ⛔️#Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect wp.me/pcFhgU-8Y6
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Share to Twitter#Brands and giants of #FMCG may be tempted to exploit “green” certifications like #FSC, MSC and #RSPO to reassure consumers. Yet ecolabels have deep flaws in enforcement of standards. #ecocide #greenwashing #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect wp.me/pcFhgU-8Y6
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Share to TwitterWritten by Dr Arne Nygaard, professor at the School of Communication, Leadership and Marketing at Kristiania University College, Norway. His primary research interests include sustainable supply chains, greenwashing, geopolitical risk and strategic uncertainty, economic contracts and incentives, sustainability and green marketing, technology, and entrepreneurship. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™, read the original.
Analyses conducted in the study indicate that while certifications can help prevent greenwashing, they can also contribute to eco-opportunism […] the theory of eco-opportunism warns that this can lead to free riding and greenwashing, where products are falsely advertised as sustainable but fail to meet certified standards.
Nygaard, A. (2023). Is sustainable certification’s ability to combat greenwashing trustworthy? Frontiers in Sustainability, 4, Article 1188069. doi.org/10.3389/frsus.2023.118…
As the global fight against climate change intensifies, certifications have become crucial tools for industries to address environmental, business and social challenges. Sustainability certifications promote eco-friendly practices, protect human rights and boost the credibility of environmentally responsible brands.But although certifications often enhance the perceived value of sustainable products and services, challenges remain.
There are concerns about greenwashing and free riding plus the inability of certification systems to adapt to changes and failing to incentivise the adoption of newer, more sustainable technologies.
https://tinyurl.com/2u6hrsea Unsplash License" title="Understanding why companies greenwash can help certification bodies design better processes and criteria. : Image by Kelvin Zyteng available at https://tinyurl.com/2u6hrsea Unsplash License" class="has-alt-description">
At the supermarket, a shopper carefully studies a label, thinking, “This product has a certification. Must be environmentally friendly. I’ll buy it.” And like that shopper, millions around the world make that same decision every day.
Greenwashing, where companies falsely claim eco-friendly credentials without meeting required standards, is a significant issue. Similarly, free riding allows businesses to benefit from the positive image of certifications without genuinely implementing sustainable practices.
The number of sustainability certifications has surged globally in recent years. The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) reports that more than 400 certifications now cover sectors such as food, agriculture, energy, environment, health and social responsibility.
Consumer awareness
This growth reflects increasing consumer awareness of sustainability and the desire of companies to showcase their commitment to eco-friendly practices.Certifications serve as essential market signals, enabling businesses to distinguish themselves by adhering to recognised environmental and social standards.
Some of the internationally recognised certifications include the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for green buildings, the Forest Stewardship Council for sustainable forestry and the Fair Trade certification, which ensures that products meet strict social, environmental and labour criteria.
Another key example is the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil certification, which promotes the production of palm oil in a way that minimises environmental harm, protects biodiversity and ensures fair treatment of workers and local communities.
Certifications typically involve third-party evaluations to assess compliance with criteria such as environmental and economic impact or fair labour practices.
Despite widespread adoption, certifications face growing scrutiny.
For instance, consumer demand for eco-friendly products has led to companies charging higher prices for green products. While many consumers are willing to pay this premium, it can create perverse incentives for companies to engage in greenwashing.
Certifications, intended to assure consumers of a product’s environmental and social standards, can paradoxically encourage companies to exploit these authentications for profit.
When businesses realise they can charge a premium for eco-labelled goods, the temptation to stretch the truth or manipulate the certification increases.
Erosion of trust
Greenwashing erodes consumer trust and devalues the certifications of genuinely sustainable products.As more companies exploit these eco-friendly claims without verification, it becomes harder for consumers to differentiate between authentic and deceptive environmental practices, potentially undermining the credibility of certification systems.
This highlights the urgent need for stronger mechanisms to mitigate these risks, ensuring that certification systems are not only effective but also resilient against exploitation.
Certification bodies can tighten standards, increase transparency and implement stronger verification processes to reflect evolving sustainability standards and prevent misuse. Additionally, independent audits and greater rigour throughout the supply chain would hold companies accountable for their claims.
Investigation into the root causes of greenwashing is necessary to understand how and why companies manipulate sustainable claims.
One key issue is that certification processes often focus on specific criteria and may not capture the broader environmental or social impacts of a product.
Selective compliance
A company may meet the minimum requirements for certification in one area, such as reducing carbon emissions, while ignoring other important sustainability factors such as labour conditions or biodiversity conservation.This selective compliance allows companies to appear more sustainable than they truly are, feeding into the cycle of greenwashing.
Consumers can be educated on how to critically evaluate certification labels to avoid falling prey to greenwashing tactics.
By reinforcing certification systems with robust monitoring and compliance mechanisms, the credibility of sustainable products can be preserved, and the integrity of genuine sustainability efforts can be upheld.
Non-governmental organisations and activist groups play a critical role in developing and implementing certification systems. These organisations provide valuable input during the creation of sustainability standards and help monitor compliance, ensuring that certification systems remain credible.
For example, the Forest Stewardship Council certification system for responsible forestry was developed in 1993 with input from environmental NGOs such as Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund.
NGOs advocate for higher sustainability standards, while certifications give them leverage to hold businesses accountable. By working together, NGOs and certification bodies can drive meaningful change toward a more sustainable future.
The interaction between state institutions, laws, and certification systems is also vital to ensuring the credibility and effectiveness of sustainability efforts.
Governments often set baseline sustainability requirements, while certification systems provide an additional layer of accountability. A clear example is the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil certification now used in 21 countries.
Resistance to change
One challenge facing certification bodies is internal structural inertia. This refers to resistance to change, preventing the adoption of innovative green technologies.This occurs when certification bodies become too rigid in their processes, policies, or standards, making it difficult for them to quickly adapt to new environmental paradigms.
For example, the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design initially focused on energy efficiency in buildings but was slow to incorporate newer technologies like green roofs or biophilic design which enhance sustainability.
Similarly, in the agricultural sector, government certification systems such as the United States Department of Agriculture Organic can be slow to recognise advancements in vertical farming or aeroponics, even though these methods significantly reduce land use, water consumption, and pesticide reliance.
This type of institutional resistance can delay the transition to more sustainable practices, as certification bodies may cling to outdated standards that fail to incentivise the latest green technologies.
To stay relevant and support ongoing environmental progress, certification organisations can work to overcome structural inertia and actively seek ways to update their standards in response to new innovations.
By updating their standards to reflect these disruptive technologies, certification systems can stay relevant and effective, driving sustainability across industries and supporting innovation while addressing evolving environmental challenges.
However, certifications, while essential tools for promoting sustainable practices, face limitations. Greenwashing, free-riding, and institutional inertia can undermine their value, posing challenges for businesses and consumers alike.
As markets evolve, certifications risk becoming obsolete unless they adapt to new environmental and technological challenges.
Nygaard, A. (2023). Is sustainable certification’s ability to combat greenwashing trustworthy? Frontiers in Sustainability, 4, Article 1188069. doi.org/10.3389/frsus.2023.118…
Dr Arne Nygaard is a professor at the School of Communication, Leadership and Marketing at Kristiania University College, Norway. His primary research interests include sustainable supply chains, greenwashing, geopolitical risk and strategic uncertainty, economic contracts and incentives, sustainability and green marketing, technology, and entrepreneurship. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™, read the original.
ENDS
Read more about greenwashing associated with certified “sustainable” palm oil and other commodities
Oreo Maker Linked to Ongoing Deforestation and Human Rights Abuses
Mondelēz International who make Oreos keep sourcing palm oil from suppliers linked to violence and deforestation. Their RSPO certification is pure greenwash!
Read moreJaguars vs Cows: JBS Fuelling Biodiversity Collapse in Brazil’s Forests
Global Witness report finds JBS, the world’s largest meat company, is directly linked to deforestation in the Amazon and Pantanal putting jaguars at risk
Read moreParrot Deaths Highlight Urgent Need to Reform CITES
The legal trade is largely to blame for African grey parrots becoming endangered. Regulator CITES is broken allowing exploitation, massive reform needed now!
Read moreWorld’s Wealthiest Drive Two Thirds of Global Warming Since 1990
Wealthiest people in USA and China responsible for 2/3 of global warming since 1990. Climate policies needed to target the richest people on the planet now!
Read moreSeeing Forest As Merely A Carbon “Commodity”: Dangerous Greenwashing
Commodifying forests as merely an investment for ‘carbon credits’ has many dangerous loopholes that human rights to indigenous peoples, take action!
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How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
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4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
#BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #brandCertification #Brands #consumers #corporates #corruption #deforestation #ecocide #ecolabels #FMCG #FSC #greenwashing #HumanRights #OrangutanLandTrust #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #RSPO #RSPOGreenwashing
How to not fall prey to greenwashing? Check the label!
In an age of heightened environmental awareness, distinguishing genuine commitments from greenwashing tactics poses a challenge. Learn how to spot the labels certifying a brand's sustainable claims.OxStu Science and Tech (The Oxford Student)
#Forests are critical for #climate protection and for safeguarding indigenous peoples, endangered animals and rare plants. However global #deforestation targets and environmental legislation is lax and falling short. Strong international law is needed to curb deforestation. Along with proactive support for #Indigenous land rights, #agroecology and decolonisation. Act now and help the climate, be #vegan #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife
Strict #legal protections are needed to protect #forests, #indigenous peoples and #endangered animals 🐒🦎🦬 from #extinction. Reject the #ecocide! When you shop be #vegan #Boycottpalmoil 🌴🚫 #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect wp.me/pcFhgU-8U5
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Governments and law-makers must urgently act to protect #rainforests 🌳🌲 #animals 🐘🐯🦍 and #indigenous peoples from disappearing finds new #report. Help them survive and #BoycottGold4Yanomami #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect wp.me/pcFhgU-8U5
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Written by Mary Gagen, Professor of Physical Geography, Swansea University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
The world is falling behind on commitments to protect and restore forests, according to the recent Forest Declaration Assessment. There is no serious pathway to fixing climate change while forest losses continue at current rates, because global climate targets, sustainable development goals and forest commitments depend on each other.
Around 1.6 billion people live close enough to forests to depend upon them for their livelihoods, and forests suck down about a third of our CO₂ emissions from fossil fuels.
The UN estimates that forests directly generate US$250 billion (£206 billion) in economic activity a year. Their broader, indirect, value might be as much as US$150 trillion (£12 trillion) per year – double the value of global stocks – largely due to their ability to store carbon. Despite this, subsidies still provide incentives for people to convert forests into agriculture.
There have been multiple global commitments to forests, with hundreds of governments and businesses signing up to pledges named after cities they were signed in: Bonn in 2011, New York in 2014, Glasgow in 2021. But these pledges have not been realised, and deforestation reduction targets are slipping each year.
Global forest loss in 2022 was 6.6 million hectares, an area about the size of Ireland. That’s 21% more than the amount that would keep us on track to meet the target of zero deforestation by 2030, agreed in Glasgow. The loss of tropical rainforest is even more pronounced: 33% over the target needed. Deforestation in 2022 marked a 4% step back on 2021 progress.
There isn’t one simple explanation for why forests are still disappearing. Factors include a lack of Indigenous Peoples rights to their territories, forest-harming financial and trade systems, and the physical effects of climate change and fire.
The lack of consistent and secure land tenure rights for Indigenous Peoples and local communities threatens forests and the people who depend upon them. Across the tropics, where forests are under their stewardship, the evidence is clear: deforestation and degradation are lower.
Subsidies that can lead to deforestation are worth between US$381 billion (£314 billion) and US$1 trillion (£825 billion) per year. These could include handing out public land to settlers, building roads or pipes to enable industrial-scale farming, keeping taxes on agricultural products artificially low, or subsidies on specific crops grown on formerly forested lands.
There are also illegal activities. By one recent estimate, 69% of the tropical forest cleared for agriculture between 2013 and 2019 violated national laws and regulations. The illegal timber trade is estimated to be worth US$150 billion per year globally.
There is simply not enough money going to support forests. Public finance for forests is less than 1% ”) of the amount invested in activities that are environmentally harmful or incentivise deforestation.
Around the globe, forests are also being harmed by climate change and shifting patterns of wildfires. Climate change is causing more fires, including in forests that do not usually burn, and producing hotter fires which cause long-term damage even in fire-adapted forests. The length and severity of droughts is increasing, inducing water stress which kills trees. A combination of climate-related stresses means that trees in the tropics, temperate and boreal forests, are experiencing dying younger and massive “die offs” are happening more often.
If the effects of fire and climate change continue post-Anthropocene forests are likely to be smaller, simpler in species, emptied of wildlife and restricted to steeper ground where agriculture is less favoured.
Computer simulations of the future climate, known as climate models, depict very different outcomes for forests depending on whether we limit global warming or not. If emissions are reigned in and we leave some cultivated land to nature, 350 million hectares of forest could return by 2100. That’s an area roughly the size of India. However, in a future where emissions remain high and land use doesn’t change, the models suggest a loss of a further 500 million hectares of forest by 2100.
The new Forest Pathways Report I worked on sets out an action plan for getting back on track. It asks global leaders and businesses to:
At the next COP28 climate summit in Dubai, there is the promise of bilateral announcements between wealthy donor nations and forested nations in the tropics, as part of the Forest and Climate Leaders’ Partnership signed in Glasgow, two years ago. These packages could support a move towards sustainable forest management and deforestation-free supply chains around the world.
This would be a valuable success, but leadership is desperately needed on other issues such as environmentally harmful subsidies or illegal logging, the financial scale of which both dwarf the funding provided to protect forests.
Written by Mary Gagen, Professor of Physical Geography, Swansea University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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This #WorldWildlifeDay take action for animals great and small! Reptiles insects, mammals and birds deserve better than palm oil ecocide and extinction. Make sure you Boycott palm oil
Read more
Virgin Atlantic airlines now uses ‘sustainable aviation fuel’ however experts call it greenwashing and industry spin causing climate change. Boycott palm oil!
Read more
Gursky’s spectral tarsiers AKA Wusing of North Sulawesi are vulnerable due to palm oil and timber deforestation. Take action for them and boycott palm oil!
Read more
Critically endangered Phayre’s langurs and endangered capped langurs of Bangladesh, are interbreeding raising concerns about their survival, take action!
Read more
Sunda flying lemurs AKA Malayan colugos rely on ancient forests to survive, despite being skilful gliders, palm oil is a major threat, boycott palm oil!
Read more
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2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status…
twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status…
twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1…
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
#agroecology #animalExtinction #animals #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottGold4Yanomami #BoycottPalmOil #Climate #climateChange #deforestation #ecocide #endangered #extinction #forests #indigenous #legal #meatDeforestation #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #plywood #rainforests #report #soyDeforestation #timber #vegan
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So-called ‘Net Zero’ Flights Flush Rainforest Carbon Into the Sky
Virgin Atlantic airlines now uses ‘sustainable aviation fuel’ – a technology it claims will result in ‘Net Zero’ flights. However experts and researchers have lambasted this #aviation and #palmoil industry promotion as #greenwashing. They cite problematic evidence that using Sustainable Aviation Fuel or #SAF in #airlinefuel will undermine goals of keeping climate warming below 1.5°. In the meantime, despite the greenwash and industry spin, SAF is poised to flush gigatonnes of #rainforest #carbon into the sky exacerbating #climatechange. #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4WildlifeIs #SAF or “Sustainable” Aviation Fuel really a #climate saviour? Or just a greedy #greenwashing lie about #palmoil #deforestation? 🤮🌴🔥 Cut through the BS with this article by Open Democracy #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect wp.me/pcFhgU-9cg
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Share to TwitterDespite #aviation ✈️ and #palmoil industry #greenwashing, #climate experts predict “Sustainable” Aviation Fuel or #SAF will flush gigatonnes of rainforest #carbon into the sky. We demand better! #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife 🌴 🔥🚫 @palmoildetect wp.me/pcFhgU-9cg
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Share to TwitterWritten by Ben Webster for Open Democracy, read original article. Republished under the Creative Commons Attribution Licence.
Virgin Atlantic and the UK government have been accused of misleading the public over what they claim will be “the world’s first net zero transatlantic flight” ahead of next week’s COP28 summit.
The Department for Transport said the flight, scheduled for Tuesday, was “ushering in a new era of guilt-free flying” because it will run entirely on so-called “sustainable aviation fuel” (SAF).
But openDemocracy revealed concerns earlier this year that SAF production in the UK may be linked to deforestation.
A stock image of a Virgin Atlantic Airways Boeing 787 Dreamliner, pictured on the approach to Heathrow Airport | Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images
“There are some incredible double standards at play here,” said Matt Finch, UK policy manager of green campaign group Transport & Environment.The SAF market in the UK is largely dependent on used cooking oil from Asia – where sellers are suspected of passing off unused palm oil as waste in order to attract lucrative credits. This is a particular problem for the environment, as producing palm oil drives deforestation.
Virgin last year bought more than 600,000 litres of “used” cooking oil from China and Indonesia to turn into SAF and mix with regular fuel for routine flights. Although it says the raw material for next week’s flight from London to New York will come purely from Europe and the US, the airline admitted it was still buying “feedstocks” from Asia for further SAF production this year.
“Some British airlines are – right now – greenwashing themselves by using used cooking oil made from Asian feedstocks,” said Finch.
“If airlines were genuinely trying to be sustainable, they would stop right now because of the huge risk of rogue palm oil getting into the SAF supply chain.”
youtu.be/1Ly5kJcsFhc?si=Q4ejK3…
Green Lie of “Sustainable” Aviation Biofuel
“Sustainable” Aviation Fuel (SAF) is a biofuel alternative to using fossil fuels for powering planes and cars. SAF is being aggressively marketed by multiple industries as a greener alternative to burning fossil fuels in cars and airplanes.However, SAF is produced from food crops such as rapeseed, palm oil, soy and sugar cane. This…
by Palm Oil DetectivesJanuary 7, 2024March 23, 2025
Net zero target
The aviation industry claims that SAF – which is almost all made from either biofuel crops or waste – could deliver around 65% of the reduction in emissions needed for airlines to reach net zero in 2050.Under the Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation (RTFO), the government allows used cooking oil to be used to make the fuel. It currently accounts for the vast majority of SAF declared in the UK, most of which comes from Asia.
In 2024 alone, British airlines have bought more than 26 million litres of used Asian cooking oil – including 18 million litres from Malaysia, five million from China and two million from Indonesia.
Only about 15% of the used cooking oil purchased by airlines in 2023 has come from European sources, mainly the UK and the Netherlands.
Investigations suggest there is a high risk of fraud in the supply of biofuel from Asia, with particular concern over virgin palm oil being passed off as used cooking oil.
Labelling virgin palm oil as used makes it more valuable, partly because waste products earn double credits under the UK government’s rules for sustainable fuels.
Even genuine used cooking oil can indirectly cause deforestation because countries export waste oil they would otherwise have used domestically, and instead use virgin palm oil to meet their own local demand, according to T&E.
The campaign group says used cooking oil from Asia would be more effective at cutting emissions if it were used to replace diesel in road vehicles in the countries where it was produced – rather than being shipped across the world to be refined, using additional energy, into jet fuel.
The Royal Society, which represents the UK’s leading scientists, has also warned that an area at least half the size of the UK would be needed to grow enough biofuel crops to meet existing aviation demand in the UK alone. Increased levels of recycling are also likely to mean less waste material is available for making the fuel.
Green fuel mandate
Commercial jet engines are currently allowed to burn a maximum of 50% SAF, which is blended with traditional kerosene jet fuel. But next week’s demonstration flight is expected to show that it is safe to use 100% SAF. It is being funded with a government grant of up to £1m.It comes only weeks before the government is due to announce details about the so-called “SAF mandate”, which will require at least 10% of jet fuel in the UK to come from “sustainable sources” by 2030.
The Department for Transport (DfT) is planning to cap the amount of used cooking oil and animal fat that airlines can use to meet this obligation, because demand could divert the products away from efforts to decarbonise road transport.
The cap, though, could be as high as 250 million litres a year of waste fats and oils.
Finch of T&E said: “The SAF mandate will be the biggest environmental regulation applied to UK aviation ever, and the government has a choice to make: should it carry on allowing SAF to be made from feedstocks that have dubious environmental benefits, or should it ensure that the sustainability criteria it sets genuinely achieve carbon reductions? Used cooking oil should be banned from UK planes.”
‘Undermining’ climate goals
Virgin and other UK airlines say their SAF has been certified by International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC), a scheme governed by a board that includes an executive from Air BP – one of Virgin’s SAF suppliers.ISCC has nonetheless taken some action over SAF mis-selling. It launched an investigation this year into “potentially fraudulent behaviour” involving biodiesel that had been declared as waste from Indonesia or Malaysia and then exported from China to Europe.
It also suspended the sustainability certification of three Chinese biofuel exporters and last month pledged to clamp down on fraud by implementing “a traceability database by the end of the year”.
A Virgin Atlantic spokesperson told openDemocracy: “With all SAF purchases, we require suppliers to comply with applicable sustainability standards. In respect of HEFA (Hydrogenated Esters and Fatty Acids) SAF, we ask suppliers to ensure that feedstocks do not contain palm oil or its derivatives.
“SAF is an emerging industry and we source feedstocks from regions around the world and ask that suppliers undertake robust due diligence to ensure there is no palm oil or derivatives.”
However, the Aviation Environment Federation says the aviation industry’s enthusiasm for SAF is obscuring the urgent need for genuinely sustainable solutions to aviation emissions, including development of zero emission aircraft and an overall reduction in flying.
Even if every drop of used cooking oil available globally were refined into jet fuel, there would only be enough to power about one in every 40 flights, according to estimates by sustainable fuel consultancy Cerulogy.
The aviation industry says it is developing alternative sources of sustainable aviation fuel, including “non-edible industrial corn”, “forestry residues” and household waste.
But a study in August by Manchester Metropolitan University challenged the industry’s claims that sustainable aviation fuel can drastically cut emissions.
It said: “The scaling up of SAF to not only maintain but grow global aviation is problematic as it competes for land needed for nature-based carbon removal, clean energy that could more effectively decarbonise other sectors, and captured CO2 to be stored permanently. As such, SAF production undermines global goals of limiting warming to 1.5°C.”
Cait Hewitt, policy director of the Aviation Environment Federation, said one flight using 100% SAF “will make no difference to the fact that only 2.6% of UK aviation fuel is anything other than kerosene. And globally, the figure is more like 0.1%.”
She said the industry and DfT were wrong to suggest that waste-based SAF could be scaled up sustainably.
“It’s a nice idea to make fuel out of rubbish, which is what the UK government and others are pushing for, but producing more rubbish to turn into plane fuel is pretty obviously not a sustainable long-term option.”
She also said it was misleading to claim, as the DfT has, that SAF cuts greenhouse gas emissions by 70%.
“Even using 100% SAF, as with the forthcoming Virgin Atlantic flight, reduces tailpipe emissions by 0% compared with using kerosene. Any CO2 savings will be net savings, just as with carbon offsets.”
She said the flight would not achieve any net CO2 savings unless Virgin and the DfT could demonstrate that more carbon had been captured than would have happened anyway.
A Department for Transport spokesperson said: “Our sustainable aviation fuel programme is one of the most comprehensive in the world.
“We require that the fuel used [for the 100% SAF flight] must meet the specified sustainability criteria. However, it is for the operator and their fuel suppliers to determine the exact nature of the fuel within these parameters. Fuel suppliers are subject to independently verified checks to confirm the authenticity of their materials.”
Written by Ben Webster for Open Democracy, read original article. Republished under the Creative Commons Attribution Licence.
ENDS
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Extant (resident)
India (Nicobar and Andaman Islands)
Discover the intriguing world of the Nicobar long-tailed macaque, a true survivor of India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands. These intelligent, adaptable, and highly social creatures navigate a variety of habitats with remarkable resilience. With their broad, chubby faces , deep-set and inquisitive eyes and wiry fur, they differ in appearance from their mainland counterparts. Nicobar long-tailed macaques now face threats including palm oil deforestation and human persecution in their island home. Help them to survive and safeguard their future every time you shop, #Boycottpalmoil and #Boycott4Wildlife.
The #Nicobar long-tailed #macaque, is a gem of #India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands. With charming chubby faces and curious eyes, they’re easy to love. Yet danger looms from #palmoil #ecocide. Help them and #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect wp.me/pcFhgU-7rM
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Resilient tool-using Nicobar long-tailed #macaques are now #vulnerable from #palmoil and human persecution in India’s Nicobar and #Andaman islands. Take a stand for them with your consumer choices! #Boycottpalmoil, and #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect wp.me/pcFhgU-7rM
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Tool-using, intelligent and charming Nicobar Long-tailed Macaques are survivors of the far-flung Indian Nicobar and Andaman islands.
In the sun-drenched Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the Nicobar long-tailed macaque flourishes, showcasing their intelligence, adaptability, and social nature. Amidst the rich biodiversity of Great Nicobar Island, these robust, grey monkeys begin their day with grooming rituals and foraging, favoring the native screw pine before venturing into nearby farms in search of coconuts and areca nuts.
Distinct from their mainland counterparts, the Nicobar long-tailed macaques have broader faces, deep-set eyes, and long tails that aid their balance on the coastal trees—a necessary skill in the gusty sea breezes. Their fur, a wiry brown in the sunlight, is adapted to the islands’ humid climate, allowing them to stay dry and warm. They make their homes in a variety of environments, from mangrove forests and dense rainforests to human settlements, demonstrating their versatility and resilience across Great Nicobar, Katchal, and Little Nicobar.
This species is a master of social living and survival, defending territories and using intricate social behaviours like grooming and group foraging to maintain bonds and communication within troops. They’re inventive, using tools for flossing, foraging, and communication, and have adapted their foraging tactics to include raids on village gardens during rainstorms, showcasing their creativity and intelligence.
On the Nicobar Islands of India—Little Nicobar, Great Nicobar, and Katchall—this unique subspecies of crab-eating macaque umbrosa or Nicobar thrives, found at elevations up to 600 meters. A study from 2003 discovered around 788 groups living across these islands, with groups averaging 36 members, though some were as large as 56. Each group typically includes multiple adult males and females, along with their offspring. Interestingly, adult females usually outnumber males by a ratio of 4:1, with a nearly equal number of young monkeys to adult females, suggesting a strong, healthy population. There’s also talk and some early findings suggesting they might be living on a fourth island, Kondul, but more investigation is needed to confirm their presence there.
The Nicobar long-tailed macaque, a discerning frugivore, feasts mainly on fruits and nuts. Like their crab-eating kin, they diversify their diet in leaner seasons or when preferred fruits are scarce, opting for young leaves, insects, flowers, seeds, and bark. When exploring shorelines and mangroves, they also snack on small crabs, frogs, and other creatures. Living near human settlements, these macaques frequently venture into croplands in search of food and may even enter homes if not deterred by human activity.
The study of Nicobar long-tailed macaques’ mating and reproduction is still in its nascent stages. Only recently research has begun in this area, but was hampered by the 2004 tsunami. More needs to be discovered about these macaques’ mating habits, including how they form relationships, choose mates, and time their births, against the backdrop of their rapidly changing environments.
twitter.com/Partha_Marcus/stat…
This animal has no protections in place. Read about other forgotten species here. Create art to support this forgotten animal or raise awareness about them by sharing this post and using the #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife hashtags on social media. Also you can boycott palm oil in the supermarket.
Ramakrishna, I., Mishra, P., Mazumder, J. & Pal, A. 2022. Macaca fascicularis ssp. umbrosa. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2022: e.T39791A215086130. dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.202…. Accessed on 08 April 2024.
Nicobar long-tailed macaque Wikipedia article: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicobar_…
Nicobar long-tailed macaque on Animalia.bio website: iucnredlist.org/species/39791/…
Partha Sarathi Mishra – research
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#Andaman #animals #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #deforestation #ecocide #ForgottenAnimals #hunting #India #macaque #macaques #Mammal #Nicobar #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #poaching #SouthAmericaSpeciesEndangeredByPalmOilDeforestation #vulnerable #VulnerableSpecies
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Nicobar pigeon Caloenas nicobarica
Nicobar pigeon Caloenas nicobarica
Near Threatened
Extant (resident)India; Indonesia; Malaysia; Myanmar; Palau; Papua New Guinea; Philippines; Solomon Islands; Thailand; Vietnam
Extant (seasonality uncertain)
Cambodia
The Nicobar pigeon is the largest pigeon in the world and the closest living relative to the extinct dodo bird. They are famous for their gorgeous iridescent feathers. When threatened they make a pig-like grunt and are known for the strange way that they drink – by dunking their heads into water and sucking it up instead of sipping as other birds do. They are Near Threatened from palm oil deforestation on the Nicobar and Andaman Islands in #India along with hunting and the pet trade. Help their survival and #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife in the supermarket.The #Nicobar #Pigeon 🪿🌈 is the largest, most colourful pigeon in the world. They are near threatened in #India by #palmoil #deforestation, #poaching and the #pet trade. Help them when u shop #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife 🌴🔥⛔️ palmoildetectives.com/2023/12/… @palmoildetect
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Share to TwitterNicobar #pigeons of #India have magnificent iridescent rainbow feathers 🏳️🌈. They are the closest living relative to the #extinct #dodo 🦤 Now threatened by #palmoil #deforestation. Help them survive! #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife 🌴🪔🚫 @palmoildetect palmoildetectives.com/2023/12/…
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Share to TwitterThe closest living relative to the extinct Dodo bird, the Nicobar pigeon is the largest pigeon species in the world. They are coveted for their rainbow coloured feathers and live in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in India, and coastal islands in the Malayan Archipelago and Solomon Islands.
Appearance & Behaviour
Nicobar pigeons have developed a bright metallic green, copper and iridescent blue plumage and grey head feathers. Their sturdy legs and feet are a dull red. Females are slightly smaller than males and have browner underparts. Immature birds lack iridescence.They are flexible and nomadic and will roam between islands in search of food. Nicobar pigeons actively look for food at dawn and dusk and search in pairs or alone. They are powerful flyers and will fly together in formation in columns or single file.
Their white tails are prominent during flight and are thought to provide guidance to the flock as they cross the sea at dawn or dusk. They have low-pitched calls which serve as communication between the flock.
Threats
Nicobar pigeon populations have not yet been adequately quantified by researchers. They are considered to be a scarce and rare species, although more common on smaller islets. Threats include:
- Introduced predator species to Andaman and Nicobar islands
- Palm oil deforestation in the Andaman and Nicobar islands
- The construction of a sea port on Great Nicobar Island and other major infrastructure projects
- Hunting and trapping for food
- The illegal pet trade
Trapping for food, the pet trade and perhaps for their gizzard-stones is a serious threat. The clearance of small islands for plantations and the adjacent areas of lowland forest which it requires for foraging must have reduced numbers. Predation by rats Rattus spp., cats and other alien predators at nesting grounds can affect large numbers of birds due to the colonial nature of the species.IUCN red list
Habitat
Nicobar pigeons prefer to live in rainforests, dry forests, mangroves, and shrubland. They are found on small islands and coastal islets in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in India and the Malay Archipelago, Solomon Islands and Palau.Diet
Nicobar pigeons are herbivores with a diet consisting of seeds, fruit and buds, and occasionally insects.Mating and breeding
Pairs of nicobar pigeons are believed to mate for life. They build nests in undisturbed sites in the forest canopy. Their breeding season is between January and March. The female pigeon lays one light blue egg which is nurtured and will hatch after a period of about 2.5 weeks. Both parents will feed the chick until they are ready for fledging at around three months old.Support Nicobar Pigeon by going vegan and boycotting palm oil in the supermarket, it’s the #Boycott4Wildlife
Support the conservation of this species
This animal has no protections in place. Read about other forgotten species here. Create art to support this forgotten animal or raise awareness about them by sharing this post and using the #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife hashtags on social media. Also you can boycott palm oil in the supermarket.Further Information
BirdLife International. 2016. Caloenas nicobarica. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T22690974A93297507. dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.201…. Accessed on 23 February 2023.Nicobar Pigeon on Wikipedia – en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicobar_…
Nicobar Pigeon on Animalia.bio animalia.bio/nicobar-pigeon
Xeno-canto bird call – xeno-canto.org/654856
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Wildlife Artist Juanchi Pérez
Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings
Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao
Health Physician Dr Evan Allen
The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
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#animals #Bird #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #Cambodia #deforestation #dodo #extinct #ForgottenAnimals #hunting #India #Indonesia #Malaysia #Myanmar #Nicobar #NicobarPigeonCaloenasNicobarica #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #PapuaNewGuineaSpeciesEndangeredByPalmOilDeforestation #pet #Philippines #pigeon #pigeons #poaching #solomonIslands #Thailand #Vietnam #VulnerableSpecies
Nicobar pigeon Caloenas nicobarica - India (Andaman and Nicobar Islands) and SE Asia
The Nicobar pigeon is the largest pigeon in the world and the closest living relative to the extinct dodo bird. They are famous for their gorgeous iridescent...Palm Oil Detectives (YouTube)
Extant (resident)
Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia (Borneo).
The tufted ground squirrel, or groove-toothed squirrel, is a striking nut-cracking rodent native to the island of Borneo. Sporting a voluminous, club-shaped tail, the tufted ground squirrel carries the largest tail-to-body size ratio of any mammal. Scientists believe the tail could serve to confuse predators or attract mates. They are listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List and are threatened by deforestation, hunting, and forest conversion to palm oil. To protect these charismatic creatures, make sure you #BoycottPalmOil and #Boycott4Wildlife in the supermarket!
With the most magnificent tail of all in the #jungle, the #vulnerable Tufted Ground Squirrel of #Borneo 🇲🇾🇮🇩 is losing a battle against #palmoil #ecocide. Fight for them when you shop and be #vegan 🥕🥦🍆 #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect wp.me/pcFhgU-7P9
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Mistaken as ‘vampire squirrels’ 🧛🦷 for their sharp teeth, Tufted Ground #Squirrels only eat nuts. They are vulnerable in #Indonesia and #Malaysia from #palmoil #deforestation. Help them survive! #Boycottpalmoil 🌴🪔🤮⛔️ #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect wp.me/pcFhgU-7P9
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The tufted ground squirrel, or groove-toothed squirrel, is a striking nut-cracking rodent native to the island of Borneo. Weighing in at around 2 kg their bodies are overshadowed by a fluffy, charcoal-and-white frosted tail that’s 130% the volume of their body. Their head-and-body length is around 34 cm with a tail almost as long, bringing their total length to nearly 70 cm! They have the largest tail-to-body ratio of any animal on the planet.
Their sharp incisors feature 7-10 saw-like grooves that are perfect for cracking hard nuts. Their fur is primarily brown with a reddish tint, and they sport dramatic tufts of dark fur on their ears, giving them a striking appearance. They’re agile climbers and forage both on the forest floor and in the lower canopy.
You can help spread awareness about impacts of palm oil on these squirrels and 1000’s of other species. By using your wallet as a weapon every time you shop and being a part of the #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife you are taking an empowering step for them.
Glimpsing Tufted Ground Squirrels in their natural home is exceedingly rate. They are found only on the island of Borneo and prefer dense lowland primary forests up to 1,100 meters in elevation. However, they will sometimes venture into secondary forests, orchards or smallholdings. They are elusive and not often seen, sometimes their fluffy tailed forms are captured by camera traps or chance sightings.
The tufted ground squirrel’s diet includes mostly hard seeds, particularly those of the Canarium tree. They also eat fruits, nuts, and insects, adapting to the available food sources in their forest habitat. Despite their sharp teeth, tales of their carnivorous nature have led to them being dubbed “vampire squirrels”, however these claims were subsequently discovered to be lacking in evidence. Their ultra sharp teeth give them the ability crack open even the toughest nuts.
Much remains unknown about the mating and reproduction of the tufted ground squirrel due to their elusive nature. Researchers hope that future studies using motion-activated cameras will uncover more details about their behaviour, including how their elaborate tail might play a role in courtship.
This animal has no protections in place. Read about other forgotten species here. Create art to support this forgotten animal or raise awareness about them by sharing this post and using the #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife hashtags on social media. Also you can boycott palm oil in the supermarket.
Animalia. (n.d.). Tufted ground squirrel: Groove-toothed squirrel. animalia.bio/tufted-ground-squ…
Meijaard, E. 2016. Rheithrosciurus macrotis. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T19474A22248783. dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.201…. Accessed on 08 May 2024.
Pare, S. (2023, December 24). Tufted ground squirrel: The Borneo rodent once believed to disembowel deer and feast on their organs. livescience.com/animals/land-m…
Stokstad, E. (2015, September 2). ‘Vampire’ squirrel caught on film: Researchers in Borneo get first video of mammal with fluffiest tail. science.org/content/article/va…
Wikipedia. (n.d.). Tufted ground squirrel. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tufted_g…
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Global
South America
S.E. Asia
India
Africa
West Papua & PNG
Lying
Fake labels
Indigenous Land-grabbing
Human rights abuses
Deforestation
Human health hazards
#animals #Borneo #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #Brunei #deforestation #ecocide #ForgottenAnimals #hunting #Indonesia #jungle #Malaysia #Mammal #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #rodent #rodents #SouthEastAsia #Squirrels #TuftedGroundSquirrelRheithrosciurusMacrotis #vegan #vulnerable #VulnerableSpecies
Western Parotia Parotia sefilata
Western Parotia Parotia sefilata
Location: West Papua (Illegally occupied by Indonesia)Found exclusively in the montane forests of the Vogelkop Peninsula and Wandammen Mountains in Indonesian-occupied West Papua, this species is confined to isolated pockets of ancient, cloud-draped rainforest.
The Western Parotia Parotia sefilata, also called the Arfak Parotia, is a stunning bird-of-paradise of #WestPapua known for their mesmerising, ballerina-like courtship dance. Male #birds fan their iridescent flank plumes into a skirt and dazzle females with precise steps and shimmering throat shields. Although listed as Least Concern in 2016, this designation is dangerously outdated. The forests these rare birds call home have suffered catastrophic #deforestation in recent years due to the explosion of #palmoil plantations. These once-pristine regions are now fragmented and rapidly vanishing. Immediate action is needed to protect the Western Parotia from becoming the next victim of extinction.#BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4WildlifeUnusual behaviours like mounting reveal complexity to the lives of Western #Parotia, thrilling #birds of paradise in #WestPapua. #Palmoil is a major threat. Fight for them and indigenous peoples #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect palmoildetectives.com/2026/01/…
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Share to TwitterWith jet black plumage 🖤 and bright green 💚 wattles, male Western Parotia #birds 🐦🦜🦚 of paradise gleam like scaly armour when they dance 🎶 Resist against their #extinction in #WestPapua when you #Boycottpalmoil 🌴🚫 #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect palmoildetectives.com/2026/01/…
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Male Western Parotias are instantly recognisable by their jet-black plumage, metallic green wattles that gleam like scaled armour, and three distinctive wire-like head plumes that curl outward from each side of the crown—features that inspired the species name, derived from the Latin sex filum, meaning ‘six threads.’ A dazzling inverted silver triangle on their head flashes during display, perfectly offset by their elegant black flank plumes which form a flared skirt in courtship. Females are more subdued, clad in streaky brown feathers, allowing them to blend into the forest understorey.This species of bird-of-paradise is polygynous. Males gather in exploded leks—loosely spaced display grounds—where they clear leaf-littered forest floors to create courts. On these makeshift stages, they perform intricate displays to attract females, combining pirouettes, head bobs, feather shimmers, and rapid shakes. A 2024 behavioural study also observed rare alternative mating tactics, including homosexual mounting and sneak copulation attempts by female-plumaged birds, suggesting untapped behavioural complexity (MacGillavry et al., 2024).
Threats
The Western Parotia is officially listed as Least Concern, but this 2016 classification dangerously underrepresents their current reality. Since that assessment, massive deforestation for timber and palm oil has devastated much of their limited range, particularly across the Vogelkop Peninsula and Wandammen Mountains. The threats are mounting and accelerating due to the following drivers:Palm oil deforestation
Large-scale clearing of primary rainforest to make way for industrial palm oil plantations is now rampant across the Bird’s Head (Vogelkop) Peninsula. Even remote montane forests where Western Parotias lek and nest are not safe, as new roads are cut to expand plantation frontiers.Timber deforestation
Commercial timber extraction is removing centuries-old forest giants that the Western Parotia depends on for fruit, foraging and nesting. Logging roads also fragment habitat, increase fire risk, and provide access to previously undisturbed ecosystems.Deforestation for mining, rubber and infrastructure projects
Government-backed agribusiness schemes are encouraging monocultures such as oil palm and rubber, which completely erase the forest understory and tree canopy vital for the Parotia’s food and shelter.Mining concessions in West Papua—often enforced with military support—are rapidly opening up forests in the Wandammen Mountains, overlapping with the Parotia’s habitat. Road construction to access mines and plantations is fragmenting the landscape irreparably.
Climate change-induced extreme weather
The species is restricted to highland forest. As temperatures rise and human pressures encroach from below, their montane habitat may shrink to mountaintop fragments, leaving no room for retreat.Colonial exploitation, military conflict and suppression of Indigenous land rights:
Indigenous Melanesians have stewarded Papuan forests for millennia. Today, state and corporate projects continue to override Indigenous consent, leading to ecological destruction and social injustice hand-in-hand.These combined threats pose a serious and immediate danger to the survival of the Western Parotia. Without urgent action to halt deforestation and recognise Indigenous land sovereignty, the species could slide rapidly toward extinction unnoticed.
Geographic Range
Western Parotias are found exclusively in the montane and submontane rainforests of the Vogelkop Peninsula and the Wandammen Mountains in West Papua. They are forest specialists, requiring old-growth rainforest to support their complex courtship behaviour and nesting needs. Since their last assessment in 2016, widespread forest loss has occurred across these regions, particularly from illegal logging and palm oil expansion, putting their long-term survival in serious jeopardy.Diet
Western Parotias primarily feed on fruits—especially figs—and supplement their diet with arthropods. Their foraging occurs at various forest levels, but they prefer mid-canopy and understorey, where fruiting trees and insect-rich foliage are abundant.Mating and Reproduction
Courtship and nesting behaviour are marked by sexual division of labour. Only the female builds the nest and raises the chick. Nests are often camouflaged in dense foliage. Although the precise breeding season remains unclear, it is believed to vary by elevation and fruiting cycles. Male courtship is heavily influenced by evolutionary modularity in display traits, which have diverged over time, giving rise to the extravagant variety seen across the Parotia genus (Scholes, 2008).FAQs
How many Western Parotias are left in the wild?
There are no exact population estimates for the Western Parotia. The IUCN has classified them as Least Concern, but this was based on assessments from 2016. Since then, vast tracts of their habitat have been lost. Without a recent survey, the current population trend is unknown, but it is likely decreasing due to ongoing deforestation (BirdLife International, 2016).How long do Western Parotias live?
In the wild, birds-of-paradise often live between 5 to 10 years, though lifespan data for this species is limited. In captivity, related species have reached over 15 years, but no long-term studies exist for Parotia sefilata specifically.What challenges do conservationists face protecting this species?
Conservation of the Western Parotia is complicated by a lack of recent data and the remoteness of their habitat. The Vogelkop and Wandammen regions are undergoing rapid transformation due to illegal logging and palm oil expansion, often facilitated by state-backed infrastructure projects. These forests also fall within contested indigenous lands, and conservation solutions must be rooted in indigenous sovereignty to be effective.Is the Western Parotia affected by the exotic pet trade?
Unlike parrots and smaller songbirds, Western Parotias are not commonly targeted for the exotic pet trade, likely due to their remote habitat and specialised diet. However, increased accessibility due to road construction could change this. It is essential to remain vigilant and oppose any wildlife trafficking.Take Action!
Use your wallet as a weapon to stop extinction by boycotting palm oil. Always choose products that are 100% palm oil-free to avoid contributing to the deforestation that is pushing the Western Parotia closer to extinction. Support indigenous-led conservation efforts in West Papua and call for greater transparency around the spread of monoculture plantations. Protect the mesmerising courtship rituals of these remarkable birds by fighting to keep their forests standing. #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife #Vegan #BoycottMeatSupport the Western Parotia by going vegan and boycotting palm oil in the supermarket, it’s the #Boycott4Wildlife
Support the conservation of this species
This animal has no protections in place. Read about other forgotten species here. Create art to support this forgotten animal or raise awareness about them by sharing this post and using the #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife hashtags on social media. Also you can boycott palm oil in the supermarket.Further Information
BirdLife International. (2016). Parotia sefilata. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T22706181A93913206. Retrieved 6 April 2025, from iucnredlist.org/species/227061…MacGillavry, T., Janiczek, C., & Fusani, L. (2024). Video evidence of mountings by female-plumaged birds of paradise (Aves: Paradisaeidae) in the wild: Is there evidence of alternative mating tactics? Ethology. doi.org/10.1111/eth.13451
Scholes, E. (2008). Evolution of the courtship phenotype in the bird of paradise genus Parotia (Aves: Paradisaeidae): homology, phylogeny, and modularity. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 94(3), 491–504. doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8312.20…
Wikipedia contributors. (n.d.). Western parotia. Wikipedia. Retrieved 6 April 2025, from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_…
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Wildlife Artist Juanchi Pérez
Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings
Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao
Health Physician Dr Evan Allen
The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
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Learn about other animals endangered by palm oil and other agriculture
Global
South America
S.E. Asia
India
Africa
West Papua & PNG
Gursky’s Spectral Tarsier Tarsius spectrumgurskyae
Sunda Flying Lemur Galeopterus variegatus
Capped Langur Trachypithecus pileatus
Mountain Tapir Tapirus pinchaque
Saola Pseudoryx nghetinhensis
Tucuxi Sotalia fluviatilis
Learn about “sustainable” palm oil greenwashing
Read more about RSPO greenwashing
Lying
Fake labels
Indigenous Land-grabbing
Human rights abuses
Deforestation
Human health hazardsA 2019 World Health Organisation (WHO) report into the palm oil industry and RSPO finds extensive greenwashing of palm oil deforestation and the murder of endangered animals (i.e. biodiversity loss)
#animals #Bird #birds #Birdsong #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottMeat #BoycottPalmOil #deforestation #EndSongbirdTrade #extinction #ForgottenAnimals #FreeWestPapua #gold #goldMining #hunting #indigenous #military #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #Parotia #poaching #songbird #songbirds #vegan #vulnerable #VulnerableSpecies #WestPapua #WesternParotiaParotiaSefilata #WestPapua
The Problems with Palm Oil
Discover the environmental and social issues caused by palm oil production. Learn about its impacts on wildlife, indigenous communities, and how to take action with Palm Oil DetectivesPalm Oil Detectives
War is the biggest environmental crime on Earth.
Every bomb dropped poisons the air, the soil, and the water. Cities burn, ecosystems collapse, and generations inherit landscapes filled with toxins, rubble, and trauma.
Extinction Rebellion stands against war.
Extinction Rebellion stands against ecocide.
A livable world cannot be built on endless violence. Peace, justice, and ecological protection are inseparable.
#XR #ExtinctionRebellion #ClimateJustice #Ecocide #StopTheWar #PeaceForThePlanet
Brands and businesses may be tempted to exploit “green” certifications to garner a larger market share at the expense of integrity.
Around 400 #ecolabels 🏆 claim to provide #consumers with choice ⁉️ Yet they’re unreliable in holding #corporates to account for widespread #deforestation and #humanrights abuses and #greenwashing #Boycottpalmoil 🌴🪔🔥 ⛔️#Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect wp.me/pcFhgU-8Y6
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#Brands and giants of #FMCG may be tempted to exploit “green” certifications like #FSC, MSC and #RSPO to reassure consumers. Yet ecolabels have deep flaws in enforcement of standards. #ecocide #greenwashing #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect wp.me/pcFhgU-8Y6
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Written by Dr Arne Nygaard, professor at the School of Communication, Leadership and Marketing at Kristiania University College, Norway. His primary research interests include sustainable supply chains, greenwashing, geopolitical risk and strategic uncertainty, economic contracts and incentives, sustainability and green marketing, technology, and entrepreneurship. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™, read the original.
Analyses conducted in the study indicate that while certifications can help prevent greenwashing, they can also contribute to eco-opportunism […] the theory of eco-opportunism warns that this can lead to free riding and greenwashing, where products are falsely advertised as sustainable but fail to meet certified standards.
Nygaard, A. (2023). Is sustainable certification’s ability to combat greenwashing trustworthy? Frontiers in Sustainability, 4, Article 1188069. doi.org/10.3389/frsus.2023.118…
As the global fight against climate change intensifies, certifications have become crucial tools for industries to address environmental, business and social challenges. Sustainability certifications promote eco-friendly practices, protect human rights and boost the credibility of environmentally responsible brands.
But although certifications often enhance the perceived value of sustainable products and services, challenges remain.
There are concerns about greenwashing and free riding plus the inability of certification systems to adapt to changes and failing to incentivise the adoption of newer, more sustainable technologies.
At the supermarket, a shopper carefully studies a label, thinking, “This product has a certification. Must be environmentally friendly. I’ll buy it.” And like that shopper, millions around the world make that same decision every day.
Greenwashing, where companies falsely claim eco-friendly credentials without meeting required standards, is a significant issue. Similarly, free riding allows businesses to benefit from the positive image of certifications without genuinely implementing sustainable practices.
The number of sustainability certifications has surged globally in recent years. The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) reports that more than 400 certifications now cover sectors such as food, agriculture, energy, environment, health and social responsibility.
This growth reflects increasing consumer awareness of sustainability and the desire of companies to showcase their commitment to eco-friendly practices.
Certifications serve as essential market signals, enabling businesses to distinguish themselves by adhering to recognised environmental and social standards.
Some of the internationally recognised certifications include the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for green buildings, the Forest Stewardship Council for sustainable forestry and the Fair Trade certification, which ensures that products meet strict social, environmental and labour criteria.
Another key example is the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil certification, which promotes the production of palm oil in a way that minimises environmental harm, protects biodiversity and ensures fair treatment of workers and local communities.
Certifications typically involve third-party evaluations to assess compliance with criteria such as environmental and economic impact or fair labour practices.
Despite widespread adoption, certifications face growing scrutiny.
For instance, consumer demand for eco-friendly products has led to companies charging higher prices for green products. While many consumers are willing to pay this premium, it can create perverse incentives for companies to engage in greenwashing.
Certifications, intended to assure consumers of a product’s environmental and social standards, can paradoxically encourage companies to exploit these authentications for profit.
When businesses realise they can charge a premium for eco-labelled goods, the temptation to stretch the truth or manipulate the certification increases.
Greenwashing erodes consumer trust and devalues the certifications of genuinely sustainable products.
As more companies exploit these eco-friendly claims without verification, it becomes harder for consumers to differentiate between authentic and deceptive environmental practices, potentially undermining the credibility of certification systems.
This highlights the urgent need for stronger mechanisms to mitigate these risks, ensuring that certification systems are not only effective but also resilient against exploitation.
Certification bodies can tighten standards, increase transparency and implement stronger verification processes to reflect evolving sustainability standards and prevent misuse. Additionally, independent audits and greater rigour throughout the supply chain would hold companies accountable for their claims.
Investigation into the root causes of greenwashing is necessary to understand how and why companies manipulate sustainable claims.
One key issue is that certification processes often focus on specific criteria and may not capture the broader environmental or social impacts of a product.
A company may meet the minimum requirements for certification in one area, such as reducing carbon emissions, while ignoring other important sustainability factors such as labour conditions or biodiversity conservation.
This selective compliance allows companies to appear more sustainable than they truly are, feeding into the cycle of greenwashing.
Consumers can be educated on how to critically evaluate certification labels to avoid falling prey to greenwashing tactics.
By reinforcing certification systems with robust monitoring and compliance mechanisms, the credibility of sustainable products can be preserved, and the integrity of genuine sustainability efforts can be upheld.
Non-governmental organisations and activist groups play a critical role in developing and implementing certification systems. These organisations provide valuable input during the creation of sustainability standards and help monitor compliance, ensuring that certification systems remain credible.
For example, the Forest Stewardship Council certification system for responsible forestry was developed in 1993 with input from environmental NGOs such as Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund.
NGOs advocate for higher sustainability standards, while certifications give them leverage to hold businesses accountable. By working together, NGOs and certification bodies can drive meaningful change toward a more sustainable future.
The interaction between state institutions, laws, and certification systems is also vital to ensuring the credibility and effectiveness of sustainability efforts.
Governments often set baseline sustainability requirements, while certification systems provide an additional layer of accountability. A clear example is the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil certification now used in 21 countries.
One challenge facing certification bodies is internal structural inertia. This refers to resistance to change, preventing the adoption of innovative green technologies.
This occurs when certification bodies become too rigid in their processes, policies, or standards, making it difficult for them to quickly adapt to new environmental paradigms.
For example, the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design initially focused on energy efficiency in buildings but was slow to incorporate newer technologies like green roofs or biophilic design which enhance sustainability.
Similarly, in the agricultural sector, government certification systems such as the United States Department of Agriculture Organic can be slow to recognise advancements in vertical farming or aeroponics, even though these methods significantly reduce land use, water consumption, and pesticide reliance.
This type of institutional resistance can delay the transition to more sustainable practices, as certification bodies may cling to outdated standards that fail to incentivise the latest green technologies.
To stay relevant and support ongoing environmental progress, certification organisations can work to overcome structural inertia and actively seek ways to update their standards in response to new innovations.
By updating their standards to reflect these disruptive technologies, certification systems can stay relevant and effective, driving sustainability across industries and supporting innovation while addressing evolving environmental challenges.
However, certifications, while essential tools for promoting sustainable practices, face limitations. Greenwashing, free-riding, and institutional inertia can undermine their value, posing challenges for businesses and consumers alike.
As markets evolve, certifications risk becoming obsolete unless they adapt to new environmental and technological challenges.
Nygaard, A. (2023). Is sustainable certification’s ability to combat greenwashing trustworthy? Frontiers in Sustainability, 4, Article 1188069. doi.org/10.3389/frsus.2023.118…
Dr Arne Nygaard is a professor at the School of Communication, Leadership and Marketing at Kristiania University College, Norway. His primary research interests include sustainable supply chains, greenwashing, geopolitical risk and strategic uncertainty, economic contracts and incentives, sustainability and green marketing, technology, and entrepreneurship. Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™, read the original.
ENDS
Mondelēz International who make Oreos keep sourcing palm oil from suppliers linked to violence and deforestation. Their RSPO certification is pure greenwash!
Read more
Global Witness report finds JBS, the world’s largest meat company, is directly linked to deforestation in the Amazon and Pantanal putting jaguars at risk
Read more
The legal trade is largely to blame for African grey parrots becoming endangered. Regulator CITES is broken allowing exploitation, massive reform needed now!
Read more
Wealthiest people in USA and China responsible for 2/3 of global warming since 1990. Climate policies needed to target the richest people on the planet now!
Read more
Commodifying forests as merely an investment for ‘carbon credits’ has many dangerous loopholes that human rights to indigenous peoples, take action!
Read more
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2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status…
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4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
#BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #brandCertification #Brands #consumers #corporates #corruption #deforestation #ecocide #ecolabels #FMCG #FSC #greenwashing #HumanRights #OrangutanLandTrust #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #RSPO #RSPOGreenwashing
In an age of heightened environmental awareness, distinguishing genuine commitments from greenwashing tactics poses a challenge. Learn how to spot the labels certifying a brand's sustainable claims.OxStu Science and Tech (The Oxford Student)
Jaguars vs Cows: JBS Fuelling Biodiversity Collapse in Brazil’s Forests
A damning Global Witness investigation exposes how JBS, the world’s largest meat company, is directly linked to deforestation in some of Brazil’s most biodiverse ecosystems, including the Amazon and Pantanal. Despite greenwashing promises, JBS continues sourcing cattle from ranchers involved in illegal deforestation in areas that overlap with protected jaguar territory—pushing iconic species like the jaguar closer to extinction. The company’s failure to track indirect suppliers undermines greenwashing and zero-deforestation claims. JBS is financed by British Bank Barclays who made a whopping $1.7 billion from this decimation of the environment. This scandal highlights the urgent need to divest your wealth from Barclays until they stop funding JBS. Also in the supermarket you can #BoycottMeat and be #vegan for not only farmed animals but also for wild animals like jaguars and countless others. #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife#Meat giant 🥩☠️ #JBS is driving #deforestation in the #Amazon🐆 ❌ Jaguars are losing their home to cows killed for burgers 🤮💰 Billions in profits to #Barclays and zero accountability 📣 Divest NOW! NO to #BigCat #extinction! #Boycott4Wildlife #Vegan palmoildetectives.com/2026/01/…
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Share to TwitterGlobal Witness. (2024, May 15). Jaguars vs cows: The biodiversity crisis under JBS’s shadow. globalwitness.org/en/campaigns…
A Global Witness investigation has found that jaguars, vital guardians of Amazonian ecosystems and critical apex predators — are under siege as Brazil’s forests are cleared at alarming rates. New findings from Global Witness show that over 27 million hectares of the jaguar’s historic habitat in Brazil have been razed for industrial agriculture, particularly cattle ranching, between 2014 and 2023.
A single supplier to JBS, the world’s largest meat company, illegally cleared over 1,200 hectares of protected jaguar habitat in just a decade. Across the jaguar’s range in Pará and Mato Grosso states, 75% of farms linked to JBS’s supply chain broke environmental laws in the past five years. Deforestation and habitat fragmentation have devastated jaguar populations, classified as ‘Near Threatened’ on the IUCN Red List.
Jaguars are a keystone species, crucial to maintaining ecosystem health. Their decline ripples throughout the Amazon and Cerrado, triggering wider biodiversity loss. Meanwhile, financial institutions in Europe, China, and the US continue backing JBS despite its environmental breaches, profiting while forests fall.With Brazil hosting COP30 this year, Global Witness is calling for world leaders to show real commitment. They must strengthen laws regulating supply chains and finance to protect remaining forests and Indigenous territories, or risk missing the 2030 deadline to halt deforestation.
Without urgent action, jaguars — once revered as guardians of the rainforest — could vanish forever.
The Global Witness investigation found over 27 million ha of jaguar habitat – an area larger than the UK – had been converted to agricultural land in the states of Mato Grosso and Pará as of 2023.
“We decided to investigate the loss of jaguar habitat driven by industrial agriculture because jaguars are a keystone species. They play a crucial role in stabilising ecosystems and maintaining biodiversity in areas such as the Amazon and Cerrado. When their territories are destroyed, the entire ecosystem suffers,” said Marco Mantovani, a Global Witness investigator leading the data analysis.
A road in Brazil which drives deep into jaguar habitat. Ricardo de O. Lemos/Shutterstock
Jaguar Panthera onca by Ecuadorian artist Juanchi Pérez
A jaguar in the jungle of southern Mexico. Mardoz/Shutterstock
“Deforestation is a solvable issue, but it’s one where there is stalling, a lack of political will to actually meet the global agreement to end forest loss by 2030,” said Global Witness’s Reid, referring to the landmark pledge reached at COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, in 2021.
She told Mongabay that she hopes that at COP30 countries will put forward plans “to actually deliver [on] their commitments when it comes to forest loss.”
British banking giant Barclays was a main financier of the megaproject and made an extraordinary $1.7 billion from financing JBS, surpassing 30 other global financial institutions bankrolling the meatpacker. A key way to take action is to not only boycott meat in solidarity to cows and jaguars, but to also divest your funds from Barclays.
Global Witness. (2024, May 15). Jaguars vs cows: The biodiversity crisis under JBS’s shadow. globalwitness.org/en/campaigns…
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Read more about deforestation and ecocide in the palm oil industry
Meat-Stinking Giant Flower Has A Delectable Aroma For Pollinators
Titan Arum AKA ‘Corpse Flowers’ is famous for its repulsive meat smell. Palm oil agriculture is a massive threat to these rare stinky plants. Take action!
Western Parotia Parotia sefilata
Western Parotias AKA Arfak Parotias are stunning bird-of-paradise of West Papua known for their mesmerising dances. Palm oil and mining ecocide are threats
Capped Langur Trachypithecus pileatus
Capped langurs are found in India Bhutan Bangladesh and Myanmar, they are vulnerable from palm oil and other forms of deforestation. Take action for them!
World’s Wealthiest Drive Two Thirds of Global Warming Since 1990
Wealthiest people in USA and China responsible for 2/3 of global warming since 1990. Climate policies needed to target the richest people on the planet now!
Jaguars and Pumas Eat More Monkeys in Damaged Forests
In fragmented forests of Mexico, big cats find it hard to locate prey ungulates instead seeking tree-dwelling #monkeys – that’s bad news for primates!Load more posts
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2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
Wildlife Artist Juanchi Pérez
Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings
Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao
Health Physician Dr Evan Allen
The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status…
twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status…
twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1…
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
#Barclays #bigCat #bigcat #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottMeat #BoycottPalmOil #corruption #deforestation #extinction #Jaguar #JaguarPantheraOnca #Jaguars #JBS #meat #meatAgriculture #meatAndSoyDeforestationInBrazil #meatDeforestation #News #PalmOil #vegan
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🍪🔥 #Mondelez maker of #Oreos is fuelling rainforest #ecocide and #humanrights abuses. They source #palmoil linked to #childlabour and exploitation 💀🌴 Use your wallet as a weapon to help animals and indigenous people! #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife
impact of AI (not only vibe coding) on the societies and on the planet is #ecocide - but it did start much before AI, too…
Research from University of Queensland and published in The Lancet: Planetary Health finds that the COVID-19 pandemic is linked to the decline of ecosystems and biodiversity, creating a cycle that could lead to more pandemics. The pandemic, caused by a virus jumping from animals to humans, has worsened deforestation, increasing human-wildlife contact and the risk of future disease outbreaks. The study emphasizes the need for a One Health approach, combining public health, conservation efforts and involving indigenous custodianship of land and indigenous traditional knowledge to prevent outbreaks by protecting ecosystems. We must safeguard biodiversity to prevent more pandemics. #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife
youtube.com/watch?v=55jMGwQDTY…
@UQ_News research published in @TheLancetPlanet finds that #pandemics are linked to #ecosystem and #biodiversity declines, with viruses jumping from animals to humans. Urgent #publichealth and #conservation policies needed #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect wp.me/pcFhgU-77u
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This research was originally published in The Lancet Planetary Health (DOI: 10.1016/S2542-5196(21)00258-8). The media release below from the University of Queensland was published on 16th November, 2021, view original
Scientists have investigated the links between the COVID-19 pandemic and the deterioration of the world’s ecosystems and their biodiversity, discovering feedback loops that suggest a potential increase in future pandemics.
University of Queensland Master of Conservation Biology graduate Odette Lawler, collaborating with a team of students and fellows contributing to the study in Professor Salit Kark’s Biodiversity Research Group, said that the links between biodiversity loss, habitat degradation and zoonotic disease transfer had long been understood, but it’s taken an international pandemic to bring the issue to public attention.
“COVID-19 has shown the world that human health and environmental health are intricately linked,” Ms Lawler said.
“We’ve long known that issues like land-use change, intensive livestock production, wildlife trade, and climate change drive the emergence of zoonotic diseases, as they increase human-wildlife interactions.
“Now we’ve also found that these issues are being compounded by outcomes of the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in feedback loops that are likely to promote future zoonotic disease outbreaks.
“For example, research has found that rates of deforestation have substantially increased in many regions around the world over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This is likely due to some combination of pandemic-related factors, including decreased enforcement of forest protections, relaxation of sustainability agreements and environmental deregulation, increased pressures on low-income communities, and threats to Indigenous land managers.
“This means that COVID-19 – a pandemic sparked by a pathogen spilling from animal to human populations – has played a part in fuelling further deforestation, which in turn increases risk of future zoonotic disease emergence by increasing human-wildlife interactions.”
The research team stressed that responses to COVID-19 must include actions aimed at safeguarding biodiversity and ecosystems.
Senior researcher UQ’s Professor Salit Kark, who led and supervised the study said that such responses would benefit from adopting what is known in public health and conservation circles as a One Health approach.
“One Health is a collaborative, transdisciplinary approach that aims to optimise health outcomes for communities arising from factors operating, for example, at the intersections between people, animals and their shared environment,” Professor Kark said.
“It’s an approach that can help holistically address outbreaks before they happen, working closely with the community and engaging people in preventative ecosystem and human health.
“Here in Australia, the emphasis should be on developing close, long-term collaboration and engagement with First Nations communities and other partners to address these risks.
“And, internationally, Australia has so many valuable ties, which can be strengthened through working together with other nations to address the drivers of zoonotic disease emergence. In this paper, for example, the team closely collaborated with a group based in Nepal working in the area.
“It’s vital we invest in protecting biodiversity and ecosystem health and address the drivers of zoonotic disease.
“If we don’t, we really are increasing the likelihood of future zoonotic disease emergence and further pandemics arising, and we now all know just how world-altering and high-impact they can be.”
The research has been published in The Lancet Planetary Health (DOI: 10.1016/S2542-5196(21)00258-8).
This research was originally published in The Lancet Planetary Health (DOI: 10.1016/S2542-5196(21)00258-8). The media release from the University of Queensland was published on 16th November, 2021 View original
ENDS
Wealthiest people in USA and China responsible for 2/3 of global warming since 1990. Climate policies needed to target the richest people on the planet now!
Commodifying forests as merely an investment for ‘carbon credits’ has many dangerous loopholes that human rights to indigenous peoples, take action!
Forest 500 report shows 150 of the world’s largest financial institutions invested nearly $9 trillion in deforestation-linked industries. Support EUDR!
Almost 25% of all land in Africa has been damaged driven by climate change and deforestation for mining palm oil and cocoa. Take action and protect forests!
The Indigenous Semai #indigenous people of #Malaysia can teach us a lot about how to protect people, planet and biodiversity. The Indigenous concept of #badi is not superstition or taboo, it’s about respecting…
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#biodiversity #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #conservation #corruption #deforestation #disease #ecocide #ecosystem #PalmOil #palmOilBiofuel #palmOilDeforestation #pandemics #planetaryHealth #publichealth #zoonosis #zoonotic #zoonoticDisease
The Indigenous Semai #indigenous people of #Malaysia can teach us a lot about how to protect people, planet and biodiversity. The Indigenous concept of #badi is not superstition or taboo, it’s abou…Palm Oil Detectives
Seeing Forest As Merely A Carbon “Commodity”: Dangerous Greenwashing
The huge danger of commodifying forests and seeing them as merely an “investment” to be bought and sold as ‘carbon credits’ has many loopholes that deny indigenous sovereignty, social and economic outcomes of communities and pose grave extinction risks to wild animals and plants. Take action when you shop and #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4WildlifeThe huge danger of commodifying #forests 🌿 🔥 and seeing them as merely an “investment”, denies #indigenous sovereignty, social and economic outcomes of communities and #extinction risks. #humanrights 🌴⛔️ #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect wp.me/pcFhgU-92u
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Share to Twitter‘Carbon credits’ turn #forest 🌳🔥 ecosystems into investments but deny #indigenous communities their rights and are often blatant #greenwashing. Use your wallet as a weapon and #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife #landrights @palmoildetect wp.me/pcFhgU-92u
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Share to TwitterWritten by Constance McDermott, Senior Fellow in Forest Governance and Leader of Ecosystems Governance Group, University of Oxford; Eric Kumeh Mensah, Postdoctoral research fellow, University of Oxford, and Mark Hirons, Environmental Social Science Research Fellow, University of Oxford. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Forests are great carbon sinks – they absorb more carbon from the atmosphere than they release. Globally, forests remove nearly all of the two billion tonnes of carbon dioxide that is currently being removed from the atmosphere every year.
These days, companies can buy “carbon credits” for the carbon that is stored in living forests and offset this against their own greenhouse gas emissions. International financiers estimate that by 2050, Africa could be selling US$1.5 trillion in carbon credits per year, mainly from its forests. Environmental social scientists Constance L. McDermott, Eric Mensah Kumeh and Mark Hirons are co-authors of a report on global forest governance for the International Union of Forest Research Organisations. They have found that buying and selling forest carbon as a commodity is dangerous if it is prioritised over the other environmental and social uses of forests. It could even result in environmental damage and the displacement of forest-dependent people.
What is a carbon sink?
All living things contain carbon, and are considered carbon sinks when they absorb more carbon from the atmosphere than they release. Many ecosystems serve as carbon sinks, but forests have a large biomass (wood and twigs and leaves on the forest floor). This makes them a very important sink from a climate perspective.The carbon that trees capture is sequestered (stored) in their wood, leaves or needles, and roots. When forests are cut down or burned, their stored carbon is released into the atmosphere and becomes a source of carbon emissions rather than a sink. Forest carbon sinks can be conserved by leaving live trees standing, or created and enhanced by planting or natural regeneration of trees.
Why is it a problem for a forest to be seen only as a carbon sink?
Forests support and regulate soil, water and nutrient flows, and provide habitat for the majority of the world’s species that live on land. They provide people with food, fuel, fibre, medicine and other products.They are important to the cultural survival and well-being of many communities. In Africa alone, an estimated 245 million people live within five kilometres of a forest, and many of these people rely directly on forests for their livelihoods.
Our research found that forests are increasingly being managed as carbon sinks, and the carbon they store treated as a commodity that can be internationally traded. Carbon markets allow businesses and governments to earn credits by paying for forests that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which is cheaper than reducing their own emissions. This is part of what we call the climatisation of forests.
Animal agriculture and meat, The contents of your fridge and dining table directly impacts the future of rare rainforest and ocean animals. That’s because industrial agriculture and aquaculture for commodities like meat, dairy, fish and palm oil is driving animals in the most biodiverse ecosystems on the planet closer towards extinction.
Governing forests only as carbon sinks can promote “green grabs” where non-forested land, such as grasslands, used by communities for farming and other activities, is taken from the community and used by wealthy companies or governments to plant large tracts of trees to store carbon. Sub-Saharan Africa, in particular, is being targeted as a readily available and inexpensive location for one million hectares of forest restoration and tree plantations.This is especially threatening for people who do not have secure rights to the forests and land they depend on. These communities can even be restricted or banned from entering the forest. Research has found that forest-dependent communities are rarely given power to address their own priorities in forest carbon sink schemes. This can cause conflict locally and weaken local democracy.
Let’s take the example of the Mai-Ndombe forest in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which supports about 100,000 people in 23 villages. Activities in the Mai-Ndombe under the global Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) climate change mechanism have focused on changing the practices of local forest-dependent communities away from cutting trees for artisanal logging or firewood collection. These communities have also been told not to continue with traditional methods of shifting cultivation (where parts of a forest are temporarily cleared to grow food crops without deforesting the area permanently).
Yet in Mai-Ndombe and the Democratic Republic of Congo’s other forests, land is already allocated to companies for timber (mainly for the export market), for mining, and increasingly for forest carbon sequestration. The result is that large companies continue to extract major economic benefits from forests in ways that exclude local communities.
Ghana’s Cocoa Forest REDD+ Programme is another example. In a bid to reduce deforestation and increase forest carbon stocks, the government of Ghana pays farmers and local communities to not plant cocoa crops in forested areas and to grow shade trees on their cocoa farms.
These efforts to share benefits locally are very important. However, asking farmers to plant or conserve trees does not address the fact that farmers are not earning a living income from selling cocoa.
Ghana’s cocoa farmers receive less than 7.5% of the value of a chocolate bar sold in international markets, and they suffer from food insecurity and increasing crop failures due to climate change. They do not have legal rights to the native trees that regenerate naturally on their cocoa farms.
The focus of REDD+ on channelling large amounts of money into forests as carbon could mean that many farmers lose access to land for growing food and meeting other livelihood needs – unless this is balanced by major investments to address the core challenges the farmers are facing.
What are some solutions?
Forests can absorb large amounts of carbon dioxide and still support communities. A people-centred approach to forests is needed. This means giving local communities secure rights to their land and forest resources, and governing forests according to what best suits the local context, rather than making forest use fit the international market.The important role of traditional authorities and local customs in managing land and resolving conflicts must be recognised. Many traditional practices have managed forests sustainably for thousands of years. The challenge is to value and support these alternative approaches.
Written by Constance McDermott, Senior Fellow in Forest Governance and Leader of Ecosystems Governance Group, University of Oxford; Eric Kumeh Mensah, Postdoctoral research fellow, University of Oxford, and Mark Hirons, Environmental Social Science Research Fellow, University of Oxford. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
ENDS
Read more about deforestation and ecocide in the palm oil industry
Western Parotia Parotia sefilata
Western Parotias AKA Arfak Parotias are stunning bird-of-paradise of West Papua known for their mesmerising dances. Palm oil and mining ecocide are threats
Capped Langur Trachypithecus pileatus
Capped langurs are found in India Bhutan Bangladesh and Myanmar, they are vulnerable from palm oil and other forms of deforestation. Take action for them!
World’s Wealthiest Drive Two Thirds of Global Warming Since 1990
Wealthiest people in USA and China responsible for 2/3 of global warming since 1990. Climate policies needed to target the richest people on the planet now!
Jaguars and Pumas Eat More Monkeys in Damaged Forests
In fragmented forests of Mexico, big cats find it hard to locate prey ungulates instead seeking tree-dwelling #monkeys – that’s bad news for primates!
Mountain Tapir Tapirus pinchaque
Mountain Tapirs are the most threatened large mammals of the northern Andes, hunting, climate change and mining are threats, take action and boycott gold!Load more posts
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Wildlife Artist Juanchi Pérez
Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings
Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao
Health Physician Dr Evan Allen
The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
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5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
#Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #carbonCredits #corruption #deforestation #extinction #Forest #forests #greenwash #greenwashing #HumanRights #indigenous #landrights #PalmOil #palmOilBiofuel #palmOilDeforestation #plywood #supplyChain #supplychain #wood
How much CO2 is actually being removed from the air every year?
Forests are mostly to thank - with new tech only responsible for 0.1% of carbon dioxide removal so far, according to a new report.Lottie Limb (euronews)
Red List Status: Endangered
Extant (resident): India (Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu)
Lion-tailed #macaques hold the title of one of the smallest #macaque species in the world and sport a majestic lion-esque mane of hair. They exclusively call the Western Ghats in #India their home. This area has been decimated in recent years for palm oil. Prior to palm oil’s arrival in the Western Ghats, populations of Lion-tailed macaques were already fragmented. Now these beautiful small macaques are in serious trouble. Read on to discover how you can boycott palm oil every time you shop #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife
Lion-tailed #macaques are a small macaque species and sport a majestic lion-like mane. Their home in the Western Ghats, #India is threatened by #palmoil #ecocide. They are now #endangered! Help them and #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife via @palmoildetect wp.me/pcFhgU-72o
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Magnificent Lion-tailed #Macaques 🐒🐵 of Western Ghats #India 🇮🇳🪷 are #endangered. They are hemmed in on all sides by #palmoil 🌴🔥 #deforestation. Fight for them when you shop and #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife 🌴🩸☠️🧐🙊⛔️ @palmoildetect wp.me/pcFhgU-72o
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Captivating Lion-tailed macaques are known for their lion-esque, long, thin, and tufted tails. Despite their endearing appearance, this primate ranks among the most endangered macaques globally.
These majestic primates prefer the solitary life, rarely venturing from their rainforest domain, where they form tightly knit family units of up to 34 individuals. Troops are led by a dominant male who controls breeding with females. As arboreal and diurnal creatures, these macaques sleep high in the rainforest canopy, exhibiting both territorial behaviour and a sophisticated communication system that includes as many as 17 vocalisations such as ‘whoops’ to lip-smacking greetings. Lion-tailed macaques and their daily symphony in the tree tops are unique and priceless treasures of India worth cherishing.
The Lion-tailed Macaque is currently listed as Endangered, a status reflecting the critical state of their population. With fewer than 2,500 mature individuals remaining and no single subpopulation exceeding 250 mature individuals, their situation is precarious.
Projections estimate a continued decline of over 20% in their population over the next 25 years. This decline is attributed to several factors, including hunting, road kills, and the ongoing loss of their natural habitat in recent years to palm oil cultivation. This situation highlights the urgent need for conservation efforts to protect and preserve this unique and vulnerable species.
The Lion-tailed macaque, native to the Western Ghats hill ranges in southwestern India, faces a precarious future. They live in altitudes of 100-1,300 m in Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu. A region marked by severe fragmentation. The recent surge in palm oil cultivation has further imperiled their habitat in the Western Ghats region, posing a significant threat to the survival of these unique primates.
Embracing a diverse palate, Lion-tailed macaques are true omnivores, savouring a rich array of foods. While fruits are a mainstay of their diet, these resourceful animals also indulge in leaves, stems, flowers, buds, and fungi, insects, lizards, tree frogs and small mammals.
Lion-tailed macaques embrace a polygynous lifestyle – one dominant male takes the lead in mating with several females. They breed throughout the year with a peak during the wet season when food is abundant.
The gestation period lasts around six months, resulting in a single infant entirely dependent on their mother. Motherly care extends through a year of nursing. As they reach adolescence, males venture into nomadic all-male units before forming their harems, while females commonly stick to their original groups. Reproductive maturity happens at five years old for females and eight years old for males.
This animal has no protections in place. Read about other forgotten species here. Create art to support this forgotten animal or raise awareness about them by sharing this post and using the #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife hashtags on social media. Also you can boycott palm oil in the supermarket.
Singh, M., Kumar, A. & Kumara, H.N. 2020. Macaca silenus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2020: e.T12559A17951402. dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.202…. Accessed on 26 December 2023.
Lion-tailed macaque Wikipedia article – en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lion-tai…
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5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
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#animals #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #CentralAsia #deforestation #ecocide #endangered #EndangeredSpecies #ForgottenAnimals #hunting #illegalPetTrade #India #LionTailedMacaqueMacacaSilenus #macaque #macaques #Mammal #monkey #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #poaching #Primate #primates
Discover the environmental and social issues caused by palm oil production. Learn about its impacts on wildlife, indigenous communities, and how to take action with Palm Oil DetectivesPalm Oil Detectives
Research: Climate Change Collapsing Insect Numbers by 63%
The world may be facing a devastating “hidden” collapse in insect species due to the twin threats of climate change and habitat loss.#Palmoil 🪔 #soy #meat 🥩 and #cocoa 🍫 #agriculture along with #climatechange and #habitatloss in rainforests is driving #insects to the edge of #extinction. Take action by going #vegan and #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife 🌴💀⛔️ @palmoildetect wp.me/pcFhgU-4KY
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Share to TwitterThe parts of the world with the greatest #insect abundance may be falling silent without us even realising. the Insect apocalypse would herald the end of all life on earth. The time for excuses is OVER. #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect wp.me/pcFhgU-4KY
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- UCL’s Centre for Biodiversity & Environment Research has carried out one of the largest-ever assessments of insect declines around the world – assessing three-quarters of a million samples from around 6,000 sites.
- The new study, published in Nature, finds that climate-stressed farmland possesses only half the number of insects, on average, and 25% fewer insect species than areas of natural habitat.
- Insect declines are greatest in high-intensity farmland areas within tropical countries – where the combined effects of climate change and habitat loss are experienced most profoundly.
- The majority of the world’s estimated 5.5 million species are thought to live in these regions – meaning the planet’s greatest abundances of insect life may be suffering collapses without us even realising.
- Lowering the intensity of farming by using fewer chemicals, having a greater diversity of crops and preserving some natural habitat can mitigate the negative effects of habitat loss and climate change on insects.
- Considering the choices we make as consumers – such as buying shade-grown coffee or cocoa – could also help protect insects and other creatures in the world’s most climate-vulnerable regions.
Originally written by Tim Newbold, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Biodiversity and Environment, UCL and Charlie Outhwaite, Postdoctoral Researcher in Biodiversity Change, UCL. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Longer version
Insects are critical to the future of our planet. They help to keep pest species under control and break down dead material to release nutrients into the soil. Flying insects are also key pollinators of many major food crops, including fruits, spices and – importantly for chocolate lovers – cocoa.The growing number of reports suggesting insect numbers are in steep decline is therefore of urgent concern. Loss of insect biodiversity could put these vital ecological functions at risk, threatening human livelihoods and food security in the process. Yet across large swathes of the world, there are gaps in our knowledge about the true scale and nature of insect declines.
Most of what we do know comes from data collected in the planet’s more temperate regions, especially Europe and North America. For example, widespread losses of pollinators have been identified in Great Britain, butterflies have experienced declines in numbers of between 30 and 50% across Europe, and a 76% reduction in the biomass of flying insects has been reported in Germany.
Information on insect species numbers and their abundance in the tropics (the regions either side of the Equator including the Amazon rainforest, all of Brazil, and much of Africa, India and Southeast Asia) is far more scarce. Yet the majority of the world’s estimated 5.5 million insect species are thought to live in these tropical regions – meaning the planet’s greatest abundances of insect life may be suffering calamitous collapses without us even realising.
The largest of the 29 major insect groups are butterflies/moths, beetles, bees/wasps/ants and flies. Each of these groups is thought to contain more than one million species. Not only is it near-impossible to monitor such a vast number, but as many as 80% of insects may not have been discovered yet – of which many are tropical species.
Responding to these knowledge gaps, researchers at UCL’s Centre for Biodiversity and Environment Research have conducted one of the largest-ever assessments of insect biodiversity change. Some three-quarters of a million samples from around 6,000 sites worldwide were analysed in our study, adding up to nearly 20,000 different species in all.
Insects are facing an unprecedented threat due to the “twin horsemen” of climate change and habitat loss. We sought to understand how insect biodiversity is being affected in areas that experience both these challenges most severely. We know they do not work in isolation: habitat loss can add to the effects of climate change by limiting available shade, for example, leading to even warmer temperatures in these vulnerable areas.
For the first time, we were able to include these important interactions in our global biodiversity modelling. Our findings, published in Nature, reveal that insect declines are greatest in farmland areas within tropical countries – where the combined effects of climate change and habitat loss are experienced most profoundly.
We compared high-intensity farmland sites where high levels of warming have occurred with (related) areas of natural habitat that are little-affected by climate change. The farmland sites possess only half the number of insects, on average, and more than 25% fewer insect species. Throughout the world, our analysis also shows that farmland in climate-stressed areas where most nearby natural habitat has been removed has lost 63% of its insects, on average, compared with as little as 7% for farmland where the nearby natural habitat has been largely preserved.
Areas our study highlights as particularly at risk include Indonesia and Brazil, where many crops depend on insects for pollination and other vital ecosystem services. This has serious implications for local farmers and the wider food chain in these climatically and economically vulnerable areas.
Cocoa, midges and deforestation
Eighty-seven of the world’s major crops are thought to be fully or partially dependent on insect pollinators, of which most tend to be grown in the tropics. Cocoa, for example, is primarily pollinated by midges, a group of flies infamous for bedevilling camping trips in Scotland and other parts of the northern hemisphere. In fact, midges play a vital and under-appreciated role in pollinating the cocoa needed to make chocolate.The majority of cocoa production takes place in Indonesia, Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. In Indonesia alone, the export of cocoa beans is valued at around US$75 million per year. Most cocoa production is carried out by smallholders rather than big plantation owners, and many farmers are dependent on this crop for their livelihoods. While it is critical to understand whether insect losses will make things worse for cocoa and its farmers, we have very little knowledge of the state of insect biodiversity in tropical countries such as Indonesia.
Cocoa production in Indonesia is carried out by smallholders whose livelihoods may be hit by insect decline. Shutterstock
Cocoa production in the region is already being stressed by adverse weather events that may be linked to climate change. Warming temperatures and changing rainfall patterns are implicated in changes in the growth, pollination and bean production of cocoa plants.Agriculture is one of the major industries for the people of Indonesia, particularly in rural regions, with large areas being cleared for the production of key crops, also including palm oil. This has resulted in deforestation of extensive areas of rainforest, increasing the risk to many rare and endangered species such as the orangutan, as well as less well-known species including many insects.
Tropical regions are under considerable threat, primarily as a result of agricultural expansion – often to meet increasing demand from countries outside the tropics. International trade has been shown to be a major driver of deforestation in these regions, with forests in Southeast Asia, East and West Africa and the Amazon particularly vulnerable.Brazil’s and Indonesia’s high levels of deforestation are attributed to the production of commodities for export including soybean, coffee, palm oil – and cocoa.
The threat of climate change
Habitat loss is known to be a key threat to biodiversity, yet its impact on insects is still under-studied, and assessments of tropical species tend to be very rare. One study found that forest-dependent orchid bees in Brazil have declined in abundance by around 50% (although it only sampled their numbers at two time points). Orchid bees, found only in the Americas, are important pollinators of orchid flowers, with some plants being entirely dependent on this insect for their pollination.Example of a farmland system in the tropics, in Ethiopia. Tim Newbold
Adding to the challenges of deforestation and other, longer-term habitat changes, is climate change. This fast-emerging threat to insect biodiversity has already been implicated in declines of moths in Costa Rica and bumblebees in Europe and North America. Rising temperatures and increasing frequency of extreme weather events, such as droughts, are just two manifestations known to be having a harmful impact on many insect species.It is predicted that climate change will have a particularly big impact in the planet’s tropical regions. Temperatures in the tropics are naturally quite stable, so species aren’t used to coping with the fast changes in temperature we are seeing with climate change. Again, though, our ability to understand how this is affecting tropical insects is hampered by a lack of data for these regions. Almost all of the available data comes from only a few very well-studied groups of insects – in particular, butterflies, moths and bees – while many other groups receive very little attention. Despite a big increase in studies of insect biodiversity change, there is still much we don’t know.
Insects normally missed
To help address this knowledge gap, our study has assessed three-quarters of a million samples of insects from all over the world. Of the 6,000 sites included, almost one third are from tropical locations. Our samples of nearly 20,000 different insect species include beetles, bees, wasps, ants, butterflies, moths, flies, bugs, dragonflies and other, less well-known groups.This was made possible through the use of PREDICTS, a biodiversity database which brings together millions of samples collected by researchers all over the world. PREDICTS records biodiversity in natural habitats and also in areas used by humans for growing crops, among other purposes. It is one of very few global databases that allow us to study biodiversity changes across the whole world.
Almost all insect data comes from a few very well-studied groups – in particular, butterflies, moths and bees. Shutterstock
While our 20,000-strong sample represents only a fraction of the vast diversity of insect species, it is still a sample from more sites than have ever been studied before. We were particularly interested in using it to understand how habitat loss and climate change play off each other to affect insect biodiversity, and were able to include these interactions in our models for the first time.These twin conditions are found most profoundly in farmland in tropical countries. And our results demonstrate that farmland in these regions has typically lost a lot of insect biodiversity, relative to areas of primary vegetation. This highlights that climate change may present a major threat to food security not only by directly impacting crops, but also through losses of pollinators and other important insects.
As climate change accelerates, the ability to grow cocoa and other crops in their current geographical ranges is already becoming more uncertain, threatening local livelihoods and reducing the availability of these crops for consumers all over the world. The insect losses our study highlights are only likely to add to this risk. Indeed, threats to food security due to the loss of insect biodiversity are already being seen in both temperate and tropical regions: for example, evidence of reduced yields due to a lack of pollinators has been reported for cherry, apple and blueberry production in the US.
In some parts of the world, farmers are resorting to hand-pollination techniques, where the flowers of crops are pollinated using a brush. Hand pollination is used for cocoa in a number of countries, including Ghana and Indonesia. These techniques can help to maintain or increase yield, but come at a high labour cost.
Reducing the declines
Our study also highlights changes that could help to reduce insect declines. Lowering the intensity of farming – for example, by using fewer chemicals and having a greater diversity of crops – mitigates some of the negative effects of habitat loss and climate change. In particular, we show that preserving natural habitat within farmed landscapes really helps insects. Where farmland in climate-stressed areas with its natural habitat largely removed shows insect reductions of 63%, on average, this number drops to as little as 7% where three-quarters of the nearby natural habitat has been preserved.For insects living on farmland, natural habitat patches act as an alternative source of food, nesting sites and places to shelter from high temperatures. This offers hope that even while the planet continues to warm, there are options that will reduce some of the impacts on insect biodiversity.
Not all species are struggling: one UK study shows an increase in freshwater insects such as the damselfly. Shutterstock
Indeed, natural habitat availability has already been shown, at smaller scales, to have a positive impact within agricultural systems in particular. For Indonesian cocoa, increasing the amount of natural habitat has been found to boost numbers of key insects including pollinators. Our new study shows, however, that the benefits of this intervention are only found in less-intensive farming systems. This might mean reducing the level of inputs such as fertilisers and insecticides that are applied, or increasing crop diversity to ensure the benefits of nearby natural habitat can be felt.It’s also important to note that not all species are enduring a hard time as a result of recent pressures. For example, recent work looking at UK insects has shown that while some groups have declined, others, including freshwater insects, have increased in recent years. Another study looking at worldwide insect trends also found increases in the numbers of freshwater insects. However, many of these positive trends have been reported in non-tropical regions such as the UK and Europe, where a lot has been done, for example, to improve the water quality of rivers in recent years, following past degradation.
Covid-19 helped many people to reconnect with animals and plants around us
The COVID-19 lockdowns prompted many of us to reconnect with the flora and fauna around us. In the UK, the warm spring weather of 2020 saw an apparent increase in the abundance of insects in the UK countryside. However, this spike was probably temporary, and something of an anomaly set against the bigger picture worldwide.To support more insect biodiversity in our local environments, we can plant diverse gardens to attract insects, reduce the amount of pesticides used in gardens and allotments, and reduce how often we mow our lawns. (In the UK, you could consider joining the No Mow May challenge.) However, it is not just locally that we can make a difference. Considering the choices we make as consumers could help protect insects and other creatures in the tropics. For example, buying shade-grown coffee or cocoa will ensure a lesser impact on biodiversity than crops grown in the open.
Meanwhile, governments and other public and private organisations should consider more carefully the impact their actions and policies are having on insects. This could range from the proper consideration of biodiversity within trade policies and agreements, to ensuring that products are not sourced from areas associated with high deforestation rates.
And then there’s the data issue. We are increasingly recognising the importance of insects for human health and wellbeing, and their key role in global food production systems. Safeguarding the environment to protect insects into the future will have big benefits for human societies around the world. However, none of this is possible without good data.
One important step towards a better understanding of insect biodiversity change is to bring together and assess the data that is already available. A new project of which we are part, GLiTRS (GLobal Insect Threat-Response Synthesis), is doing this by combining the work of leading experts from a range of institutions and ecological disciplines, including data analysts. The project will then assess how different insect groups are responding to certain threats.
Understanding what is causing insect declines is key for preventing even greater losses in the future, and for safeguarding the valuable functions that insects perform. Climate change and biodiversity loss are major global crises that are two sides of the same coin. Their combined effects on food production mean the health, wellbeing and livelihoods of many people in the tropics and beyond are hanging in the balance. Insect biodiversity losses are a crucial, but as yet understudied, part of this story.
ENDS
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2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
Wildlife Artist Juanchi Pérez
Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings
Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao
Health Physician Dr Evan Allen
The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
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4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
Here are some other ways you can help by using your wallet as a weapon and joining the #Boycott4Wildlife
What is greenwashing?
Why join the #Boycott4Wildlife?
Greenwashing Tactic #4: Fake Labels
The Counterpunch: Consumer Solutions To Fight Extinction
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Palm Oil Detectives is 100% self-funded
Palm Oil Detectives is completely self-funded by its creator. All hosting and website fees and investigations into brands are self-funded by the creator of this online movement. If you like what I am doing, you and would like me to help meet costs, please send Palm Oil Detectives a thanks on Ko-Fi.
#Agriculture #AnimalBiodiversityNews #animalExtinction #biodiversity #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #climatechange #cocoa #consumerBoycott #deforestation #extinction #habitatloss #industrialAgriculture #insect #insects #meat #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #pollination #pollinator #SouthEastAsia #soy #Spiders #vegan
Cocoa output to plunge in the coming season
The cocoa processors are expecting a slump in the production during the harvest season in the country beginning November.PK Krishnakumar (Economic Times)
“Sustainable” Avaiation Fuel (SAF) is a biofuel alternative to using fossil fuels for powering planes and cars. SAF is being aggressively marketed by multiple industries as a greener alternative to burning fossil fuels in cars and airplanes.However, SAF is produced from food crops such as rapeseed, palm oil, soy and sugar cane. This requires vast swathes of land to grow. This also means mass deforestation of land that is rich in biodiversity, putting at risk already threatened animals and plants and indigenous peoples all over the world. Emissions from palm oil-derived biodiesel are three times higher than fossil fuel diesel. According to Transport & Environment EU food-based biodiesel leads to around 80% higher emissions than the fossil fuel diesel that it replaces. Read on to find out how you can take action.
DYK “Sustainable” Biofuel (#SAF) used in planes/cars is blatant #palmoil #greenwashing? 🤑💰🩸🔥Emissions from palm-oil #biofuels are 3x higher than #fossilfuels. Say NO PALM OIL in your body and your car! #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect wp.me/pcFhgU-75Y
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#Palmoil derived #biofuel is fuelling the #climatecrisis 🔥🩸💰🤑 with #ecocide. Despite #greenwashing claims – one football field of destroyed rainforest powers only 2.4 cars for one year! Reject this insanity! #Boycottpalmoil 🌴🪔🧐🚗⛔️ #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect wp.me/pcFhgU-75Y
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Originally published by Irish EVs as “Biofuel: A Greenwashing Battleground” read the original article here.
Despite numerous independent studies demonstrating time and again that battery electric vehicles offer the only viable solution for the future of road transport – if we are to succeed in averting the worst outcomes of the Climate Crisis – myths about so-called ‘alternative fuels’ persist.
Those who have a vested interest in the oil industry and the associated infrastructure of pipelines and petrol stations have long been reluctant to commit to the switch to supporting battery electric vehicles, and as such have invested heavily in greenwashing and the development of new liquid fuels.
While we have covered the misleading greenwashing around the development of eFuels previously, today we take a look at the broader world of biofuels and highlight the many reasons why they offer no viable solution for the future and why their ‘green’ label must be dropped.
In its simplest form, a biofuel is produced from plant matter through man-made processes which are considerably quicker than the thousands of years that it takes for oil to naturally occur in the Earth.
Biofuels are produced from food crops such as rapeseed, palm oil, soy and sugar cane. They require vast swathes of land to grow, which requires either that land which was previously used to produce food for human consumption is set aside to produce fuel, or it requires the clearance of new land.
The former increases food shortages and lowers levels of nutrition in the diets of the poorest people on the planet, while the latter requires that virgin forest and wetlands are destroyed in order to produce an inefficient form of fuel that barely compares to the efficiency of battery electric vehicles.
A 2008 study by The Nature Conservancy in Minneapolis, Minnesota found that for every 10,000 square metres of Brazilian rainforest cleared for growing soya to make biodiesel, over 700 tonnes of CO2 would be released.
As such, any carbon saving from the resulting biodiesel (compared to fossil fuel diesel) would take around 300 years of continual use in order to cancel out the climate impact of the rainforest destruction.
To put these figures into context, it would take a field the size of a standard football pitch covered in crops to fuel just 2.4 cars over the course of one year. If that land were instead covered with solar panels, it would power 260 battery electric cars in one year.
As of 2021, an area the size of the Netherlands (41,543 square kilometres) has been deforested around the world in order to support biofuel production over the past decade.
In fact, biodiesel current uses 44% of all vegetable oils consumed in Europe – oils that are perfectly good for human consumption.
“A field the size of a football pitch would produce enough biofuels for 2.4 cars per year”
You don’t have to look far to see various corporations claiming that biofuels are some ‘green’ miracle.
From your local petrol station – where every petrol brand is at least 5% biofuel – to the sporting giant that is Formula 1, there are widespread claims that biofuels are the answer to the Climate Crisis.
In fact, a Formula 1 press release from 2019 states: “As part of Formula 1’s ambitious sustainability strategy that targets a net-zero carbon footprint by 2030, biofuels will play a major part in the championship. [Biofuels] is a word that gets bandied about quite a lot, so we prefer to use the phrase ‘advanced sustainable fuels’”.
This is greenwashing in action.
As more and more people become aware of the enormous harm that biofuels can wreak on our ecological systems and our climate, they are rebranding them to sound more innocuous and advanced.
But how harmful are they for our climate and human health?
At present, around four in every five litres of biofuel sold in the EU is biodiesel, according to Transport & Environment. They also detail that, on average, EU food-based biodiesel leads to around 80% higher emissions than the fossil fuel diesel that it replaces.
As such the use of biofuels effectively increases the emissions from the road transport sector to the tune of an additional 12 million extra cars per year.
Furthermore, emissions from palm oil-derived biodiesel are three times higher than fossil fuel diesel. This is a significant finding given that more than half of all palm oil imported into the EU is used to produce biodiesel, making drivers the biggest consumers of palm oil.
While many have boycotted foodstuffs that contain palm oil due to its huge environmental destruction, few are aware that such climate action is eclipsed if they drive a biodiesel-powered vehicle.
Beyond the emissions they create, palm oil-based biofuels have driven the clearance of more than 27 million hectares of the Earth’s surface – that’s an area around the size of New Zealand which no longer supports any biodiversity.
“Emissions from palm oil-derived biodiesel are three times higher than fossil fuel diesel”
Furthermore, the production of monocultures like palm oil dramatically increases the risk of pests and diseases in crops, making them considerably more likely to fail. Meanwhile, the production of palm oil is directly linked to the dramatic loss of endangered species such as orangutans, while more than 700 land conflicts in Indonesia alone have let to human rights violations on a daily basis.
Those who promote the consumption of these biofuels – and those who continue to use them – are ultimately responsible for consistent ecocide, human rights violations and the destruction of our planet.
The rise in biofuel use has been led by the Renewable Energy Directive, which was introduced by the EU in 2010 with the aim of setting a 10% renewable energy target for the transport sector by 2020 for each member state. However, it has widely missed the mark, and even gone as far as further jeopardising our future.
Laura Buffet, Energy Director at Transport & Environment, commented: “Ten years of this ‘green’ fuel law and what have we got to show for it? Rampant deforestation, habitats wiped out and worse emissions than if we had used polluting diesel instead.”
“A policy that was supposed to save the planet is actually trashing it. We cannot afford another decade of this failed policy. We need to break the biofuels monopoly in renewable transport and put electricity at the centre of the Renewable Energy Directive instead.”
While an updated Renewable Energy Directive was adopted in 2018, which includes legislation to reduce palm oil biodiesels, the EU is still only planning to slowly phase out biofuel consumption by 2030.
This is far too late considering the ecological, climate and human impacts that these fuels have on a daily basis around the world.
It is clear that we need considerably more ambitious legislation to stamp out these fuels with immediate effect, and that the EU – and national governments – should focus on communicating the harm that they do, as well as communicating the clear efficiency gains afforded by battery electric vehicles.
That clear communication is essential to drive meaningful and informed climate action.
This is necessary to stem the worsening Climate Crisis that is already claiming lives and threatens to displace billions of people within our lifetime.
IrishEVs would encourage you to spread the word about biofuels, push back against the ‘green’ myth that they are being promoted under, and to boycott the consumption of these fuels if you do not already drive a battery electric vehicle.
Resolving the Climate Crisis will take action from us all, and time is running out.
Originally published by Irish EVs as “Biofuel: A Greenwashing Battleground” read the original article here.
ENDS
Western Parotias AKA Arfak Parotias are stunning bird-of-paradise of West Papua known for their mesmerising dances. Palm oil and mining ecocide are threats
Capped langurs are found in India Bhutan Bangladesh and Myanmar, they are vulnerable from palm oil and other forms of deforestation. Take action for them!
Wealthiest people in USA and China responsible for 2/3 of global warming since 1990. Climate policies needed to target the richest people on the planet now!
In fragmented forests of Mexico, big cats find it hard to locate prey ungulates instead seeking tree-dwelling #monkeys – that’s bad news for primates!
Mountain Tapirs are the most threatened large mammals of the northern Andes, hunting, climate change and mining are threats, take action and boycott gold!
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1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
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Join 3,174 other subscribers
2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status…
twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status…
twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1…
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
#airlinefuel #aviation #biofuel #biofuels #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #carbonemissions #Climate #climateChange #climatecrisis #corruption #deforestation #ecocide #fossilfuels #greenwashing #PalmOil #palmOilBiofuel #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #SAF
Countries unable to withstand ecological threats among world’s least peaceful, analysis findsJon Henley (the Guardian)
“Sustainable” Palm Oil No Different in Land Conflicts
New research published in the journal Political Geography reveals that there is no significant difference between RSPO-certified “sustainable” palm oil companies and non-certified ones when it comes to handling land conflicts with rural communities in Indonesia. The study, titled “Corporate Contentious Politics: Palm Oil Companies and Land Conflicts in Indonesia,” highlights how both types of companies employ contentious tactics to deal with land disputes, challenging the perceived benefits of RSPO certification.New #research #study 🧐 reveals “sustainable” #palmoil isn’t any better for workers. RSPO-certified and non-certified co’s in #Indonesia use violence and intimidation for #landgrabbing. Take action and #BoycottPalmOil ✊ #humanrights🌴🚫 @palmoildetect wp.me/pcFhgU-8IK
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Share to TwitterRegardless of RSPO “sustainable” #palmoil or not, companies don’t respect #landrights of farmers, finds a landmark #study into police/corporate collusion using #violence to suppress protest. #humanrights #BoycottPalmOil @palmoildetect @ward_berenschot wp.me/pcFhgU-8IK
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Share to TwitterBerenschot, W., Dhiaulhaq, A., Hospes, O., Afrizal, & Pranajaya, D. (2024). Corporate contentious politics: Palm oil companies and land conflicts in Indonesia. Political Geography, 114, 103166. doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2024.…
Our study of trajectories of 150 such conflicts identifies a big gap between the policies that companies (and RSPO) publicly announce, and their on-the-ground practices. Many companies do not live up to their stated intent of respecting land rights and resolving grievances. Instead, companies implement various measures to limit the capacity of rural Indonesians to voice their grievances and realize their claims. This involves violent suppression of protests. This suppression is made possible by extensive collusion between company managers and local authorities and police officials – ensuring that local governments side with companies against villagers. The result is that demonstrations often end violently, and that the arrest and criminalization of protest leaders is common, effectively undermining the capacity of communities to protest. Despite corporate policies and pious public statements, we found that companies are actually quite hesitant to come to an agreement with communities, and tend to avoid or stall mediation efforts.
Key findings
- Systematic Strategies: The research documents 150 conflicts between palm oil companies and rural communities in four Indonesian provinces. It highlights how companies engage in conscious and strategic efforts to realise their claims to land, employing tactics such as co-opting local leaders, cultivating connections with local authorities, suppressing community protests, and criminalising protest leaders.
- Contentious Repertoire: Companies have been found to adopt a repertoire of contentious tactics, including providing gifts and inducements to local leaders, offering bribes to government officials and police, and using security personnel and hired goons to intimidate and suppress protests.
- Limited Legal Recourse for Communities: The study highlights the challenges faced by rural communities in Indonesia, where the lack of formal land titles and the curtailing of land rights by the state create a vulnerable position for locals. This environment allows palm oil companies to exploit informal networks and circumvent regulatory measures.
- RSPO Membership Impact: Surprisingly, the study found no significant differences in conflict behaviours between companies that are members of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) and those that are not. This suggests that the RSPO’s code of conduct has limited influence on reducing contentious tactics by its member companies.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2024.103166" title="New Research Reveals: "Sustainable" Palm Oil No Different in Land Conflicts. Berenschot, W., Dhiaulhaq, A., Hospes, O., Afrizal, & Pranajaya, D. (2024). Corporate contentious politics: Palm oil companies and land conflicts in Indonesia. Political Geography, 114, 103166. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2024.103166" class="has-alt-description">
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2024.103166" title="New Research Reveals: "Sustainable" Palm Oil No Different in Land Conflicts. Berenschot, W., Dhiaulhaq, A., Hospes, O., Afrizal, & Pranajaya, D. (2024). Corporate contentious politics: Palm oil companies and land conflicts in Indonesia. Political Geography, 114, 103166. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2024.103166" class="has-alt-description">
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2024.103166" title="New Research Reveals: "Sustainable" Palm Oil No Different in Land Conflicts. Berenschot, W., Dhiaulhaq, A., Hospes, O., Afrizal, & Pranajaya, D. (2024). Corporate contentious politics: Palm oil companies and land conflicts in Indonesia. Political Geography, 114, 103166. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2024.103166" class="has-alt-description">
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2024.103166" title="New Research Reveals: "Sustainable" Palm Oil No Different in Land Conflicts. Berenschot, W., Dhiaulhaq, A., Hospes, O., Afrizal, & Pranajaya, D. (2024). Corporate contentious politics: Palm oil companies and land conflicts in Indonesia. Political Geography, 114, 103166. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2024.103166" class="has-alt-description">
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2024.103166" title="New Research Reveals: "Sustainable" Palm Oil No Different in Land Conflicts. Berenschot, W., Dhiaulhaq, A., Hospes, O., Afrizal, & Pranajaya, D. (2024). Corporate contentious politics: Palm oil companies and land conflicts in Indonesia. Political Geography, 114, 103166. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2024.103166" class="has-alt-description">
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2024.103166" title="New Research Reveals: "Sustainable" Palm Oil No Different in Land Conflicts. Berenschot, W., Dhiaulhaq, A., Hospes, O., Afrizal, & Pranajaya, D. (2024). Corporate contentious politics: Palm oil companies and land conflicts in Indonesia. Political Geography, 114, 103166. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2024.103166" class="has-alt-description">
Research Implications
The authors, Ward Berenschot, Ahmad Dhiaulhaq, Otto Hospes, Afrizal, and Daniel Pranajaya, call for more comparative research on corporate contentious politics, particularly in regions with informalised state institutions. They argue that a contentious politics perspective provides valuable insights into the often-secretive tactics of corporations in land conflicts, challenging the benign image projected by CSR policies.Conclusion
This groundbreaking research reveals the dual-faced nature of palm oil companies’ operations in Indonesia. While these companies publicly pledge to uphold high sustainability standards, their on-the-ground tactics often contradict these commitments, exacerbating land conflicts and community grievances. The study urges policymakers, stakeholders, and researchers to scrutinise corporate behaviour more closely and advocate for stronger regulatory frameworks to protect vulnerable communities.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2024.103166" title="Berenschot, W., Dhiaulhaq, A., Hospes, O., Afrizal, & Pranajaya, D. (2024). Corporate contentious politics: Palm oil companies and land conflicts in Indonesia. Political Geography, 114, 103166. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2024.103166" class="has-alt-description">Berenschot, W., Dhiaulhaq, A., Hospes, O., Afrizal, & Pranajaya, D. (2024). Corporate contentious politics: Palm oil companies and land conflicts in Indonesia. Political Geography, 114, 103166. doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2024.…
twitter.com/ward_berenschot/st…
Berenschot, W., Dhiaulhaq, A., Hospes, O., Afrizal, & Pranajaya, D. (2024). Corporate contentious politics: Palm oil companies and land conflicts in Indonesia. Political Geography, 114, 103166. doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2024.…
ENDS
Read more about human rights abuses and child slavery in the palm oil industry
Indigenous Peoples Fight Climate Change
After wildfires, Belize’s indigenous people rebuild stronger based on “se’ komonil”: reciprocity, solidarity, gender equity, togetherness and community.
SOCFIN’s African Empire of Colonial Oppression: Billionaires Profit from Palm Oil and Rubber Exploitation
Investigation by Bloomberg exposes that despite being RSPO members, #SOCFIN plantations in #WestAfrica are the epicentre of #humanrights abuses, sexual coercion, environmental destruction, and #landgrabbing. Operating in #Liberia, #Ghana, #Nigeria, and beyond, SOCFIN’s…
Palm Oil Threatens Ancient Noken Weaving in West Papua
Colonial palm oil and sugarcane causing the loss of West Papuans’ cultural identity. Land grabs force communities from forests, threatening Noken weaving
Family Ties Expose Deforestation and Rights Violations in Indonesian Palm Oil
An explosive report by the Environment Investigation Agency (EIA) details how Indonesia’s Fangiono family, through a wide corporate web, is linked to ongoing #deforestation, #corruption, and #indigenousrights abuses for #palmoil. Calls mount for…
West Papuan Indigenous Women Fight Land Seizures
Indigenous Melanesian women in West Papua fight land seizures for palm oil and sugar plantations, protecting their ancestral rights. Join #BoycottPalmOilLoad more posts
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1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
Enter your email addressSign Up
Join 3,174 other subscribers
2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
Wildlife Artist Juanchi Pérez
Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings
Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao
Health Physician Dr Evan Allen
The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status…
twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status…
twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1…
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
#BoycottPalmOil #BoycottPalmOil #childLabour #childSlavery #humanRights #HumanRights #indigenousRights #Indonesia #landRights #landgrabbing #landrights #PalmOil #palmoil #research #slavery #study #violence
New Research Reveals: "Sustainable" Palm Oil No Different in Land Conflicts
New research published in the journal Political Geography reveals that there is no significant difference between RSPO-certified "sustainable" palm oil compa...Palm Oil Detectives (YouTube)
The Amazon’s diverse ecosystem is under threat from rampant deforestation, degradation, a biodiversity crisis, and the climate crisis – jeopardising its ability to act as a carbon sink. This degradation increases the likelihood of zoonotic diseases emerging and spreading, posing a significant public health risk for Brazil and the world. #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife
The #Amazon #rainforest is threatened by rampant #deforestation 🔥🔥 and #climatechange 🥵. This makes zoonotic diseases more likely to emerge – a huge health risk in #Brazil 🇧🇷 Story by @MAPICC2021 #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect wp.me/pcFhgU-91G
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#Amazonia🌳🥀 is the lungs 🫁 of the world 🌎 Massive #deforestation and #biodiversity loss puts zoonotic diseases 🦟🤒 closer to humans. We must stop the damage right now! Story: @MAPICC2021 #Boycottpalmoil Fight extinction 🙏@palmoildetect wp.me/pcFhgU-91G
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Article written by Monica Piccinini. Originally published by The Canary, February 12, 2024. Republished with permission. Monica Piccinini is a freelance writer, focused on environmental, health and human rights issues. She has contributed articles for an independent British newspaper, Byline Times along with the Canary and the Ecologist. She has covered the pandemic, the use of pesticides, indigenous rights and the destruction of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil. Read original article. Follow Monica on X/Twitter and on her website.
Preserving the Amazon rainforest isn’t just an environmental concern; it’s a matter of survival. It’s the most biodiverse place on the planet, a reservoir of life-saving medicines, and a critical regulator of our planet’s climate. Our health, our survival, and the balance of our world rely on its protection.
However, the Amazon’s diverse ecosystem is under threat from rampant deforestation, degradation, a biodiversity crisis, and the climate crisis – jeopardising its ability to act as a carbon sink. This degradation increases the likelihood of zoonotic diseases emerging and spreading, posing a significant public health risk for Brazil and the world.
Climate change, deforestation, alterations in land use, agricultural expansion, livestock farming, mining activities, biodiversity loss, urbanisation, oil and gas extraction, and large-scale infrastructure developments such as road and dam construction in the Amazon rainforest, have all been associated with the rise and spread of infectious diseases. These include dengue, yellow fever, malaria, Zika virus, Chikungunya fever, Candida auris, leishmaniasis, Oropouche virus, hantavirus, and numerous others – with the possibility of also introducing novel pathogens.
In 2023, Brazil recorded 1,079 deaths from dengue fever, a 20.9% increase compared to the previous year. However, according to the Ministry of Health, between 1-30 January this year alone the country reported over 217,000 cases, marking a significant 233% increase from the same period in 2023, when there were just over 65,000 cases.
Overall, in 2024 so far Brazil has recorded approximately 408,351 potential cases of dengue, as per data from the Ministry of Health’s Arbovirus Monitoring Panel.
According to a report published by the World Health Organisation (WHO), in 2023 the country experienced around 2.9m suspected cases of dengue. This significant rise in dengue cases may be attributed to factors such as the El Niño phenomenon, deforestation, and the impact of climate change which can lead to more frequent and severe weather events.
The Aedes aegypti mosquito is the vector for transmitting diseases such as the dengue virus, yellow fever, Zika, and chikungunya viruses.
Brazil’s Health Surveillance Foundation (FVS) has recently reported that a new strain of the Oropouche virus has been responsible for outbreaks in the Brazilian Amazon region over the past two years. In the state of Amazonas alone, there were 1,066 recorded cases of the virus between 2023 and 2024.
Oropouche fever is caused by an arbovirus transmitted through the bite of a mosquito called Culicoides paraense, commonly known as maruim.
The Amazon rainforest is recognised as one of the largest reservoirs for zoonotic diseases, which can be transmitted from animals to humans. Numerous scientists have consistently warned about the environmental imbalances linked to the escalating prevalence of infectious diseases and have drawn attention to the imminent risk of a deadly pathogen emerging from the Amazon rainforest.
The interaction between humans and wild species, along with their pathogens, creates opportunities for the emergence of zoonotic diseases, facilitating the transmission of new pathogens across various host species – a phenomenon known as “spillover” – leading to the introduction of novel infections into the human population.
For spillover events to happen, there must be interaction among different species and favourable conditions for pathogens to spread among humans. One example is the transmission of bat-borne diseases, such as rabies, in the Amazon rainforest. This is often associated with factors like deforestation, agricultural expansion, and the presence of livestock which increase contact between these animals and humans and facilitate the transmission of infections.
Various types of animals, including monkeys, bats, and mosquitoes, can serve as carriers or vectors of infectious diseases to humans, as they carry pathogens like viruses, bacteria, fungi, parasites, and prions. Transmission of these pathogens to humans can occur through direct contact with these animals or via water, food, or the surrounding environment.
Sars, Ebola, Hendra, and Nipah are examples of pathogens from bats that have triggered outbreaks in the human population.
The Canary spoke to Joel Henrique Ellwanger, biologist and researcher at the department of genetics at Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS). He said:
Climate change will trigger important ecological changes in the Amazon, many of them with the potential to reduce its biodiversity, facilitating the spread of known disease vectors and increasing the chances of new diseases emerging.
The impact of climate change and deforestation is causing a surge in extreme weather events and rising temperatures. These conditions are impacting the quantity of vectors, transmission patterns, and interspecies interactions – driving the spread of infectious diseases across the Amazon region and throughout Brazil.
Severe droughts in the Amazon rainforest can create conditions to the spread of various diseases, such as dengue. During periods of limited rainfall, residents often resort to storing water in tanks, consequently creating breeding grounds for mosquitoes. Ellwanger noted that:
For instance, as temperatures rise, mosquitoes become more active and reproduce at a higher rate. Furthermore, changes in climate may cause animals carrying pathogens to migrate to areas where humans reside.
The increase in cases of Candida auris, a fungus resistant to multiple drugs associated with hospital-acquired infections, may be caused by higher temperatures resulting from climate change. This pathogen affects severely ill patients, including both adults and children, who are receiving intensive care in hospitals across the globe.
Ellwanger explained how climate change may have played a role in the surge of Candida auris:
Climate change can influence the evolution of pathogens. Certain microorganisms, once unable to infect humans because they were accustomed to lower temperatures, are now adapting to warmer conditions that mimic the human body’s warmth.This adaptation creates the potential for these microorganisms, typically present in soil and similar settings, to infect humans and cause illnesses. This phenomenon is believed to have happened with Candida auris.
Studies suggest that deforestation, biodiversity loss, and habitat degradation create pathways for disease agents to transition from the diverse reservoir of various coronaviruses and pathogens in the region into the human population. The Amazon’s vulnerable healthcare system additionally complicates the detection and containment of any emerging pandemic from this area.
When exploring the emergence of epidemics, urbanisation becomes another critical factor to consider. It contributes to the depletion of forested areas, consequently increasing the risk of infectious diseases in regions like the Amazon rainforest. The outbreak of Zika virus infection in Brazil has been associated with urbanization and the loss of forested lands.
The construction of roads in the Amazon rainforest contributes to deforestation, forest fires, biodiversity decline, increased hunting activities, and human migration – directly impacting the dynamics of infectious diseases.
Between 1970 and 1973, the building of the Trans-Amazonian highway – known as BR-230 – led to the influx of around 22,000 individuals to the area. These individuals encountered disease vectors, exposing them to various illnesses such as malaria, leptospirosis, leishmaniasis, Chagas disease, Mayaro fever, yellow fever, and numerous others.
A study published in the Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities warns that the reconstruction of the Amazon’s BR-319 highway could result in devastating environmental effects, including an increased risk of zoonotic spillovers, potentially leading to new pandemics.
The Amazon’s BR-319 highway extends 885.9km and connects the central Amazonian capital Manaus to the southern boundary of the forest in Porto Velho, crossing through one of the most preserved sections of the forest. Deforestation along the central portion of the BR-319 has already resulted in a 400% increase in malaria cases.
A recent study published in Nature alerts that the initiatives of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s administration to construct roads and pursue oil exploration in the Amazon area may potentially trigger a new worldwide pandemic.
The construction of hydroelectric dams in the Amazon rainforest also raises significant concern. One example is the Belo Monte hydroelectric dam complex in Brazil, located in the northern region of the Xingu River within the state of Pará. This project has significantly changed the landscape of the Brazilian Amazon, inundating an area of approximately 516km2.
Flooding dry regions within the rainforest leads to loss of biodiversity and creates habitats suitable for disease vectors like mosquitoes, thereby intensifying the proliferation of viral and parasitic illnesses.
Dams can lead to the displacement of communities and the migration of populations drawn to forested regions, potentially increasing human-wildlife interactions and the transmission of infectious diseases.
The implementation of proposed projects in the Amazon rainforest, including the reconstruction of BR-319 highway and the exploration of oil, could result in catastrophic and irreversible consequences – including an increase and spread of infectious diseases due to environmental degradation in the region.
Ellwanger told the Canary:
Meat connects different points involving the degradation of the Amazon and emerging diseases. Cattle farming is one of the main factors in the degradation of the Amazon biome, thus facilitating the spread of pathogens in the region.Hunting and the consumption of wild animal meat is a problem both for the conservation of species and for public health, as it reduces animal biodiversity and increases the chances of spillover events. Regrettably, this issue remains largely overlooked and is often deemed taboo in Brazil.
Studies suggest that intensified agriculture and forest conversion for farming and pasture for cattle increases human-pathogen interaction – which in turn is promoting the emergence of viral, bacterial, and parasitic infections.
Professionals in the meat industry regularly interact with livestock animals and may lack adequate working conditions to reduce the risk of zoonotic pathogen transmission. Additionally, they may have limited knowledge about the health risks associated with their work activities.
Slaughterhouses within the Amazon region are implicated in the processing of animals sourced from deforested areas and may be operating without any form of health inspection.
Another concern is the excessive use of antimicrobial drugs in veterinary practice. The main drivers of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) include the overuse of antibiotics in livestock for growth promotion and prevent diseases, particularly in intensified livestock farming.
The WHO describes AMR as the ‘overlooked pandemic’. Some of the latest figures suggest that AMR will cause 10 million deaths by 2050 – more than from cancer, diabetes, and pneumococcal diseases combined.
According to Cóilín Nunan, scientific adviser to the Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics, certain types of antibiotics used in animal farming have led to the rise and spread of livestock associated strains of MRSA and Clostidrium difficile.
Oxford University scientists published a study revealing Escherichia coli bacteria that have developed resistance to colistin in animal agriculture. Nunan highlights this as a significant concern, suggesting it might pose a greater threat than AMR by potentially increasing the likelihood of infections in humans.
The hunting and consumption of bushmeat from wild animals can also lead to spillover events, as humans come into close contact with fresh meat, blood, and organs from infected animals.
Approximately 473 tonnes of wild animal meat are sold annually in the Amazon rainforest and across Colombia, Peru, and Brazil.
However, it’s essential to recognise that a complete ban on bushmeat consumption in certain regions could impact the livelihoods of thousands who depend on this activity.
Ellwanger noted there are some essential measures required to prevent the emergence and spread of infectious diseases in the Amazon rainforest and avert the onset of a new pandemic in the region:
Certain crucial measures must be undertaken, including:
- Improving livestock sanitary measures.
- Increasing pathogen surveillance.
- Upgrading environmental sanitation systems.
- Discouraging human settlement in forested regions.
- Boosting investments in human training and specialised labs for pathogen identification.
- Creating new vaccines.
- Examining biological and social factors affecting infection susceptibility.
The loss of biodiversity in the Amazon is mainly caused by livestock farming, mining activities and monoculture cultivation, especially soy. Combating these activities is the responsibility of the Brazilian Government by strengthening environmental protection bodies, preserving, and expanding indigenous territories, and committing to a serious environmental agenda.
Furthermore, urgent action is needed to prioritise reducing greenhouse gas emissions globally, alongside combating deforestation and protecting indigenous territories.
It’s crucial to reassess infrastructure projects and manage human activities in the region carefully. Suspending oil and gas exploration in the Amazon is vital, as is regulating the expansion of intensive agriculture, cattle farming, and mining projects.
Ellwanger explained that preserving the Amazon rainforest should be in everyone’s interest:
The preservation of the Amazon isn’t just about protecting nature – it’s about safeguarding our own health. Let’s commit to conserving this vital ecosystem to ensure that the threats of potential pathogens stay confined to the wild, far from endangering human lives. After all, the health of the Amazon means the health of us all.
Article written by Monica Piccinini. Originally published by The Canary, February 12, 2024. Republished with permission. Monica Piccinini is a freelance writer, focused on environmental, health and human rights issues. She has contributed articles for an independent British newspaper, Byline Times along with the Canary and the Ecologist. She has covered the pandemic, the use of pesticides, indigenous rights and the destruction of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil. Read original article. Follow Monica on X/Twitter and on her website.
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After wildfires, Belize’s indigenous people rebuild stronger based on “se’ komonil”: reciprocity, solidarity, gender equity, togetherness and community.
Investigation by Bloomberg exposes that despite being RSPO members, #SOCFIN plantations in #WestAfrica are the epicentre of #humanrights abuses, sexual coercion, environmental destruction, and #landgrabbing. Operating in #Liberia, #Ghana, #Nigeria, and beyond, SOCFIN’s…
Colonial palm oil and sugarcane causing the loss of West Papuans’ cultural identity. Land grabs force communities from forests, threatening Noken weaving
An explosive report by the Environment Investigation Agency (EIA) details how Indonesia’s Fangiono family, through a wide corporate web, is linked to ongoing #deforestation, #corruption, and #indigenousrights abuses for #palmoil. Calls mount for…
Indigenous Melanesian women in West Papua fight land seizures for palm oil and sugar plantations, protecting their ancestral rights. Join #BoycottPalmOil
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#Amazon #AmazonRainforest #Amazonia #biodiversity #biome #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #Brazil #childLabour #climatechange #COP16 #deforestation #ecocide #humanRights #indigenousRights #landRights #landgrabbing #LatinAmerica #Migration #PalmOil #pandemic #rainforest #zoonosis #zoonoticDisease
Estados possuem cadastros de pecuaristas e informações de movimentação de rebanhos, mas fiscalização ambiental não tem acessoFrance Júnior Plácido (Repórter Brasil)
Palm Oil Threatens Ancient Noken Weaving in West Papua
A powerful new indigenous art exhibition has highlighted the tragic loss of #WestPapua’s cultural identity due to #deforestation for #palmoil and #sugarcane monoculture plantations. A situation perpetuated by the illegal Indonesian colonisation of Melanesia. The ancient Melanesian tradition of noken weaving is under threat, as military-backed land grabs force Indigenous Muyu communities from their forests. Protect people and culture, when you shop make sure you #BoycottPalmOil #HumanRights #IndigenousRights#News: Exhibition highlights vanishing of West Papua’s UNESCO recognised #noken weaving for #palmoil and #sugarcane in #WestPapua. Reject corporate #landgrabbing for palm oil in when you shop! #BoycottPalmOil #HumanRights #IndigenousRights @palmoildetect wp.me/pcFhgU-bmj
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Share to TwitterAsia Pacific Report. (2025, March 28). Researcher warns over West Papuan deforestation impact on traditional noken weaving. Evening Report. eveningreport.nz/2025/03/28/re…
West Papuan doctoral candidate Veronika T. Kanem has issued a stark warning about the cultural and ecological destruction unfolding in Indonesia-occupied West Papua. As the region faces what may be the world’s largest deforestation project—two million hectares for palm oil and sugarcane—centuries-old Indigenous traditions are being pushed to the edge of existence.
Veronika T. Kanem, whose exhibition “Noken/Men: String Bags of the Muyu Tribe of Southern West Papua” opened at Auckland University, says the forced removal of her people from their forests has endangered not only biodiversity but the sacred art of noken weaving—a practice deeply embedded in the identity and social fabric of her father’s tribe, the Muyu.
Known locally as “men,” the noken is more than a string bag. Made from inner fibres of the genemo tree and other natural materials, noken symbolises a woman’s womb, a vessel of life used in ceremonies, food gathering, child-rearing, and cultural gift-giving. It holds economic, spiritual, and ancestral significance across Melanesia.
Now, industrial agriculture and military occupation threaten the entire cultural landscape. These new plantations are not only destroying forests; they are severing communities from their knowledge systems, their land, and each other.
Kanem’s research applies Indigenous Melanesian methodologies, using the act of noken weaving as a metaphor for knowledge, kinship, and resistance. Her work captures the lived experience of displacement and climate injustice at the intersection of colonial occupation, corporate extraction, and Indigenous resilience.The Auckland exhibition also screened a documentary showcasing noken weaving traditions from across West Papua, including Asmat, Nabire, and Wamena. Speakers at the event, including Pacific scholars and artists, praised the project as a vital act of cultural preservation and defiance.
As Indonesia accelerates its colonial development schemes, the voices of West Papuans like Kanem are essential. Indigenous peoples must lead solutions to environmental destruction. Without indigenous justice, there can be no climate repair.
Defend West Papua’s forests and ancient indigenous cultures. Reject palm oil-driven genocide. #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife #HumanRights #IndigenousRights
Read more: Researcher warns over West Papuan deforestation impact on traditional noken weaving (Evening Report, 2025)
Asia Pacific Report. (2025, March 28). Researcher warns over West Papuan deforestation impact on traditional noken weaving. Evening Report. eveningreport.nz/2025/03/28/re…ENDS
Read more about human rights abuses and child slavery in the palm oil industry
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SOCFIN’s African Empire of Colonial Oppression: Billionaires Profit from Palm Oil and Rubber Exploitation
Investigation by Bloomberg exposes that despite being RSPO members, #SOCFIN plantations in #WestAfrica are the epicentre of #humanrights abuses, sexual coercion, environmental destruction, and #landgrabbing. Operating in #Liberia, #Ghana, #Nigeria, and beyond, SOCFIN’s…
Family Ties Expose Deforestation and Rights Violations in Indonesian Palm Oil
An explosive report by the Environment Investigation Agency (EIA) details how Indonesia’s Fangiono family, through a wide corporate web, is linked to ongoing #deforestation, #corruption, and #indigenousrights abuses for #palmoil. Calls mount for…
West Papuan Indigenous Women Fight Land Seizures
Indigenous Melanesian women in West Papua fight land seizures for palm oil and sugar plantations, protecting their ancestral rights. Join #BoycottPalmOil
Greasing the Wheels of Colonialism: Palm Oil Industry in West Papua
A landmark study published in Global Studies Quarterly in April 2025 has revealed that the rapid expansion of the #palmoil industry in #WestPapua is not only fuelling #deforestation, #ecocide and environmental destruction but…Load more posts
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3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
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#art #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #childLabour #childSlavery #deforestation #humanRights #HumanRights #indigenousRights #indigenousrights #landRights #landgrabbing #News #noken #PalmOil #palmoil #slavery #sugarcane #WestPapua
SOCFIN’s African Empire of Colonial Oppression: Billionaires Profit from Palm Oil and Rubber Exploitation
Investigation by Bloomberg exposes that despite being RSPO members, #SOCFIN plantations in #WestAfrica are the epicentre of #humanrights abuses, sexual coercion, environmental destruction, and #lan…Palm Oil Detectives
A recent report highlighted by Mongabay uncovers that deforestation-linked palm oil may still be in popular snacks like Snickers and Kit Kat, despite pledges from brands like Mars, Nestlé, and Mondelēz to use only deforestation-free palm oil. The issue lies in the palm oil-based animal feed used for dairy production, which these companies are not being transparent about. Thirteen out of the fourteen largest U.S. dairy processors, including Mars, Nestlé, and Mondelēz, fail to disclose how much palm oil-based animal feed is in their supply chains, raising concerns over hidden deforestation. If you are wanting to be kind to farmed and wild animals and ecosystems, make sure that you be #vegan #BoycottPalmOil #BoycottDairy #Boycott4Wildlife
#Kitkat and #Snickers makers #Mondelez, #Nestle, Mars lace snacks with #palmoil #deforestation by way of animal feed for #dairy cows. #Consumers may be buying #ecocide unaware! Fight back, be #vegan 🥕🥦#Boycottpalmoil 🌴🚫 #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect palmoildetectives.com/2024/09/…
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Mondelez, #Nestle and Mars show flagrant disregard for #rainforests. A new #report finds they purchase #palmoil to use in dairy animal feed. Take a strong stance! Don’t buy #Kitkat and #Snickers and #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife 🌴🚫🔥 @palmoildetect palmoildetectives.com/2024/09/…
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Written by Hans Nicholas Jong, for Mongabay. Published 24th of September, 2024. Republished under the Creative Commons attribution licence. Read original article.
Consumers in the U.S. might be unknowingly exposed to palm oil products that come from deforestation, despite major consumer goods producers there adopting zero-deforestation pledges. That’s because these companies, which include the makers of iconic foods like Snickers, Kit Kat and Nutella, don’t account for the significant role that palm oil-based animal feed plays in their supply chains, according to a new report.
Its relatively low price and extremely versatility mean palm oil has become the most widely used vegetable oil in the world. In the U.S. itself, palm oil can be found in roughly half of all packaged goods in the average grocery store, from shampoo to cookies and crackers.
Palm oil is also increasingly being used as an additive in livestock feed, particularly for dairy cows. As such, it has become “embedded” in consumer goods products deriving from dairy, such as milk, cheese, ice cream and chocolate.
This indirect use of palm oil is often overlooked in the zero-deforestation accounting process, despite its growing use, according to a report by U.S.-based advocacy group Rainforest Action Network (RAN). The report found that palm oil-based animal feed is now the single largest palm oil product category imported by the U.S., accounting for 36% of all palm oil imports into the country by weight.
This dairy — “embedded” with palm oil, some of which may be associated with deforestation — then enters the supply chains of major food producers. And these producers, despite their public pledges to avoid deforestation-linked products, are largely ignoring this source of palm oil in their accounting, according to the report.
The report analyzed 14 of the largest dairy-processing and consumer goods companies operating in the U.S.: Arla, Dairy Farmers of America, Danone, Ferrero, Frontera, FrieslandCampina, Lactalis, Mars, Mengniu, Mondelēz, Nestlé, Saputo, Unilever and Yili.
The report found that 13 of them don’t provide information about how much palm oil-based animal feed is used in their supply chains.
The only company that provides such information is Unilever, which says that embedded palm oil in its dairy supply chain in 2022 accounted for just 3%, or 30,0000 metric tons, of its overall palm oil consumption.
Thirteen of the 14 assessed companies also don’t mention embedded palm oil in their “No Deforestation, No Peatland, No Exploitation” (NDPE) policies, and as such have no commitments to sourcing only deforestation-free embedded palm oil. Only Danish-Swedish dairy giant Arla’s NDPE policy explicitly states that it applies to palm oil-based feed used in its milk supply chain.
“When companies have adopted palm oil policies, they completely refuse or haven’t considered palm oil use in their dairy supply chain,” RAN forest policy director Gemma Tillack told Mongabay. “Lack of attention to this issue means that it hasn’t [been] accounted for in companies’ NDPE policies, or if it’s included, it’s not adequately enforced.”
This oversight extends to both importers and exporters of palm oil-based livestock feed into the U.S. The report assessed 24 exporters based in Indonesia and Malaysia, the world’s top two producers of palm oil, and 17 U.S. companies that import palm oil-based animal feed.
It found that 15 of the 24 exporters companies and 15 of the 17 importers companies don’t have public NDPE policies. These 15 exporting companies account for two-thirds of exports to the U.S. by weight.
The report also found that 28% of U.S. imports of feed-grade palm oil products came from Indonesia, the country with the highest deforestation rates associated with palm oil. That makes it likely that such problematic palm oil has found its way into dairy products like milk and confectionaries regularly consumed by Americans, according to the report.
Without adequately accounting for embedded palm oil in their NDPE policies and supply chains, consumer goods brands can’t guarantee that their products are deforestation free, even if they claim that’s the case, RAN said.
Nestlé, for instance, says 96.0% of its “primary supply chain” of palm oil in 2023 was deforestation-free, but makes no reference to embedded palm oil in that claim.
If embedded palm oil were accounted for, then Nestlé’s deforestation-free claim would fall to about 72%, according to RAN’s analysis. It based this on the assumption that 10% of the milk the company sources was linked to palm oil-based animal feed.
This large variance means deforestation-free claims by the likes of Nestlé and others might be inaccurate or misleading, the report said.
Responding to the findings, Nestlé said the figures used by RAN and the corresponding assumptions are incorrect, but didn’t provide details about its concerns.
The failure to account for embedded palm oil in supply chains could have broader implications for these brands, as most of them also do business in the European Union. The EU market will, from the end of this year, be subject to a deforestation-free regulation known as the EUDR, which will ban the import of commodities like palm oil and its derived products if they’re associated with deforestation.
To prove that the products they bring into the EU aren’t linked to deforestation, companies have to be able to trace the products all the way back to the production units and ensure no deforestation has taken place there after a cutoff date of Dec. 31, 2020.
The RAN report’s revelations suggest it’s unlikely that companies like Danone and Ferrero — which are headquartered in the EU and source much of their milk from there — as well as Nestlé and Unilever — which have significant operations within the EU that process dairy products — can guarantee the deforestation-free status of their animal feed imports.
As a result, the EUDR should be of particular concern to these companies, the report said.
The failure to account for embedded palm oil in their supply chains and NDPE policies is an “industry-wide problem that needs an industrywide solution,” the report said. It called on the Consumer Goods Forum (CGF), a network of the world’s largest consumer goods brands, to encourage its members, including Danone, Ferrero, FrieslandCampina, Nestlé, Mars, Mengniu, Mondelēz and Unilever, to include embedded palm oil in their NDPE policies.
So far, the CGF has failed to do so, RAN noted.
It has also failed to include embedded palm oil in its road map that sets the expectations for how members of its so-called forest-positive coalition should implement NDPE policy commitments in the palm oil sector. The coalition aims to accelerate efforts to eliminate deforestation from the supply chains of each member.
This is in contrast to the CGF’s initiative for the soy industry, which has its own road map that details the types of “embedded soy” products that need to be accounted for — such as soy used in feed mix for animal products and soy embedded in meat, dairy and eggs used in processed food.
“We need to see these commitments in place to ensure palm oil-based animal feed is not a new leakage market,” RAN’s Tillack said.
Written by Hans Nicholas Jong, for Mongabay. Published 24th of September, 2024. Republished under the Creative Commons attribution licence. Read original article.
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The legal trade is largely to blame for African grey parrots becoming endangered. Regulator CITES is broken allowing exploitation, massive reform needed now!
Wealthiest people in USA and China responsible for 2/3 of global warming since 1990. Climate policies needed to target the richest people on the planet now!
Commodifying forests as merely an investment for ‘carbon credits’ has many dangerous loopholes that human rights to indigenous peoples, take action!
Forest 500 report shows 150 of the world’s largest financial institutions invested nearly $9 trillion in deforestation-linked industries. Support EUDR!
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Join 3,174 other subscribers
2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status…
twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status…
twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1…
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
#BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottDairy #BoycottPalmOil #consumers #corruption #dairy #deforestation #ecocide #Kitkat #Mondelez #Nestle #PalmOil #palmOilBiofuel #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #rainforests #report #Snickers #vegan
Ecosystems Sell Dirt Cheap for Palm Oil Filled Snickers and KitKat! A recent report highlighted by Mongabay uncovers that deforestation-linked palm oil may s...Palm Oil Detectives (YouTube)
Parrot Deaths Highlight Urgent Need to Reform CITES
Three critically endangered African Grey parrots were seized in Norway in 2019 after being illegally smuggled and they were later euthanised. These intelligent birds had potentially 60 years of life to live and the massive tragedy is – they knew that they were going to die!Generally, international wildlife trade is not forbidden. Rather, it is regulated through CITES an international treaty to prevent illegal trade in wild animals. The industry is worth billions. The treaty needs a radical overhaul writes Professor Ragnhild Sollund for 360Info.
The legal trade is largely to blame for African grey parrots becoming endangered: parrots make popular pets due to their intelligence and sociability, so they have become “over exploited”. Help fight illegal wildlife trade and #Boycott4Wildlife
The tragedy of dead African grey #parrots highlights the need to overhaul #CITES a weak treaty which facilitates rather than stops #wildlife trade #extinction by Prof Ragnild Sollund for @360info_global #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife via @palmoildetect wp.me/pcFhgU-78q
“A #ban on #wildlife #trade would be easier to enforce than the current market, where some trade is legal, some illegal, and which offers ample possibilities for #fraud #corruption Story: @360info_global #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect wp.me/pcFhgU-78q
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™. Written by Professor Ragnhild Sollund. Read the original here.
In November 2019, three African grey parrot chicks (Psittacus erithacus) were seized at Oslo airport by customs inspectors. As endangered species, they did not have the required permits to be transported to Norway. During the month that officials contemplated what should happen to the birds, they were hand reared by veterinarians. Then the decision was made: euthanasia.
These highly intelligent birds had a potential 60-year life ahead of them; a life that was abruptly concluded in the hands of the vet. “I have euthanised many animals, but I cried when I euthanised these birds,” she said. “They understood… [And I did] not want to work as the Norwegian environment agency’s executioner of endangered species.”In Norway, this was the standard outcome for illegally traded animals that are listed in CITES, the United Nations Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. On March 3, International Wildlife Day, it highlights why addressing the wildlife trade, its regulation and enforcement, is urgent.
Generally, international wildlife trade is not forbidden. Rather, it is regulated through CITES. The legal trade is largely to blame for African grey parrots becoming endangered: parrots make popular pets due to their intelligence and sociability, so they have become “over exploited”, meaning the trade endangers the survival of the species. But the concept of over exploitation fails to cover the individual suffering or death of the animals involved in the trade. In view of species justice, any exploitation may be too much.
CITES entered into force in 1975. Eighty-four parties have signed the convention, including the European Union as one party. Each country must have a management authority, and all countries are obliged to submit annual reports to the CITES secretariat.
Animals are listed on three appendices of CITES, according to how endangered they are. The African grey is listed on appendix I as threatened with extinction. It was moved from appendix II in 2016, since trade in them was no longer deemed ‘sustainable’. Currently 5,950 species of animals and 32,800 species of plants are listed across all three appendices.
CITES has been criticised for being an overly human-centred convention. It fails to take into consideration the fact that animals are sentient beings with capacity to suffer who have interest in living their lives in their natural habitats, free from human inflicted harm.
Instead, CITES frames wildlife species, whether plants or animals, as resources that are available for humans to exploit, until exploitation reaches a level that threatens the survival of a species. According to this logic, one individual can easily be disposed of and replaced by another; an individual’s intrinsic value is not recognised.CITES has been criticised for not functioning even within its own parameters. For example, many parties to CITES never submit the required annual reports, and much trade is never recorded. And many species become threatened and go extinct from trade without ever being listed on the CITES appendices. For example, there are 10,247 known reptile species in the world, but only 8 percent of the reptile trade is regulated through CITES. Newly discovered species can be swiftly exploited, and 79 percent of traded species are not subject to CITES regulation.
According to CITES records, a staggering 2 million mammals, 5 million birds, 41 million reptiles, half a million amphibians, and 6 million fish were traded legally between 2011-2022.
Animals are used for medicinal purposes (often with no effect), fashion, as game hunting trophies, pets and as high-status food items.Wildlife trade is big business
Advocacy group Traffic estimates the economic value of legal wildlife trade including plants, at approximately US$323 billion. One important reason for the foundation of CITES was to secure the economic gains of wildlife trade for biodiverse, but poor countries in the global South.Wildlife trade can be viewed as transnational, global, organised state corporate harm.
Given the general failure of CITES to protect animals from harm and species from extinction, there have been many calls to remodel the agreement. The logic behind CITES implies that the harms of wildlife trade shall continue relentlessly, with new individuals abducted, killed or in other ways exploited in a ‘sustainable’ way for human benefit.
A better CITES would be based around animal protection. Wild animals should have rights not to be exploited as pets, killed for their flesh or skin, teeth or whiskers, tusks, horns, or used for entertainment in zoos, circuses and aqua parks. CITES could rather become an instrument promoting justice both for nature, humans and animals.
One way to do this would be to transform it from a trade convention to an aid convention. The convention could be reformulated to promote species conservation and the protection of individuals’ and species’ rights.
CITES could then become an instrument to funnel economic resources from rich economies in the North to poor economies in the South, if their national budgets partly rely on wildlife trade. Aid, distributed by an accountable secretariat, could be conditional on the ways in which the recipients succeed in protecting the natural environment and its inhabitants.
This system is already in place when it comes to the protection of rainforest: Norway and Germany contribute significantly to the protection of rainforest in places such as Brazil, Colombia and Ecuador through the UN; the amount of economic resources allocated from Norway to these countries depends on how much rainforest is spared from logging and emissions reduced.
A ban on the trade in wild animals would be easier to enforce than the current murky market, in which some trade is legal, other parts illegal, and which demands significant skills by law enforcement officers and offers ample possibilities for fraud.
Ragnhild Sollund is professor at the Department of Criminology and Sociology of Law at the University of Oslo, where she has done research into the wildlife trade for 12 years. She is currently leading the research project: Criminal Justice, Wildlife Conservation and Animal Rights in the Anthropocene, which studies the implementation and enforcement of two nature conventions: CITES; and the Bern convention that protects wild animals and their habitats in Europe, in Norway, The United Kingdom, Spain and Germany. Her research is funded by Norwegian Research Council.
Originally published under Creative Commons by 360info™. Written by Professor Ragnhild Sollund. Read the original here.
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Learn about other animals endangered by palm oil and other agriculture
Global
South America
S.E. Asia
India
Africa
West Papua & PNG
Western Parotia Parotia sefilata
Capped Langur Trachypithecus pileatus
Mountain Tapir Tapirus pinchaque
Saola Pseudoryx nghetinhensis
Tucuxi Sotalia fluviatilis
Frill-Necked Lizard Chlamydosaurus kingii
Learn about “sustainable” palm oil greenwashing
Read more about RSPO greenwashing
Lying
Fake labels
Indigenous Land-grabbing
Human rights abuses
Deforestation
Human health hazardsA 2019 World Health Organisation (WHO) report into the palm oil industry and RSPO finds extensive greenwashing of palm oil deforestation and the murder of endangered animals (i.e. biodiversity loss)
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Wildlife Artist Juanchi Pérez
Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings
Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao
Health Physician Dr Evan Allen
The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
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#AfricanGreyParrot #AnimalBiodiversityNews #animalCruelty #animalExtinction #ban #Bird #birds #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #CITES #corruption #deforestation #extinction #ForgottenAnimals #fraud #greenwashing #illegalPetTrade #Parrots #poachers #poaching #trade #wildlife
The Problems with Palm Oil
Discover the environmental and social issues caused by palm oil production. Learn about its impacts on wildlife, indigenous communities, and how to take action with Palm Oil DetectivesPalm Oil Detectives
Global Canopy’s Forest 500 report reveals that 150 of the world’s largest financial institutions invested nearly $9 trillion in deforestation-linked industries during 2024, with six out of ten firms lacking any public deforestation policies. The analysis tracked $8.9 trillion in direct and indirect financial support for 500 companies exposed to forest-risk commodities including palm oil, soy, beef, cocoa, and timber, with $864 billion going to businesses making no public commitments against deforestation. Financial titans Vanguard, BlackRock and JPMorgan Chase alone accounted for more than one-fifth of total funding at $1.6 trillion. The EU’s upcoming Deforestation Regulation #EUDR will ban imports of products linked to forest destruction from December 30, potentially locking out companies without robust policies. Urgent action needed to redirect finance away from forest destruction and toward Indigenous-led forest protection. Support a strong and strict EUDR to safeguard forests, be vegan and #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife
💰☠️ $8.9 TRILLION funds deforestation! BlackRock, Vanguard, JPMorgan lead with $1.6T funding #palmoil, #soy and #meat #deforestation 🌴🔥 Support the #EUDR ban Dec 30 ⛔️ #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect palmoildetectives.com/2025/12/…
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Sustainable Times. (2024). Global finance giants under fire for fueling an $8.9 trillion ‘deforestation economy’ in 2024. Sustainable Times. sustainabletimes.co.uk/post/gl…
The world’s largest financial institutions Vanguard, BlackRock, and JPMorgan Chase are bankrolling a massive $8.9 trillion deforestation economy whilst offering minimal safeguards against forest destruction, according to explosive new research that exposes the banking sector’s complicity in global environmental destruction.
Global Canopy’s comprehensive Forest 500 report tracked investments from 150 of the planet’s biggest financial institutions throughout 2024, revealing systematic funding of industries driving tropical rainforest annihilation across palm oil, soy, beef and timber sectors. The scale of financial exposure proves staggering, with institutions providing $8.9 trillion in direct and indirect support for 500 companies engaged in forest-risk commodities.
The research exposed catastrophic policy failures across the financial sector. Six out of ten institutions reviewed maintain no publicly stated deforestation policies whatsoever, representing only marginal improvement from the previous year when two-thirds lacked such protections. Even more alarming, fewer than four in ten financial giants openly acknowledge that deforestation poses business risks to their portfolios.
Three financial behemoths dominate the destruction economy. Vanguard, BlackRock, and JPMorgan Chase “alone were responsible for more than one-fifth of the total” funding, collectively channelling $1.6 trillion toward forest-risk industries. Their enormous market influence means policy changes from these titans “could trigger rapid change across the global financial system,” according to Global Canopy analysts.
The geographic concentration of destruction finance reveals systematic patterns. Beyond the United States, “China and France also emerged as central hubs of financial flows into deforestation-linked industries.” This concentration demonstrates how relatively few financial centres drive global forest destruction through investment decisions.
Perhaps most damning, nearly $864 billion flowed directly to companies making zero public commitments against deforestation. This represents “almost one in every ten dollars” of total financing going to businesses with no safeguards protecting tropical forests from destruction for palm oil plantations, cattle ranches, or soy cultivation.
Global Canopy researchers emphasised the sector’s transformative potential, stating: “Unless financial institutions engage portfolio companies to act on deforestation risk – for instance, through strong stewardship of investee companies – their financing activities will undermine the positive impact of any transition finance they provide.” However, they noted these “financial heavyweights could use their investment strategies to drive better practice and transform commodity supply chains for the better.”
The European Union’s new Deforestation Regulation dramatically increases pressure on financial institutions to implement robust policies. Beginning December 30, the EU “will ban large businesses from importing beef, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, natural rubber, soy, or wood if these products are linked to deforestation.” The ban will eventually extend to smaller businesses, creating comprehensive market exclusions for forest-destructive products.
This regulatory shift creates urgent risks for financial institutions backing non-compliant companies. “Without robust policies, they will find themselves backing companies that are locked out of key markets,” the report warns. Financial institutions face the prospect of massive portfolio devaluations as their investee companies lose access to lucrative European markets.
A handful of progressive institutions demonstrate viable alternatives. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, Deutsche Bank, and Lloyds Banking Group represent “the only institutions shown to be screening and monitoring all the highest-risk commodities.” Their comprehensive approaches “provide a blueprint for others to follow” in developing effective deforestation policies.
Global Canopy outlined essential components for credible deforestation policies extending “well beyond a vague pledge.” Effective policies require “clear standards for screening clients and portfolio holdings, active engagement to bring non-compliant firms into line, and strict deadlines for divestment if companies fail to improve.” Additionally, institutions must maintain “transparent reporting of progress and commitments to human rights safeguards.”
The analysis examined nine critical forest-risk commodities: “beef, cocoa, coffee, leather, palm oil, pulp and paper, soy, rubber, and timber.” Each sector drives habitat destruction threatening wildlife populations whilst displacing Indigenous communities dependent on intact forests for survival.
The report concludes that financial institutions possess “immense influence over whether deforestation is curbed or allowed to spiral further out of control.” Current investment patterns tell “a troubling story, but with the right commitments, banks and investment firms could become powerful drivers of change” toward forest protection rather than destruction.
Sustainable Times. (2024). Global finance giants under fire for fueling an $8.9 trillion ‘deforestation economy’ in 2024. Sustainable Times. sustainabletimes.co.uk/post/gl…
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Titan Arum AKA ‘Corpse Flowers’ is famous for its repulsive meat smell. Palm oil agriculture is a massive threat to these rare stinky plants. Take action!
Western Parotias AKA Arfak Parotias are stunning bird-of-paradise of West Papua known for their mesmerising dances. Palm oil and mining ecocide are threats
Capped langurs are found in India Bhutan Bangladesh and Myanmar, they are vulnerable from palm oil and other forms of deforestation. Take action for them!
Wealthiest people in USA and China responsible for 2/3 of global warming since 1990. Climate policies needed to target the richest people on the planet now!
In fragmented forests of Mexico, big cats find it hard to locate prey ungulates instead seeking tree-dwelling #monkeys – that’s bad news for primates!
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2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status…
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twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1…
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#BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #corruption #crime #deforestation #ecocide #ecolabel #EUDR #greenwashing #meat #meatAgriculture #meatAndSoyDeforestationInBrazil #News #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #soy
Global Canopy's Forest 500 report reveals that 150 of the world's largest financial institutions invested nearly $9 trillion in deforestation-linked industri...Palm Oil Detectives (YouTube)
The Great Malaysian Timber and Palm Oil Swindle
A joint investigation by Malaysiakini and Pulitzer Center’s Rainforest Investigations Network (RIN) reveals alarming deforestation in Pahang, #Malaysia, caused by one of the country’s largest #palmoil plantations. The plantation threatens endangered species like #tigers and pollutes local water supplies. It has been described as “the worst-managed oil palm plantation in Malaysia.” Palm oil yields are low, while the #deforestation is chaotic, leaving the land barren and overrun with #elephants. The report highlights links between developers and political or royal ownership and rampant corruption and strongly pushes for more transparency, improved government oversight and regulatory enforcement. #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife#News: 🌴🇲🇾 Malaysiakini and Pulitzer investigation in #Malaysia: #Pahang’s badly managed #palmoil threatens endangered #tigers #elephants, disrupts villages. Rife with #corruption at highest level. #BoycottPalmOil 🌴☠️⛔️#Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect wp.me/pcFhgU-9GZ
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Share to TwitterGIJN. (2024, December 20). Timber grab: The truth behind Pahang oil palm plantation. Global Investigative Journalism Network. Retrieved from gijn.org/stories/2024-editors-…
An investigation by Malaysiakini, in collaboration with the Pulitzer Center’s Rainforest Investigations Network, has exposed the dire environmental and social impacts of one of Malaysia’s largest oil palm plantations in Pahang. Located near an environmentally protected area, the plantation’s operations have resulted in chaotic deforestation, disrupted water supplies, and threats to endangered wildlife, including tigers.
The plantation, described by an environmental consultant as “the worst-managed oil palm plantation in Malaysia,” has low palm oil yields and barren landscapes overrun with elephants. Developers often cite “wildlife conflict” to justify failures, shifting focus to logging valuable timber instead of sustainable plantation development.
Malaysiakini’s investigation also shed light on troubling links between plantation developers and political or royal interests, with 95% of the land developed by such entities. In December, the investigative team revealed that prominent banks provided large loans to plantation developers despite repeated project failures, questioning the banks’ credibility and oversight practices.
The investigation calls on the Malaysian government to tighten plantation approval processes and enforce environmental protections to prevent further harm to biodiversity and local communities.
For detailed insights, read the full Malaysiakini report via GIJN.
GIJN. (2024, December 20). Timber grab: The truth behind Pahang oil palm plantation. Global Investigative Journalism Network. Retrieved from gijn.org/stories/2024-editors-…
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Read more about human rights abuses and child slavery in the palm oil industry
Indigenous Peoples Fight Climate Change
After wildfires, Belize’s indigenous people rebuild stronger based on “se’ komonil”: reciprocity, solidarity, gender equity, togetherness and community.
SOCFIN’s African Empire of Colonial Oppression: Billionaires Profit from Palm Oil and Rubber Exploitation
Investigation by Bloomberg exposes that despite being RSPO members, #SOCFIN plantations in #WestAfrica are the epicentre of #humanrights abuses, sexual coercion, environmental destruction, and #landgrabbing. Operating in #Liberia, #Ghana, #Nigeria, and beyond, SOCFIN’s…
Palm Oil Threatens Ancient Noken Weaving in West Papua
Colonial palm oil and sugarcane causing the loss of West Papuans’ cultural identity. Land grabs force communities from forests, threatening Noken weaving
Family Ties Expose Deforestation and Rights Violations in Indonesian Palm Oil
An explosive report by the Environment Investigation Agency (EIA) details how Indonesia’s Fangiono family, through a wide corporate web, is linked to ongoing #deforestation, #corruption, and #indigenousrights abuses for #palmoil. Calls mount for…
West Papuan Indigenous Women Fight Land Seizures
Indigenous Melanesian women in West Papua fight land seizures for palm oil and sugar plantations, protecting their ancestral rights. Join #BoycottPalmOilLoad more posts
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Take Action in Five Ways
1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
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Join 3,174 other subscribers
2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
Wildlife Artist Juanchi Pérez
Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings
Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao
Health Physician Dr Evan Allen
The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status…
twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status…
twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1…
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
#BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #carbonCredits #childLabour #childSlavery #corruption #deforestation #elephants #humanRights #indigenousRights #landRights #landgrabbing #Malaysia #News #PalmOil #palmoil #plywood #slavery #supplyChain #supplychain #tigers #wood
West Papuan Indigenous Women Fight Land Seizures
Indigenous Melanesian women in West Papua fight land seizures for palm oil and sugar plantations, protecting their ancestral rights. Join #BoycottPalmOilPalm Oil Detectives
The dangerous pesticide Paraquat is banned in the EU and strictly limited in the USA, however it continues to destroy the lives of palm oil workers in Indonesia. Paraquat has severe human health impacts including respiratory problems, severe burns and skin and eye irritation. America’s Centre for Disease Control links it to Parkinson’s disease and other life-threatening illnesses. Read this story below originally published in Geographical Magazine about the lives of vulnerable palm oil workers in Indonesia. Afterwards you can learn how to take action to resist the human rights abuses and ecocide of dangerous pesticide use in palm oil agriculture. #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife
#Paraquat is a dangerous #pesticide 🤢 banned in #EU ⛔️and limited in #USA yet used widely in #Indonesia by #palmoil workers with grave #health impacts on (mainly) women 👩👧 and children workers #Boycottpalmoil 🌴🚫Story via @geographicalmag @palmoildetect wp.me/pcFhgU-8Bt
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#Paraquat #pesticide is deadly and causes respiratory illnesses, #Parkinsons #disease. It’s banned in the #EU yet used routinely in #Indonesian #palmoil. Palm oil workers are paying with their lives #Boycottpalmoil Story: @geographicalmag @palmoildetect wp.me/pcFhgU-8Bt
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This article was originally published as ‘Paraquat: banned in Europe, on sale in Indonesia in Geographical Magazine on the 28th of June 2024. Written by Daniela Sala, Adi Renaldi & Budi Baskoro. Photography by Daniela Sala. Republished with permission. Read original.
“I used to spray both the yellow and the green poison,” Herna says.
For nearly six years, from 2006 to 2011, Herna worked for the so-called ‘maintenance team’ on one of the oil palm plantations of Musim Mas, a Singapore-based multinational corporation, in Central Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of Borneo. The green poison she refers to is Gramoxone, the brand name for a highly toxic herbicide based on the organic compound paraquat. Sold by the Swiss, now Chinese-owned multinational Syngenta, paraquat has been banned in the European Union since 2007 due to concerns related to its effect on the health of workers and the environment.
‘I often had nausea, vomiting and dizziness after my work. I don’t know exactly why, but most of my colleagues experienced the same symptoms. I knew these were dangerous substances and I was always afraid to handle them,’ she says. Herna got an indication of how toxic paraquat is when one morning, while she was diluting it with water as instructed, a drop of the liquid splashed onto her hand, causing a burn that took weeks to heal.
Sitting cross-legged on the floor of her home in Penyang, Herna looks tired. The humid heat gives no respite, the air is heavy and the fan Herna sits next to is of little use. It’s difficult to imagine how, in these conditions, Herna and her colleagues could work an entire eight-hour shift with a heavy container (weighing some 13 kilograms) on their backs, without ever removing their masks.
Herna grew up in a small cluster of houses surrounded by rainforest. Her family relied on hunting and farming; they had a small area of land where they harvested rice and fruit. It was a simple, quiet life. In the late 1990s, however, their economic situation rapidly deteriorated with the arrival of oil palm plantations. They lost not only their land, but also access to the forest. Herna, in her early 20s, had no choice but to accept a job on one of the plantations that had so drastically altered the way of life in her village. For five years, from 7am to 3pm, she sprayed highly toxic herbicides, which prevented weeds and other plants from proliferating and allowed oil palms to grow faster and taller.
Herna endured continuous discomfort for years, sometimes so intense that she had to stay in bed for days. The plantation doctor, whom she sometimes asked for help, always told her not to worry too much, prescribing at most paracetamol or an anti-emetic.
Eventually, Herna began to suffer a pain in the pit of her stomach, ‘like a stab wound’. The doctor speculated that it might be a symptom of a lung problem. The cause was never clarified because Herna couldn’t take further tests as they were too expensive. She decided, however, that she couldn’t take it anymore and quit her job.
Paraquat’s known direct health effects include respiratory problems, severe burns and skin and eye irritation. In the USA, it has also been linked to Parkinson’s disease. In Indonesia, paraquat should only be used by properly trained workers with appropriate protections. However, a report by PANAP (Pesticide Action Network Asia Pacific) documented how these conditions are rarely met.
Herna, who is now 48 and has six children, did her best to find another job, ‘but since the plantations are here, there is no other job,’ she says.
As she goes silent, the background noise becomes more obvious: it’s the constant traffic along the Trans Kalimantan, the highway that cuts through southern Borneo, just a few dozen metres from Herna’s home. Trucks follow one another in a constant back-and-forth. In one direction, they transport oil palm fruits to the refineries. In the opposite direction, they transport the refined oil to ports for the export market.
Indonesia is by far the world’s largest exporter of palm oil, accounting for nearly 50 per cent of global exports in 2022, closely followed by Malaysia, with 30 per cent. The industrial uses are countless, from food and cosmetics to the production of biofuels. About ten per cent of palm oil exports from Indonesia end up in Europe.
The oil palm, a plant native to West Africa, was first introduced to Indonesia during Dutch colonialism. Over a few decades, the expansion of monocultures in the archipelago triggered the destruction of large portions of Borneo’s rainforest. Despite intense environmental campaigns in recent years, the rate of deforestation due to plantation expansion only slowed; it started to rise again in 2023.
In Indonesia, intensive palm oil production and the heavy use of paraquat and other herbicides are inextricably linked. In total, Indonesia imported pesticides worth about half a million US dollars in 2020, a market that has steadily grown over the past decade.
In 2019, Indonesia imported from the UK 2,300 tons of paraquat, largely manufactured by Syngenta’s Huddersfield plant. Since 2017, with ChemChina’s acquisition of Syngenta, production and exports from China have also increased, making the paraquat supply chain increasingly difficult to track.
The countries that are responsible for most of the manufacturing and export (China, Switzerland and the UK) ban paraquat domestically, as has the EU. While the EU’s internal regulations are increasingly protective of the environment, it remains the largest pesticide exporter, with EU companies investing more and more in countries in the Global South.
In Kalimantan, the effects of palm oil monocultures and the extensive use of pesticides are unspooling before the eyes of the local communities.
A short drive from Herna’s house, just on the other side of the Trans Kalimantan highway in the village of Bangkal, most residents still have first-hand memories of life before the plantations. The village is located on the shore of the biggest lake in the region, Sembuluh Lake. Its 4,000 residents, mostly Dayaks, the indigenous peoples of Borneo, relied on farming and fishing, and they drank water from the lake. Now, they have lost their land and, in one of the wettest areas in the world, they struggle to access clean water.
It all started with huge concessions to palm oil companies. ‘It happened suddenly, without any consultation with the community,’ says Sangkai Rewa, secretary of Bangkal and leader of AMAN, the association that represents the indigenous people of Central Kalimantan. Sangkai has been connected to Bangkal for generations. His wooden house, on stilts, like all the houses in the surrounding area, sits on the edge of the village. The residents did everything they could to resist the arrival of the plantations. In the late 1990s, they managed to force the Indonesian company Agro Indomas to back down. But in 2005, their fight against another conglomerate, PT Hamparan Masawit Bangun Persada, failed, due in part to support for the company from the then local governor, Darwan Ali, as revealed by a Gecko Project investigation.
‘The people of Bangkal were forced to give up their land by threats and deception. Around us it was all forest. Look around: what is left today?’ says Sangkai. The establishment of Hamparan plantation paved the way for the arrival of more companies. Bangkal is now surrounded by a dozen plantations and refineries.
‘We saw the colour of the water changing’, says Sangkai. ‘We can not even use the water for washing: it feels itchy and you get rashes. The water is polluted, and because of that, our entire ecosystem is under threat.’
At dawn every day, a few narrowboats approach the small wooden dock next to the daily market in Bangkal. Nouredin, a 60-year-old fisherman from a nearby village, is busy untangling a few dozen small fish from his net. He spent the whole night fishing, but the catch was meagre. ‘It did not used to be like that,’ he explains while unloading his catch. ‘Fish were bigger and easier to catch. There are species that are slowly disappearing.’
Fish have become scarcer, while the fast-growing weed water hyacinth is invading the shore of Sembuluh, forcing fishermen to travel much further. Residents say that the overgrowth must be associated with fertilisers and chemicals dumped from the plantations.
In 2018, the Central Kalimantan Environment Agency had the water in the lake tested. Nothing is wrong, they stated, dismissing the residents’ protests.
But not everybody agrees. ‘We openly challenged the agency’s findings,’ says Muhammad Habibi, director of the NGO Save Our Borneo. ‘We asked the agency to disclose the actual results, and to share all the relevant details: where the samples had been taken, how they had been treated, what residues they had been analysed for. But the agency simply refused to comply.’
Save Our Borneo and Ecoton, another environmental NGO, conducted some water testing in Sambas, Western Borneo, in an area geographically very similar to Lake Sembuluh and similarly affected by palm oil monoculture. The results were worrying, with levels of chloride and phosphates in the region’s river far higher than accepted norms. Habibi fears for the fate of Lake Sembuluh. ‘Our suspicion is that the local authorities have no interest in going against the palm oil industry. What if it becomes known that the ongoing ecological disaster in Lake Sembuluh is caused by the companies?’
‘Palm oil means Gramoxone, Gramoxone means palm oil’, says James Watt, a farmer in Bangkal. Watt is among the few residents who still have a small piece of land left: he used to grow rubber plants, fruit and vegetables. He started life as a traditional farmer and had no interest in palm oil cultivation. But as the vast plantations came to dominate the region, he was forced to switch. Around the same time, in 2015, he was introduced to paraquat, under the label Gramoxone. ‘I needed a stronger herbicide, and I went to the shop in Sampit, the nearest city. I asked the shopkeeper for advice, and he gave me this,’ Watt says, holding out the five-litre plastic package of the substance. Paraquat became a familiar household item and can be found in most farmers’ houses in Bangkal. ‘When I have to spray it, I smoke a cigarette first, so I make sure of the wind direction,’ Watt says.
Watt has no love for palm oil. In addition to being a farmer, he’s an activist. At 54, he has spent nearly half his life fighting against the palm oil industry, trying to mediate between residents and companies, and paying the price himself.
In 2020, following a demonstration against the plantation, Watt was sentenced to ten months in prison on a charge of stealing oil palm fruit from the land that once belonged to Bangkal residents.
The last major protest against palm oil companies in Bangkla was in October 2023. Gijik, a 35-year-old man, was killed by a gunshot fired by police deployed to defend the plantation. Such cases, according to the Consortium for Agrarian Reform (KPA), an Indonesian association fighting against land grabbing, are far from isolated. Between 2015 and 2022, at least 69 people died as a result of clashes and protests against land grabbing. The clashes and deaths, again according to KPA, can’t be separated from the decision to deploy police forces always and exclusively in a repressive function, in defence of plantations.
‘I can’t understand what the government means when it says palm oil brings development and prosperity,’ says.Watt. He never asked his parents why they named him after the Scottish inventor, which is said to have started the industrial revolution. While he grasps the subtle irony, he’s proud of the name he bears.
‘For me, real prosperity was before. We were not dependent on anyone: we grew our own vegetables, rice. We went fishing and if we wanted meat, all we had to do was go hunting in the forest. Now all that is gone’.
This article was originally published as ‘Paraquat: banned in Europe, on sale in Indonesia in Geographical Magazine on the 28th of June 2024. Written by Daniela Sala, Adi Renaldi & Budi Baskoro. Photography by Daniela Sala. Republished with permission. Read original.
ENDS
In the below 2021 report by respected non-profit Global Witness, there was a shocking revelation that a young child of a palm oil worker died as a result of consuming pesticide infused water on a “sustainable” palm oil plantation in Papua New Guinea. The firm sold to global giants like Nestle, Ferrero, Unilever, Mondelez and more, with products on the shelves and bought be consumers all over the world.
“One palm oil firm, Rimbunan Hijau, [Papua New Guinea] negligently ignored repeated and avoidable worker deaths and injuries on palm oil plantations, with at least 11 workers and the child of one worker losing their lives over an eight-year period.
“Tainted palm oil from Papua New Guinea plantations was sold to household name brands, all of them RSPO members including Kellogg’s, Nestlé, Colgate, Danone, Hershey’s and PZ Cussons and Reckitt Benckiser”
Mountain Tapirs are the most threatened large mammals of the northern Andes, hunting, climate change and mining are threats, take action and boycott gold!
Forest 500 report shows 150 of the world’s largest financial institutions invested nearly $9 trillion in deforestation-linked industries. Support EUDR!
Investigation by Bloomberg exposes that despite being RSPO members, #SOCFIN plantations in #WestAfrica are the epicentre of #humanrights abuses, sexual coercion, environmental destruction, and #landgrabbing. Operating in #Liberia, #Ghana, #Nigeria, and beyond, SOCFIN’s…
Colonial palm oil and sugarcane causing the loss of West Papuans’ cultural identity. Land grabs force communities from forests, threatening Noken weaving
An explosive report by the Environment Investigation Agency (EIA) details how Indonesia’s Fangiono family, through a wide corporate web, is linked to ongoing #deforestation, #corruption, and #indigenousrights abuses for #palmoil. Calls mount for…
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#BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #corruption #deforestation #disease #ecocide #EU #health #humanRights #Indonesia #Indonesian #MusimMas #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #Paraquat #Parkinsons #pesticide #pesticides #pollution #USA #waterPollution #womenSRights #workersRights #WorkersRights
The dangerous #pesticide #Paraquat is banned in the EU and strictly limited in the USA, however it continues to destroy the lives of #palmoil workers in Indo...Palm Oil Detectives (YouTube)
Finance giants fuel $8.9 trillion deforestation economy
Global Canopy’s Forest 500 report reveals that 150 of the world’s largest financial institutions invested nearly $9 trillion in deforestation-linked industries during 2024, with six out of ten firms lacking any public deforestation policies. The analysis tracked $8.9 trillion in direct and indirect financial support for 500 companies exposed to forest-risk commodities including palm oil, soy, beef, cocoa, and timber, with $864 billion going to businesses making no public commitments against deforestation. Financial titans Vanguard, BlackRock and JPMorgan Chase alone accounted for more than one-fifth of total funding at $1.6 trillion. The EU’s upcoming Deforestation Regulation #EUDR will ban imports of products linked to forest destruction from December 30, potentially locking out companies without robust policies. Urgent action needed to redirect finance away from forest destruction and toward Indigenous-led forest protection. Support a strong and strict EUDR to safeguard forests, be vegan and #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife💰☠️ $8.9 TRILLION funds deforestation! BlackRock, Vanguard, JPMorgan lead with $1.6T funding #palmoil, #soy and #meat #deforestation 🌴🔥 Support the #EUDR ban Dec 30 ⛔️ #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect palmoildetectives.com/2025/12/…
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Share to TwitterSustainable Times. (2024). Global finance giants under fire for fueling an $8.9 trillion ‘deforestation economy’ in 2024. Sustainable Times. sustainabletimes.co.uk/post/gl…
The world’s largest financial institutions Vanguard, BlackRock, and JPMorgan Chase are bankrolling a massive $8.9 trillion deforestation economy whilst offering minimal safeguards against forest destruction, according to explosive new research that exposes the banking sector’s complicity in global environmental destruction.
Global Canopy’s comprehensive Forest 500 report tracked investments from 150 of the planet’s biggest financial institutions throughout 2024, revealing systematic funding of industries driving tropical rainforest annihilation across palm oil, soy, beef and timber sectors. The scale of financial exposure proves staggering, with institutions providing $8.9 trillion in direct and indirect support for 500 companies engaged in forest-risk commodities.
The research exposed catastrophic policy failures across the financial sector. Six out of ten institutions reviewed maintain no publicly stated deforestation policies whatsoever, representing only marginal improvement from the previous year when two-thirds lacked such protections. Even more alarming, fewer than four in ten financial giants openly acknowledge that deforestation poses business risks to their portfolios.Three financial behemoths dominate the destruction economy. Vanguard, BlackRock, and JPMorgan Chase “alone were responsible for more than one-fifth of the total” funding, collectively channelling $1.6 trillion toward forest-risk industries. Their enormous market influence means policy changes from these titans “could trigger rapid change across the global financial system,” according to Global Canopy analysts.
The geographic concentration of destruction finance reveals systematic patterns. Beyond the United States, “China and France also emerged as central hubs of financial flows into deforestation-linked industries.” This concentration demonstrates how relatively few financial centres drive global forest destruction through investment decisions.
Perhaps most damning, nearly $864 billion flowed directly to companies making zero public commitments against deforestation. This represents “almost one in every ten dollars” of total financing going to businesses with no safeguards protecting tropical forests from destruction for palm oil plantations, cattle ranches, or soy cultivation.
Global Canopy researchers emphasised the sector’s transformative potential, stating: “Unless financial institutions engage portfolio companies to act on deforestation risk – for instance, through strong stewardship of investee companies – their financing activities will undermine the positive impact of any transition finance they provide.” However, they noted these “financial heavyweights could use their investment strategies to drive better practice and transform commodity supply chains for the better.”The European Union’s new Deforestation Regulation dramatically increases pressure on financial institutions to implement robust policies. Beginning December 30, the EU “will ban large businesses from importing beef, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, natural rubber, soy, or wood if these products are linked to deforestation.” The ban will eventually extend to smaller businesses, creating comprehensive market exclusions for forest-destructive products.
This regulatory shift creates urgent risks for financial institutions backing non-compliant companies. “Without robust policies, they will find themselves backing companies that are locked out of key markets,” the report warns. Financial institutions face the prospect of massive portfolio devaluations as their investee companies lose access to lucrative European markets.A handful of progressive institutions demonstrate viable alternatives. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, Deutsche Bank, and Lloyds Banking Group represent “the only institutions shown to be screening and monitoring all the highest-risk commodities.” Their comprehensive approaches “provide a blueprint for others to follow” in developing effective deforestation policies.
Global Canopy outlined essential components for credible deforestation policies extending “well beyond a vague pledge.” Effective policies require “clear standards for screening clients and portfolio holdings, active engagement to bring non-compliant firms into line, and strict deadlines for divestment if companies fail to improve.” Additionally, institutions must maintain “transparent reporting of progress and commitments to human rights safeguards.”
The analysis examined nine critical forest-risk commodities: “beef, cocoa, coffee, leather, palm oil, pulp and paper, soy, rubber, and timber.” Each sector drives habitat destruction threatening wildlife populations whilst displacing Indigenous communities dependent on intact forests for survival.The report concludes that financial institutions possess “immense influence over whether deforestation is curbed or allowed to spiral further out of control.” Current investment patterns tell “a troubling story, but with the right commitments, banks and investment firms could become powerful drivers of change” toward forest protection rather than destruction.
Sustainable Times. (2024). Global finance giants under fire for fueling an $8.9 trillion ‘deforestation economy’ in 2024. Sustainable Times. sustainabletimes.co.uk/post/gl…ENDS
Read more about deforestation and ecocide in the palm oil industry
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Capped langurs are found in India Bhutan Bangladesh and Myanmar, they are vulnerable from palm oil and other forms of deforestation. Take action for them!
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In fragmented forests of Mexico, big cats find it hard to locate prey ungulates instead seeking tree-dwelling #monkeys – that’s bad news for primates!Load more posts
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3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
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4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
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#BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #corruption #crime #deforestation #ecocide #ecolabel #EUDR #greenwashing #meat #meatAgriculture #meatAndSoyDeforestationInBrazil #News #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #soy
Finance giants fuel $8 9 trillion deforestation economy
Global Canopy's Forest 500 report reveals that 150 of the world's largest financial institutions invested nearly $9 trillion in deforestation-linked industri...Palm Oil Detectives (YouTube)
A landmark study published in Global Studies Quarterly in April 2025 has revealed that the rapid expansion of the #palmoil industry in #WestPapua is not only fuelling #deforestation, #ecocide and environmental destruction but also perpetuating colonial-era patterns of land dispossession, #violence, and erasure of #Indigenous #Papuan communities #BoycottPalmOil
#Study finds #palmoil expansion in #WestPapua isn’t just fuelling #deforestation but also colonialist-style #landgrabbing #violence and systematic erasure of #Indigenous #Melanesian cultures and languages. #Boycottpalmoil 🌴🪔☠️🩸🚜🔥🧐⛔️ @palmoildetect palmoildetectives.com/2025/06/…
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Researchers Szilvia Csevár and Yasmine Rugarli found that Indonesia’s government has shifted its palm oil plantation focus from Sumatra and Borneo to West Papua, granting private companies nearly unlimited concessions over millions of hectares—including protected forests and Indigenous lands. “Oil palm plantations and associated infrastructure in West Papua have proliferated on a massive scale,” the authors report, noting that this expansion is driven by global demand and a system ‘rigged’ by corruption and profit motives, with little regard for the rights of indigenous peoples and their sovreignty.
The study highlights that large companies overwhelmingly rely on monoculture and invasive agricultural methods, despite evidence that intercropping and smallholder farming could minimise environmental harm. “Profit-driven large companies remain reluctant to adopt these practices; a disturbing status quo resulting from a rigged system of corruption in Indonesia,” Csevár and Rugarli write.
The findings echo long-standing warnings from West Papuan leaders and human rights advocates. Douglas Gerrard, writing for the Office of Benny Wenda, describes how “the most critical years of West Papuan history are told entirely from the colonisers’ perspective,” contributing to a process of historical erasure that keeps Indonesia’s occupation and its consequences out of international view. Gerrard urges the world to “put West Papua back into history”—a call that resonates with the study’s documentation of ongoing land theft and displacement.
Human rights groups and scholars have repeatedly accused the Indonesian state of using military force to suppress Papuan self-determination and facilitate resource extraction. As Jacobin’s Ben Knobloch reported in 2021, “Indonesia’s repression hasn’t broken the West Papuan freedom struggle,” but it has resulted in widespread violence, mass displacement, and the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Papuans since the 1960s. The International Center on Nonviolent Conflict notes that West Papua’s decolonization was never completed, and that “the people of West Papua have the legal right to self-determination because the decolonisation process following Dutch rule was never completed.”
Csevár and Rugarli’s study underscores that the palm oil industry is now a central force in this ongoing conflict. The authors warn that unless global consumers and policymakers act, West Papua’s forests—and the cultures they sustain—will continue to be sacrificed for cheap palm oil. “The continued expansion of oil palm plantations in West Papua is inseparable from the broader colonial dynamics and the ongoing denial of Indigenous rights,” the study concludes.
As calls grow to boycott palm oil linked to deforestation and human rights abuses, Papuan leaders and their allies urge the international community to recognise the region’s history, support Indigenous land rights, and demand an end to the colonial exploitation of West Papua.
Csevár, S., & Rugarli, Y. (2025, Apr 26). Greasing the wheels of colonialism: Palm oil industry in West Papua. Global Studies Quarterly, 5(2), Article ksaf026. doi.org/10.1093/isagsq/ksaf026
This article explores the links between colonial conflict, palm oil extraction, and displacement of Indigenous communities in Indonesia’s Papua region (“West Papua”). In West Papua, Indigenous communities are systematically subjected to extractive violence and forced displacement, with large part of these incidents closely linked to the palm oil industry. Unsound practices of plantation development to satisfy demands of economic growth has led to an increased militarization of Indigenous lands with a particularly harmful impact on Papua women. West Papua’s colonial origins led to decades of military rule, underdevelopment, and political exclusion entrenching a power structure through violence that can only be sustained in continuing conditions of oppression. The palm oil industry functions within a predatory political economy where revenue-generating activity depends on inequality and vulnerability to violence. This article exposes the continuance of colonial mentality, in which an exploitative and deeply unequal economy is sustained to control wealth and resources. This not only fuels multiple forms of insecurities for Papua communities but also diminishes the importance of their traditional environmental knowledge for climate adaptation. Building on the concept of human security, we conceptualize the intersecting threats created by conflict, plantation development, ethnicity, and gender in West Papua as a humanitarian catastrophe, contributing to the development of a principled understanding of such harms that will ultimately disrupt the existing colonial order.
While the palm oil sector continues to be a growing industry, it begs many questions and belies a range of controversies. As certain impacts of large-scale plantation development have by now become unavoidable, particularly on the regional and local levels, there is a growing need to understand the linkages between political and economic forces that are driving social conflict, extraction activities, and their impact on Indigenous communities. There is a growing body of evidence highlighting the various gender dimensions of the interaction between environmental issues and security (Detraz 2017, pp. 146–173; UN Environment Programme [UNEP] 2020; Geneva Centre for Security Sector Governance [DCAF] 2022). Access to, use of, and control of natural resources are well-known drivers of conflict and insecurity, which play out against the backdrop of a range of interrelating power structures and pre-existing structural inequalities impacting upon gender and ethnic relations as factors of social differentiation. The variety of forms in which environmental insecurity manifests is difficult to generalize, and the way in which it will interact with other forms of insecurity will greatly depend on the specific context and personal circumstances of women and men. With reference to the situation in West Papua, this article aims to highlight the inextricable links between the palm oil industry and racialized gender-based harms impacting historically oppressed communities. It seeks to demonstrate that contemporary legal and policy frameworks remain rooted in a colonial mentality and therefore are inherently incapable of addressing structural causes of such harms that are supported by the economic interests of the state.
One of the main characteristics of extractive activities on Indigenous lands is the presence of security forces, either state or private or both, to secure economic state interests in the region. Such practices of militarized extraction have a particularly harmful impact on Indigenous communities trying to defend their lands and resources (Human Rights Council [HRC] 2013). In West Papua, oil palm plantations and mining projects are routinely guarded by military forces, creating a widespread and systematically racist pattern of rights abuses targeting Indigenous Papuans (Csevár 2020, pp. 5–9). In fact, military repression against Indigenous communities opposing oil palm plantation development on their traditional lands is endemic across the Indonesian archipelago (Forest Peoples 2021). In the Philippines, legitimate objection to national development projects by Indigenous groups has led to the entrenchment of paramilitary units on traditional lands to violently suppress community opposition (Alternative Law Groups Inc et al. 2009, pp. 55–64). The decades-long campaign of “red-tagging” by the Philippine government, labeling Indigenous and human rights defenders as supporters of the communist insurgency, has created a narrative in which violent attacks against Indigenous Peoples are not only deemed tolerable but are in fact encouraged (Amnesty International 2021; International Commission of Jurists [ICJ] 2022). Similar patterns and issues are frequently reported across different regions (Global Witness 2023), with Indigenous Peoples systematically subjected to extractive violence, albeit with different degrees of intensity, both in the Global South and the Global North (Inter-American Commission on Human Rights [IACHR] 2015; Hitchcock 2019, para. 302; Nachet et al. 2021). Such practices have led to persistent patterns of environmental racism in the Global South, where environmental justice remains elusive due to the inherent male and white bias maintaining racial hierarchies at the expense of communities of color (Batur and Weber 2017; Falzon and Batur 2018), with a particularly harmful impact on Indigenous women. At the same time, environmental security threats greatly weaken women’s ability to cope with and adapt to climatic changes. This is particularly disturbing as environmental knowledge—traditionally created, held, and transmitted by Indigenous women—is crucial for climate change resilience (McGregor et al. 2020; Spencer et al. 2020; Climate Investment Funds [CIF] 2021; Mekonnen et al. 2021).
Despite disturbing patterns of violence, international response to these concerns has been slow, if not completely absent. International discourse remains embedded in outdated state-centric approaches to peace and security and is thus unable to provide an effective response to human suffering not associated with national security interests as a military matter (Chinkin and Kaldor 2017). Conceptions of human security, developed mainly by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP 1994, 2022), continue to be downplayed in security narratives, and efforts to adapt international frameworks to interconnected layers of violence remain uneven and precarious. While frameworks such as environmental peacebuilding or the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda promote human security, they remain rooted in the traditional mentality of a narrow understanding of security, which puts virtually exclusive emphasis on the security of the territory and capital of the state (Csevár 2021). The intersecting threats created by environmental pressures, gender and ethnicity, and traditional environmental knowledge systems are thus largely discounted, and the international security discourse continues to draw on Western traditions shaped by pervasive racial and cultural biases. It is such colonialist approaches that this article takes issue with. The central argument is that contemporary frameworks enable the continued colonial dispossession of Indigenous Peoples by the extractive industry, supporting an abnormal political economy in which revenue-generating activity depends on violence and coercion. It exposes how the palm oil industry continues to reproduce harmful colonial binaries (civilized vs. primitive) and how neoliberal demands of endless economic growth and security of capital dismiss, often violently, any Indigenous resistance to unsound and exclusionary extraction practices on traditional lands. Building on the concept of second-generation human security, we conceptualize the situation in West Papua as a humanitarian catastrophe, shifting the focus away from national security interest to local needs and priorities, blurring harmful binaries, and ultimately disrupting the existing colonial order.
Section 2 of this article starts with describing issues of internal colonialism and contested indigeneity in Southeast Asia. It then highlights the concept of second-generation human security, which has gained some attention in literature as a consequence of the inadequacy of contemporary frameworks to provide effective responses to situations of exacerbated conflict, and human suffering. This forms the conceptual basis for analysis in the following sections. Section 3 describes the palm oil industry in West Papua, highlighting its coloniality, which has created an exploitative and deeply unequal economy facilitating dispossession of and violence against Indigenous Papuans. Section 4 illustrates the intersectional harms experienced by Papua women as their traditional roles and knowledge are eroding as a consequence of the loss or degradation of their lands. Section 5 offers some concluding remarks.
The post-WWII era of decolonization marked a shift towards denouncing colonialism. The right to self-determination was adopted in numerous United Nations (UN) instruments, serving as a foundational norm for the UN-led process of decolonization. While most of the territories under European colonial power have indeed achieved some measure of self-determination, the process of decolonization continues to be shaped by certain antimonies (Anghie 2004). Established and dominated by Western powers, UN primacy in decolonization efforts and post-colonial state-building has led to serious concerns as such an approach was thought to “simply change[d] the form of European hegemony, not its substance” (Otto 1996, p. 340), a process that entrenched power relations established during colonial times and thus contributing to continuing oppression of historically marginalized communities. Indeed, international law—largely a Eurocentric system (Bedjaoui 1985; Koskenniemi 2011)—was instrumental in applying decolonization to some situations of violent domination, but not to others. The “salt-water theory” was introduced to exclude Indigenous communities from decolonization efforts by establishing a binary system in which colonial domination was assumed to exist only between a European and non-European entity (Bennett 1978). Also known as the blue-water theory, this concept served to prevent a broad application of Chapter XI of the UN Charter on non-self-governing territories. Under this theory, decolonization efforts were applied only to geographically separate overseas territories, and thus excluded self-determination by native communities residing within the territory of UN member states (Ofuatey-Kodjoe 1977; Stavenhagen 1990, pp. 5–6).1 At the same time, the historical trajectory of indigeneity as a concept of international law tracks to some extent that of decolonization. Grounded in the peoples’ right to self-determination, and as a result of decades of tireless efforts by Indigenous representatives, Indigenous rights have gradually gained acceptance by the international community (Anaya 2004) and have been formally espoused by the General Assembly with the adoption of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2007. This process too was however largely shaped by Western understandings of indigeneity centered around white settler colonial experiences on the American continents, Australia, and New Zealand (Muehlebach 2001; Merlan 2009). The prevalent UN standards of decolonization and indigeneity are therefore too narrow, largely ignoring ethnic and cultural differences within the borders of the newly independent states exposing traditionally marginalized communities to various forms of internal colonization.
Settler colonialism is best conceptualized as a structure rather than a singular historical event, underscoring its permanent, ongoing and systemic nature (Wolfe 1994, 96; Wolfe 1999, 2). Unlike other colonial formations, settler colonialism’s primary goal of elimination is not race but the expropriation of land. This process is perpetuated through various mechanisms, seeking to “destroy to replace” (Wolfe 2006, 388), which differs from genocide as it encompasses not only physical elimination but also cultural erasure, assimilation, and the systematic destruction of Indigenous identities, land fragmentation and a wide array of biocultural assimilation (O’Brien 2010). Settler colonial narratives actively erase Indigenous Peoples while memorializing them as relics of the past—perpetuating the myth of the “vanishing Indian” (Kēhaulani Kauanui 2016, 3) which serves as an ideological tool to deny Indigenous presence and rights, thereby legitimizing settler claims to land (O’Brien 2010). The colonization experiences in Southeast Asia, as well as that of several African nations, are distinct from this practice in several ways. In its most renowned work, Fanon (1963) provides a powerful analysis of colonial structures, pointing to the emergence of new post-colonial forms of imperialism and political distortions entrenching racialized forms of violence and leading to the continued exploitation of former colonies. Tracing colonial techniques and strategies, Casanova (2007) explains internal colonization as the dominance and exploitation of natives by natives. Indeed, the concept of internal colonization refers to the practice of racialized classification of minority ethnic groups as subordinate to the dominant ethnicity within the borders of a single state. Such “domestic subset of a larger colonial (or imperial) paradigm” (Chávez 2011, p. 786) bears on all social relations, including political and extractive violence. Southeast Asia is particularly suitable to illustrate the various patterns and harmful impacts of internal colonization on traditional communities, closely linked to a narrow understanding, or even non-existence, of indigeneity in the region. Post-colonial state forming in most Southeast Asian countries denied the existence of specific Indigenous groups on the territory, claiming that the concept “internationalist indigeneity” (Merlan 2009, p. 303), as developed within the UN system, is inherently linked to European domination through settler colonialism and therefore inapplicable to Southeast Asian territories, which did not experience significant European settlement. What has become known as the “Asian controversy” (Kingsbury 1998), a peculiar all-or-nothing approach to indigeneity, is a common feature in qualifying indigeneity in the region (Baird 2020).
While there are notable parallels with the patterns of classic European settler colonialism, the current neo-colonial administration in West Papua clearly exhibits methods of internal colonization as well. Indonesian settlers under the Dutch colonial administration became the post-colonial elite and ruling class, perpetuating colonial structures and systems after independence. Their position was further strengthened by a large-scale, government-sponsored migration from other parts of Indonesia in successive years, increasingly marginalizing Indigenous Papuans, reducing them to a minority and dispossessing them of their ancestral lands (Chauvel 2007; International Coalition for Papua [ICP] 2020, 168–175). Given Indonesia’s historically discriminatory policies toward ethnic minorities within its territory, internal colonization has thus emerged as the most prevalent political structure. As a result, the concept of indigeneity remains highly controversial in Indonesia, where the government has explicitly denied the applicability of international standards of indigeneity on its territory. Instead, it refers to “customary law societies,” which are thus seemingly deprived from the possibility of asserting their Indigenous rights to land and resources as a matter of international law (Permanent Mission of Indonesia 2022). Such approaches were challenged by Gray (1995, p. 35), who linked the existence of Indigenous communities to the notion of internal colonialism, asserting that they are “colonized peoples (. . .) who are prevented from controlling their own lives, resources, and cultures.” Indeed, despite initial rejections on the state level, native communities across Southeast Asia have increasingly invoked the concept of indigeneity as an attempt to redress long-standing ills and grievances concerning land use and cultural extinction, albeit with various degrees of success (Baird 2019). Indonesia’s despising position notwithstanding, local organizations in West Papua have embraced the concept and assert their identity as Indigenous on the international level (Franciscans International 2022).
There might not be much sense in making clear distinctions between settler and internal colonialism or internationalized and local standards of Indigenous identity. Beyond the definitions and labels we apply, colonialism in any form shows high levels of oppression and violent events targeting traditional communities, which continue to be perceived as inferior to those in power, their opposition to development and extractive activities on their lands viewed as disruptive to the existing hierarchical order established during colonial times. Indigenous peoples thus remain disproportionately vulnerable to colonial depredation and military violence, their social status and security deteriorating. As traditional approaches prioritize the political and economic security of the state at the expense of marginalized communities, the emergence of the human security concept showed a promising attempt to generate alternative responses to such pervasive forms of human insecurity. Since its inception with the UNDP in 1994, human security has generated significant academic discussion (Martin and Owen 2014). In any event, the concept was both welcomed and met with concern, regularly criticized for its lack of precision, which gave rise to various interpretations of its scope (Paris 2001). In its report, the Commission on Human Security (CHS 2003, p. 4) defined human security as “the vital core of all human lives in ways that enhance human freedoms and human fulfilment”; a “threshold approach” embracing both human rights and human development, which seemingly reconciled the debate surrounding the scope of human security (Owen 2004, 2014), referring to a set of minimum or basic standards to guarantee survival, livelihood and dignity.
A common understanding of a vital core of human security suggests a homogenous concept, which is of course not the case. What constitutes minimum conditions of tolerable livelihood and dignity, survival even, will largely depend on the prevalent gender dynamics and societal norms within the local community. Human security is thus highly contextual. There have been incremental, though sporadic attempts to implement the human security framework in global policy and legal tools. Within the environmental peacebuilding discourse studies tend to adopt a narrow focus and analyse the environment-security nexus based mainly on the potential of environmental issues to influence and aggravate armed conflict (Swain and Öjendal 2018). While the benefits of environmental peacebuilding are significant, Ide (2020) cautioned about its potential to generate harmful and exclusionary practices. Such practices result from discounting the linkage between environment, security and ethnic and gender equality, feeding into broader concerns about international law normalizing systemic forms of environmental violence (Cusato 2021). At the same time, these linkages are significantly marginalized in the WPS framework as well, which has so far ignored environmental factors as drivers of violence against women, and thus failing to adopt an intersectional human security approach (Csevár 2021; Yoshida and Céspedes-Báez 2021). Indeed, WPS implementation and knowledge production is heavily criticized by its whiteness, whereby Global South actors are generally viewed as mere recipients of norms developed by actors in the Global North (Haastrup and Hagen 2021; Henry 2021; Parashar 2019). In parallel, linking environmental concerns and security issues has gained more attention in global debates, which, however, fail to properly consider the gender and ethnicity dimensions of environmental security (HRC 2015; Detraz 2017, para. 16). As they privilege theories advanced by Western actors to understand environmental insecurity in the Global South, colonialist assumptions and biases remain inherent in these frameworks (Kashwan and Ribot 2021; Sultana 2022). Current human security frameworks thus fail to address the abusive ethnic, racial, and gender paradigm of conflict situations, which has given rise to calls for reinterpretation. Chinkin and Kaldor (2017, pp. 479–526) argued powerfully for the need of a “second-generation human security.” A new model which builds on the existing critique on human security, shifting the focus away from top-down solutions introduced by dominant powers to an effective adoption of bottom-up approaches prioritizing local knowledge and needs. They reconstruct human security as a strategy of resistance, where insecurity emanates from a specific context that is generated by interrelated factors such as gender or ethnicity. International intervention should be developed based on local priorities, aimed at assisting local people, rather than imposing pre-set structures designed to advance Western geo-political or economic agendas.
Adequate responses to long-standing and mostly unresolved colonial practices remain one of the key gaps in human security models. Contemporary approaches often suit the geo-political or economic agenda of the dominant powers, rather than the needs of affected communities. The current study understands second-generation human security as an important opportunity to reflect on the interactions of power structures such as colonialism, militarism, and resource extraction. There is an urgent need for the model to account for complex histories of political violence rooted in colonial encounters, elucidating how unsound practices of extraction on Indigenous lands create a predatory political economy reproducing harmful colonial binaries and thus entrenching inequality and vulnerability affecting traditional communities the most. The next section examines the palm oil industry in West Papua and its implications for Indigenous Papua communities.
The palm oil industry in West Papua operates within the context of an ongoing political conflict rooted in the region’s colonial history. Amid global security concerns during the Cold War, Indonesia’s invasion and continued military action in West Papua forced the Netherlands, the colonial power at the time, into accepting a bilateral agreement which transferred control of West Papua to Indonesia after a brief period of UN administration (Agreement No. 6311, 1962). The promised act of self-determination2, the 1969 UN-supervised Act of Free Choice, was marred by coercive military tactics by Indonesian forces (UN 1969; UNSF Background). Following such a frustrated process of decolonization and West Papua’s forceful integration (Drooglever 2009), Indonesia maintains a military control over the territory, entrenching power relations established through violence and facilitating extractive practices associated with continuing insecurity stemming from ethnic and racial marginalization of native Papua communities. As the connections between colonial grievances, violent Indonesian rule and the extractive industry in West Papua were discussed elsewhere (Csevár 2020, 2021), the focus of this section is on highlighting current practice enabling the palm oil industry to treat Indigenous lands as “empty land” at the expense of Indigenous Papuans to satisfy neoliberal demands of endless economic growth.
Oil palm plantations across Indonesia are expanding at a rapid pace, solidifying its position as the world’s largest exporter of palm oil. Building on the already extensive exploitation in other regions, the Indonesian government has shifted its plantation development focus to West Papua by granting private companies with concessions for virtually unlimited period of time and ensuring their access to an area of millions of hectares, encompassing not only agricultural land, but also protected forests and Indigenous settlements (awasMIFEE! 2012; Wakker 2005, p. 20). Since the late twentieth century, oil palm plantations and associated infrastructure in West Papua have indeed proliferated on a massive scale (Gaveau et al. 2021). As the global demand for palm oil continues to intensify, its trading price is relatively low, promoting an economy of scale whereby producers can remain competitive only by maintaining small prices and providing high quantities of the commodity (Tandra et al. 2022), necessitating invasive agricultural methods, such as monocultures, to maximize production. Despite growing evidence on intercropping providing a more sustainable method for palm oil cultivation, already implemented by smallholder farmers (Slingerland et al. 2019), profit-driven large companies remain reluctant to adopt these practices; a disturbing status quo resulting from a rigged system of corruption in Indonesia (The Gecko Project 2018, 2020).
As planation development in West Papua has grown, so have socio-ecological concerns about Indonesian palm oil. The rapid growth of plantations is affected by large-scale conversion of forests and traditional lands resulting in significant environmental harm, loss of biodiversity, and Indigenous livelihoods (Adrianto, Komarudin, and Pacheco 2019; Susanti and Maryudi 2016; Runtuboi et al. 2020). The scale of deforestation and displacement driven by plantation development in West Papua is thus significant. Mega-projects such as the billion-dollar business “Tanah Merah” (The Gecko Project 2018, Prologue) or the “textbook land grab” (Ginting and Pye 2013, p. 161) Merauke Integrated Food and Energy Estate (MIFEE) destroys millions of hectares of rainforests and Indigenous lands. At the same time, they operate within the context of military oppression, with direct roots in colonial histories, where resource extraction activities are characterized by a “steady marginalisation of [I]ndigenous Papuans, with top-down projects imposed from outside, and often accompanied by the threat of, or the use of violence to enforce plans” (Marr 2011; see also Csevár 2020). West Papua’s political conflict and environmental crises are thus inextricably intertwined—spatial evidence gathered by INTERPRT, an independent project investigating environmental crimes, reveals a disturbing territorial convergence between state violence and ecological devastation driven by corporate interests, underscoring a direct territorial link between genocide and ecocide. Consequently, the landscape transformation is not merely emblematic of a political conflict but represents a tangible conflict eroding the land, soil, water, people, fauna, and flora extending over time and space across West Papua (Center for Creative Ecologies 2018).
The harmful impacts of “colonial-style large scale corporate monoculture” (Li 2018, p. 328) did not go unnoticed by Indonesia’s key trade partners. Becoming increasingly aware of the environmental and social issues attached to palm oil, the European Union (EU) sought to enforce higher sustainability standards in trade agreements by restricting its palm oil import (de Clerck and Harmono 2019; European Parliament 2020) and introducing Trade Sustainable Development (TSD) chapters in free-trade agreements (Nessel and Orbie 2022). While the EU urgently needs to reflect on the inherent coloniality within its own environmental policies (Almeida et al. 2023), such attempts to “green” investment and trade agreements are long overdue. Indeed, Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) and trade agreements prioritize nationalistic economic agendas to secure foreign investments in developing states to facilitate economic growth (Gonzalez and Mutua 2022, p. 150; Vandevelde 1998), and thus play a significant role in extractive violence enacted against Indigenous Peoples (HRC 2016; 2018, paras. 34–35; 2023, paras. 14, 21). In response to mounting socio-ecological concerns, Indonesia introduced the Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) certification scheme, which it, however, failed to effectively implement (Putri et al. 2022). In West Papua, the Manokwari Declaration was adopted, aimed at boosting forest conservation through better monitoring of illegal logging by palm oil companies (Cámara-Leret et al. 2019). While these commitments appear ambitious, they merely create a veneer of legitimacy that shrouds ongoing racial-capitalist exploitation. Engaged in a systemic structure of greenwashing, major palm oil enterprises in Indonesia operate by maintaining a seemingly sustainable production under various certification schemes, providing them access to the EU market, while also engaging in a “shadow” practice of deforestation and violation of community rights, enabling the continuous expansion of plantations (Greenpeace Indonesia 2024; The Gecko Project 2024). Palm oil certification schemes are indeed often function in an exclusionary way, designed to benefit large enterprises and beyond the reach of smallholders (Saadun et al. 2018). In that sense, the current blue-print of “green” agreements and sustainability certification schemes are part of the problem, not the solution, entrenching rather than undoing colonial practices of Indigenous land dispossession and ecological destruction.
Unchecked processes of plantation development in West Papua have been largely enabled through the continuous subjugation of Indigenous Papua communities resulting in persistent rights violations stemming from land-grabbing practices. Such pervasive patterns of exploitation find their roots in colonial dynamics—land-grabbing practices have long been legitimized under the terra nullius principle, or “empty land,” historically invoked to justify the seizure of Indigenous territories, thereby erasing Indigenous presence and history in the process (Saito 2020). In contemporary practice, this is further shaped by racial capitalism, prioritizing the pursuit of economic profits at the expense of human, non-human, material, and natural resources (Gonzalez and Mutua 2022). While Indigenous communities have historically maintained a harmonious relationship with nature, living in interconnected and reciprocal ways with their lands and forests, the arrival of colonial forces in West Papua, first Dutch and then Indonesian, marked a significant shift, triggering the slow but steady erosion of Indigenous knowledge systems. Historically, Papuan tribes maintained stewardship over their land with territorial boundaries marked by natural elements like large trees, stones, or rivers. These boundaries were rarely written, rather preserved through oral topography—reflecting a deep interconnection with the environment and a profound wisdom. (Asia Justice and Rights [AJAR] 2021, pp.160–161). These traditions were disrupted by colonial forces imposing a model of linearly demarcated territories infused with racial connotations, as slow institutional violence facilitated the commodification of nature (Ahmed 2015; Gonzalez and Mutua 2022, pp. 147). To justify the displacement of Indigenous communities, racialized myths propagated the idea that Indigenous Peoples were inherently inferior, warlike savages incapable of properly managing the land (Gonzalez and Mutua 2022, pp. 146–147). In the context of West Papua, Eichhorn (2023, p. 996) introduced the term “industrial racism” to describe the dehumanization and racialization of Indigenous Papuans linked to resource extraction, orchestrated by the intermediary of the industrial colonizer and the “civilizing” colonial master, the Indonesian government. This structural model of racialized oppression in West Papua shares notable parallels with the fate of Black African diasporic communities. Indigenous Papuans have been discriminated for their “blackness” through the time of the Dutch colonization which relied on racial politics that placed them at the bottom of the colonial societal pyramid, while “native” Indonesians and Chinese were playing the role of colonial mediator (Budiardjo and Liong 1998, p. 4; Kusamaryati 2021). This racialized model of oppression kept its long-lasting nature, persisting in the industrial colonization and still executed today within the extractive industry (Chao 2021a; Eichhorn 2023).
The palm oil industry in Indonesia is intricately tied to the country’s capitalistic agenda, driven primarily by the pursuit of state economic profit and financial security. Plantation projects operate within structures of internal colonialism and racial capitalism, where government-sponsored land-grabs treat Indigenous territories as empty land and thus facilitate an exploitative and deeply unequal economy whereby revenue-generating activity depends on the continued dispossession of Papuan communities and concurrent violence. Massive scale deforestation and loss of traditional lands also erodes Indigenous knowledge and traditions, integral to the communities’ livelihood, dignity, and survival. To fully comprehend such manifestations of culturally specific colonial violence, the next section will address the intersectional harms generated by the interplay between race and gender.
Embedded in Black feminism and critical race theory, the term intersectionality was coined by Crenshaw (1989) to describe the unique experiences of African American women who grappled with intersecting oppressions within the feminist movement. The term intersectionality is intended to recognize that individuals harbor multiple intersecting identities, such as class, gender, ethnicity, religion, and sexuality, among others (Davis 2008; Cho et al. 2013; Kaijser and Kron-Sell 2014). These identities profoundly shape their experiences and interact dynamically, exposing them to varying forms and layers of oppression or privileges. It is imperative to not only center the experiences and identity construction of those positioned at these intersections, but also to scrutinize how social, political, economic, and interpersonal inequalities are constructed and perpetuated (Collins 2022). Indeed, May (2015) expands upon this analytical paradigm by framing it as a “matrix of oppression”; the juncture where various experiences intersect. Ultimately, embracing intersectional perspectives requires holistic, open, and dynamic “matrix thinking.”
The externalization of costs stemming from the ecological devastation and socio-political insecurity in West Papua is spread unequally among various groups in society. Race and ethnicity are not the only drivers of insecurity; gender is another. As racialized expansion of palm oil monocultures continues, Indigenous Papuan women shoulder a disproportionate burden of environmental devastation and land dispossession as their traditional roles as community caregivers and environmental stewards are deeply intertwined with their reliance on forests and gardens (AJAR 2019, 2021). Traditionally, Papua women keep small farm plots adjacent to their houses to grow traditional food staples and harvest medicinal plants (Kadir and Mahadika 2019; Kadir 2022, Katmo 2016). They cultivate extensive knowledge of their local environments, cherish and care for the forests so that nature will provide them with a sustainable source of nutrition. Such practices thus constitute the source of traditional knowledge centralizing biodiversity, making Indigenous women the guardians of the ecosystem, as well as the cultural heritage of their communities (Mies and Shiva 1993, pp. 164–173). Despite the undeniable centrality of women in agricultural and ecological systems, Indigenous women generally fall in the “gender gap” in land access, as they have no decision-making and ownership rights over the lands they cultivate (Food and Agriculture Organization [FAO] 2018). In addition to government-sponsored industrial land-grabs, testimonies of Papuan women highlight further loss of access to their gardens when these are sold by male family members to the Indonesian government for the expansion of palm oil monocultures (AJAR 2019). This has a deeply detrimental impact on women’s health and well-being, further amplified by plantation-induced ecological degradation and diminished control over traditional resources.
Displacement not only imperils Papuan communities’ means of sustenance, but also threatens their sense of identity and cultural heritage. Papuan women have emphasized the vital role of sustenance and conservation practices in nurturing their innate connection to nature (Malinda 2021; Pusaka 2022). Commonly referred to as “Mother Earth” in metaphorical language, the land carries the feminine energy, which women nurture in their daily practices (Ortner 1972). Papua Indigenous philosophy encapsulates this profound bond with the idiomatic expression “Land is Mama” (Malinda 2021). The gathering and processing of traditional food staples carry profound social and communal significance, serving as rituals through which Indigenous women reaffirm their bonds with one another and cultivate reciprocity with nature, encapsulating the notion of “mutuality of being” (Ellen 2006; Chao 2020). The sense of belonging among Papuan women is interfered with by physical and sexual violence perpetrated by Indonesian forces as tools of domination, aimed at maintaining control over women’s agency and facilitating land grabbing (Csevár 2021). These injustices result in intergenerational stigmatization, which corrodes community ties and exposes women to increased discrimination, pushing them further into a cycle of poverty and marginalization. As the sense of identity and cultural heritage is undermined, a colonial agenda of domination and exploitation takes precedence, leading to catastrophic consequences for the long-term survival of ecosystems. In Maibo, women explained how large-scale logging destroyed the rivers, serving as the main water source of communities, leaving the land barren with no attempt at reforestation. Unsound logging practices also created a dependency on new seeds and chemical fertilizers, perpetuating the cycle of pollution and loss of biodiversity (AJAR 2019). In the Marind region, Indigenous women associate palm oil plantation with insatiable greed: “Oil palm is always hungry for more land and more water, […] it devours everything in its path—the trees, the cassowaries, the rivers. It does not think about what amay need to thrive. It does not care about the wellbeing of others—the plants, the animals, or us Marind” (Chao 2021b, p. 19). Displacement and alterations in landscapes play significant roles in the decline of wild foods and agrobiodiversity, thus influencing changes in dietary habits (Broegaard et al. 2017; Ickowitz et al. 2021). In the Merauke region, Papuan women have reported a marked decrease in the consumption of wild foods, notably sago and tubers—integral components of their diets known for providing sustained energy essential for lengthy hunting expeditions by men and for ensuring the health of women during childbirth. The harvesting of sago now entails longer walking distances compared to a couple of decades ago (Purwestri et al. 2019; Chao 2020). Due to the heightened reliance on processed foods supplied by transmigrants and the heavy presence of chemical fertilizers, high rates of malnutrition are found, with Indigenous women bearing particularly detrimental health impacts (AJAR 2019).
Conflict over land thus becomes recurrent both between state and community, as well as within communities exacerbating the risk of domestic violence. In all these instances, women have two major relationships to navigate: with the security forces present in the region and their personal relationships with their community and family. The interaction between these two creates a multi-layered insecurity for women, created by the matrix of militarized extraction, land dispossession, and the prevalent gender dynamics and societal norms within the local community. Papua women’s relationship with security forces, and the authorities whose economic interests they are protecting is closely linked to ethnicity or race, reinforcing violent discriminatory behaviors introduced during colonial times. Under the oppressive Indonesian regime, with the sole aim to maximize profit at the expense of local communities, Papuans are perceived as inferior to those in power, silenced when opposed to foreign investments and resource extraction on their lands. Indigenous women are disproportionately vulnerable to military violence in these situations, as gender-based violence is employed as a tactic to disrupt the community. At the same time, such practices enhance the possibility of domestic violence against women as a result of social stigmatization and the break-down of traditional gender structures, and thus have a detrimental impact on women’s personal relationships with their families. Domestic tensions are further accentuated by the loss of lands and resources, which makes women unable to carry out their traditional gender-based roles within the community. The changing climate aggravates these challenges. The intersectional harms greatly weaken women’s ability to cope with and adapt to environmental changes. This is particularly disturbing as environmental knowledge held by Indigenous women is crucial for climate change resilience (Jessen. et al. 2021). Their physical and spiritual connection with their traditional lands results in excellent observation and interpretation of changes to the environment. Indigenous practices in response to environmental challenges thus suggest proven adaptation methods. Continued land dispossession and displacement, however, lead to the loss of traditional environmental knowledge.
The outcome of decolonization as a matter of international law notwithstanding, West Papua’s forceful integration into Indonesia reproduced colonial structures intensifying local experiences of violent oppression. The environmental challenges faced by Indigenous Papuans, particularly women, are tightly linked to political, social, and economic norms rooted in colonial legacies; the manifestation of racial-capitalist exploitation reveals the inherent coloniality in the Indonesian palm oil industry. As oil palm plantations increasingly encroach on Indigenous lands, the ongoing presence of military forces not only pose risks to the survival of Indigenous communities, but also exacerbate community-level gender disparities by maintaining colonial power differentials. Within Papuan Indigenous communities, power structures and societal expectations heavily influence gender-based roles and resource access and, as a consequence, increase women’s exposure to various levels and forms of insecurity while also disempowering them as drivers of change, discounting the importance of their environmental knowledge in climate adaptation. The entrenched patriarchal dynamics subject Indigenous women to compounded vulnerabilities, exacerbated by the pervasive state of political and environmental insecurity in the region. Despite growing empirical evidence in ecofeminist discourse linking women’s marginalization with environmental destruction (Mellor 1981; Mies and Shiva 1993, pp. 164–165; Shiva 1988), the mainstream approach to environmental security remains ethnic and gender blind. Hence, addressing the complex challenges in West Papua necessitates an intersectional perspective, one that recognizes the interplay between environmental, racial, and gender factors that shape the experiences of Indigenous women.
Contemporary human security models remain reluctant to address structural causes of violence that are supported by the geo-political and economic interests of the state. The use of racialized extractive violence remains widespread, utilized to reinforce a hold on traditional communities with the aim to compel them to comply with development narratives. Such pervasive patterns of extractive violence feed into long-standing colonial structures of dispossession and displacement. Historically oppressed, Indigenous Peoples continue to be locked into a highly racialized classification of disposability, their presence deemed incompatible with extraction strategies drawing on Western tradition of thoughts. Conflict over land remains at the heart of extractive violence, where the state’s economic interest facilitates corporate practices in expropriation of Indigenous lands and resources. Moving towards a second-generation human security, there is an urgent need to deconstruct existing models and to develop alternative intersectional approaches to pervasive forms of human suffering in the name of economic development. New models must prioritize local experiences providing traditional communities with a right to resist oppressive regimes that operate at the matrix of colonialism, racial capitalism and ethnic, and cultural biases. Second-generation human security thus needs to critically examine and reflect on the ongoing complex ramifications of colonial legacies, contributing to a principled understanding of and sharper focus on racialized extractive violence enacted against historically marginalized groups.
The authors declare no conflict of interests.
Csevár, S., & Rugarli, Y. (2025, Apr 26). Greasing the wheels of colonialism: Palm oil industry in West Papua. Global Studies Quarterly, 5(2), Article ksaf026. doi.org/10.1093/isagsq/ksaf026
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West Papua accelerates issuance of sustainable palm oil regulation. (2025, March 19). Palm Oil Magazine. palmoilmagazine.com/regulation…
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Indigenous Melanesian women in West Papua fight land seizures for palm oil and sugar plantations, protecting their ancestral rights. Join #BoycottPalmOil
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A landmark study published in Global Studies Quarterly in April 2025 has revealed that the rapid expansion of the #palmoil industry in #WestPapua is not only...Palm Oil Detectives (YouTube)
Papua’s ‘Empty Lands’: A Dangerous Myth Displacing Indigenous Peoples
In #WestPapua, on illegally colonised and disputed land taken by violence from Melanesian Indigenous peoples last century by Indonesian forces, authorities label indigenous lands as “empty”. This is done in order to justify large-scale agricultural projects, displacing tribes like the #Malind and Khimaima peoples. These lands are vital sources of food and medicine, supporting traditional ways of life for several millennia. Communities and indigenous rights advocates call for halting exploitative #palmoil and #mining projects and honouring #LandRights #HumanRights #IndigenousRights #BoycottPalmOil🌏 #News: In #WestPapua, “empty lands” are NOT empty—they sustain countless #indigenous #Malind and #Khimaima people for millennia. Large-scale #palmoil projects destroy livelihoods. Support #HumanRights #IndigenousRights and #BoycottPalmOil 🌴🪔🧐⛔️ wp.me/pcFhgU-a5N
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A controversial narrative labelling indigenous lands in Papua, Indonesia, as “empty” is fuelling and legitimsing large-scale agricultural projects that threaten the livelihoods of local tribes. The government’s food estate initiative has displaced indigenous communities, including the Malind, Maklew, Yei, and Khimaima tribes, who have depended on these lands for thousands of years.A Source of Life, Not an Empty Land
The forests of Papua are far from vacant. They provide essential resources, including sago and other medicinal plants, sustaining the daily lives of indigenous peoples. These areas are deeply rooted in cultural and spiritual practices, making their loss devastating not just economically but also culturally.Impact of Large-Scale Agriculture
Under the guise of “development,” projects like the food estate initiative restrict access to ancestral forests, impose security measures, and prioritise corporate profits over indigenous welfare. Such ventures often proceed without consulting or compensating local communities, exacerbating social and environmental injustices.A Call to Respect Indigenous Sovereignty
Human rights advocates stress the need to protect indigenous land rights and halt exploitative practices. They demand inclusive policies that respect traditional knowledge and empower communities to manage their resources sustainably.This issue underscores the importance of recognising indigenous sovereignty as central to ethical land use and environmental protection. The international community is urged to hold governments and corporations accountable for policies that displace indigenous people and degrade their ecosystems.
For more details, read the full article on Farm Land Grab.
Farmland Grab. (2025, January 25). Papua land is never empty, it is a source of livelihood for many. Retrieved January 28, 2025, from farmlandgrab.org/post/32579.
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Read more about human rights abuses and child slavery in the palm oil industry
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SOCFIN’s African Empire of Colonial Oppression: Billionaires Profit from Palm Oil and Rubber Exploitation
Investigation by Bloomberg exposes that despite being RSPO members, #SOCFIN plantations in #WestAfrica are the epicentre of #humanrights abuses, sexual coercion, environmental destruction, and #landgrabbing. Operating in #Liberia, #Ghana, #Nigeria, and beyond, SOCFIN’s…
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Family Ties Expose Deforestation and Rights Violations in Indonesian Palm Oil
An explosive report by the Environment Investigation Agency (EIA) details how Indonesia’s Fangiono family, through a wide corporate web, is linked to ongoing #deforestation, #corruption, and #indigenousrights abuses for #palmoil. Calls mount for…
West Papuan Indigenous Women Fight Land Seizures
Indigenous Melanesian women in West Papua fight land seizures for palm oil and sugar plantations, protecting their ancestral rights. Join #BoycottPalmOilLoad more posts
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Wildlife Artist Juanchi Pérez
Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings
Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao
Health Physician Dr Evan Allen
The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status…
twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status…
twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1…
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
#BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #childLabour #childSlavery #humanRights #HumanRights #indigenous #indigenousRights #indigenousrights #Khimaima #landRights #landgrabbing #landrights #Malind #mining #News #PalmOil #palmoil #slavery #WestPapua
West Papuan Indigenous Women Fight Land Seizures
Indigenous Melanesian women in West Papua fight land seizures for palm oil and sugar plantations, protecting their ancestral rights. Join #BoycottPalmOilPalm Oil Detectives
This article highlights the significant role that banks and investors play in fuelling a global biodiversity crisis – particularly in relation to palm oil, meat, soy and timber deforestation.By financially supporting corporations that exploit natural resources, banks and investment firms are bankrolling palm oil and meat production ecocide. These activities contribute to the destruction of rainforests, leading to massive losses in biodiversity and impacting wildlife habitats. Key commodities like palm oil and beef are primary drivers of deforestation and environmental degradation.
As consumers we can take action and use our wallets as weapons when we boycott meat and palm oil in the supermarket, help animals and be #vegan #Boycottpalmoil #Boycottmeat #Boycott4Wildlife
DYK #banks fund industries harming animal beings? Protecting #animals in #rainforests and on farms starts with our #supermarket choices. Embrace kindness for animals and forests — be #vegan 🌱❤️🐾 #BoycottMeat #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect Learn more: wp.me/pcFhgU-7N6
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#Banks and #investment funds are bankrolling the #ecocide and #extinction of #agribusiness giants: JBS, Sinar Mas and Cargill. They destroy rainforests for #palmoil & #meat, killing all in their path 🌍✊ #BoycottPalmOil 🌴🛢️🩸🚜🔥❌ #Boycott4Wildlife wp.me/pcFhgU-7N6
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This article was produced by Earth • Food • Life for Wiki Observatory. How Banks and Investors Are Fueling a Global Biodiversity Crisis” by Laurel Sutherlin is licensed by the Observatory under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).
In a global context where tropical rainforests play a critical role in biodiversity conservation and climate regulation, these ecosystems are severely threatened by expanding agribusiness and logging activities. This poses significant risks to the environment, wildlife, and communities dependent on rainforests.
Against the backdrop of escalating climate change impacts, urgent action is needed to prevent the collapse of these vital ecosystems and address the injustices faced by Indigenous and local communities and workers within the agricultural sector.
The ratification of the UN Global Biodiversity Framework in December 2022 marked a pivotal moment, signaling a collective commitment by 196 countries to reverse the decline in global biodiversity. However, financial institutions have historically failed to address their role in exacerbating the biodiversity crisis.
A 2023 report by Forests and Finance—a coalition of campaign, grassroots and research organizations that includes TuK Indonesia, Profundo, Amazon Watch, Repórter Brasil, BankTrack, Sahabat Alam Malaysia, Friends of the Earth U.S., and my organization, Rainforest Action Network—sheds light on the extensive financial support provided to sectors responsible for tropical deforestation, including beef, palm oil, pulp and paper, rubber, soy, and timber. “From January 2016 to September 2023, banks provided at least $307 billion in credit to these operations,” states the report, while institutional investors held approximately $38 billion in related shares and bonds.
Forests and Finance tracks six forest-risk commodity sectors that are responsible for driving tropical deforestation. These sector summaries show the credits (loans, revolving credit facilities, bond issuances, and share issuances) provided to these sectors from January 2016 to September 2023 and the investments (bond holdings and shareholdings) outstanding as of September 2023. (Image: Forests and Finance, Rainforest Action Network)
Despite fluctuations in financial flows, there has been no discernible downward trend in financing forest-risk commodity production. Alarmingly, the analysis of more than 100 financial institutionsʼ policies in 2023 revealed grossly inadequate safeguards against deforestation and its associated social and environmental impacts. The average policy score was just 17 percent, according to the report.
Entities like JBS, Cargill, Royal Golden Eagle, and Sinar Mas Group exemplify the egregious behaviours tolerated and enabled by banks and investors.
The report by Forests and Finance urged governments and financial institutions to adopt and enact five principles:
Halt and reverse biodiversity loss
Uphold and prioritise the rights of Indigenous peoples, women, and local communities
Facilitate a just transition
Safeguard ecosystem integrity
Harmonise institutional objectives across sectors, issues, and instruments
Immediate action is crucial to combat the climate and biodiversity crises. The report urges financial institutions to align their activities with sustainability goals, enact robust environmental and social policies, and ensure transparency and accountability. By holding the financial sector accountable for its role in enabling social and environmental harm, we can work toward preserving biodiversity and mitigating the impacts of climate change for current and future generations.Forest-Risk Credit Trends
The report revealed that at least $307 billion in credit had been directed to forest-risk sectors from 2016 to September 2023. The beef sector dominated South America, while palm oil led in Southeast Asia and rubber in Central and West Africa. Primary beneficiaries included agro-commodity traders and companies with significant environmental and social violations.
While progress has been made, heightened attention and enhanced due diligence procedures are needed to address associated ESG risks and promote sustainable financial practices to combat deforestation and environmental degradation.
Big corporations launched the Taskforce for Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) in June 2021 to guide businesses in reporting nature-related dependencies. However, civil society organizations have repeatedly raised concerns about the task force’s development, composition, approach, and potential for greenwashing.
The analysis of regional credit flow and investment trends in forest-risk commodity sectors across South America, Southeast Asia, and Central and West Africa revealed significant financial flows and investments contributing to deforestation and environmental degradation.
In South America, the beef sector dominated forest-risk credit flows, followed by soy, and pulp and paper, with Banco do Brasil emerging as a significant creditor. Infamous beneficiaries included companies like Suzano and Marfrig.
In Southeast Asia, palm oil was the dominant recipient of forest-risk credit, followed by pulp, paper, and rubber. Indonesian banks played a significant role as financiers, with recipients including tycoon-owned conglomerates Sinar Mas Group (SME) and Royal Golden Eagle (RGE). Concerns over governance risks and greenwashing practices persisted despite reductions in primary forest loss.
Central and West Africa saw the rubber sector attracting the majority of forest-risk credit, with Chinese companies emerging as primary financiers. The Chinese Sinochem Group was the largest recipient of the credit, followed by China Forestry Group and Wilmar.
Despite fluctuations in credit flows, challenges remain in corporate structures and accountability. For instance, companies like “SMG [and] RGE… have established complex corporate structures that mask ownership relations. This poses serious governance risks and facilitates leakage and greenwashing. They have all been linked to egregious social and environmental harms for decades,” states the report.
Investments in activities likely to damage forests globally amounted to more than $38 billion, with palm oil receiving the most significant share, followed by pulp and paper. Major institutional investors like BlackRock and Vanguard increased their stakes in forest-risk commodity companies, while others maintained or reduced their investments.
In South America, investments were predominantly allocated to the pulp and paper sector, with Suzano being the highest recipient. Southeast Asia saw the most investment in palm oil companies, with Sime Darby Plantations and IOI Group among the leading recipients.
In Central and West Africa, palm oil companies also received the majority of investments, with Sumitomo Forestry and Itochu being prominent recipients.
Regarding sectoral policies, financial institutions exhibit the most robust policies for palm oil, followed closely by timber, and pulp and paper. However, the average scores for these sectors remain relatively low, indicating room for improvement despite sustained civil society campaigns and certification schemesʼ existence.
The assessment of forest-risk bank policies reveals that, on average, the largest 30 forest-risk banks have higher overall policy scores than the largest forest-risk investors. However, the scores across the board are still low, reflecting minimal policy coverage across ESG criteria.
While some banks like CIMB and BNP Paribas scored relatively higher, others like Banco do Brasil and ICBC had notably low scores, indicating inadequate policies to address harmful activities.
The report highlights four corporations—Cargill, JBS, Royal Golden Eagle, and Sinar Mas Group—that continue to receive significant credit and investment from financial institutions despite having egregious environmental and social track records. Cargill, in particular, has received substantial credit for its soy operations in tropical forest regions despite having a legacy of human rights abuses and environmental degradation.
Cargillʼs expansion into the Brazilian Amazon and the Cerrado savanna has raised concerns due to decades of deforestation, violations of Indigenous peoples’ rights, and failures to meet deforestation commitments. Civil society campaigns, such as Burning Legacy, have aimed to hold Cargill accountable for its practices, documenting evidence of human rights abuses and deforestation in its supply chain.
Despite making commitments to ensure zero deforestation by 2020, Cargill has failed to meet its goals and has faced allegations of land grabbing and violations of Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) rights.
The report also discusses the implications of the financialization of land and the role of the financial sector in exacerbating soy-driven deforestation through land speculation. It evaluates the policies of banks financing Cargill, revealing low scores and loopholes that weaken their effectiveness in preventing harm in forest-risk sectors.
The report delves into the multifaceted issues surrounding JBS, the Brazilian meat giant, and its impact on the Amazon rainforest, climate change, and local communities. Financed by major banks from Brazil, the United States, Europe, and Japan, JBS has received substantial credit and investment despite its documented history of harmful business practices. Since 2019, banks have provided more than $718 million in forest-risk beef credit to JBS, while investors held $667 million in bonds and shares as of September 2023.
JBSʼs operations in the Brazilian Amazon have devastating consequences for forests, biodiversity, and Indigenous and traditional communities. The company’s practices include bribery, corruption, price fixing, forced labor and labor abuses, forest destruction, land grabbing, and contribution to climate change. Despite JBS’s high-profile pledge to achieve net-zero emissions by 2040, independent research suggests that the company lacks a credible decarbonization plan, leading to allegations of greenwashing.
The exploitation of people and forests in the Amazon is a systemic issue linked to JBS. Between 2008 and 2020, the company’s involvement in deforestation extended to approximately 200,000 hectares in its direct supply chain and 1.5 million hectares indirectly. Despite agreements to clean up its supply chain, JBS has failed to ensure its products are free from deforestation and forced labor, as evidenced by ongoing violations.
The assessment of JBS policies reveals concerning scores, indicating inadequate measures to prevent environmental harm and protect human rights. While some banks like Barclays scored relatively higher, others like Bradesco and BTG Pactual had alarmingly low scores, raising questions about their commitment to addressing crucial issues like deforestation and climate change.
The communities affected by these actions are now holding financial institutions supporting companies like JBS responsible for the environmental damage. In April 2024, the Parakanã people met with the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) to ask for reparation for the devastation of their territory, including by JBS suppliers. The Brazilian bank holds 20 percent of the shares of JBS and is therefore considered co-responsible for the impacts.
The report also reveals mounting evidence that the multibillion-dollar Royal Golden Eagle Group (RGE), which says on its website “manages a group of world-class companies specializing in resource-based manufacturing,” operates numerous “shadow companies” and complex offshore ownership schemes to hide their destruction of forests across Indonesia. Banks have poured more than $4.5 billion into forest-risk pulp and paper-attributable loans and underwriting services for RGEʼs operations between 2019 and 2023.
However, none of the financial institutions assessed have adequate policies to mitigate the negative impacts. Scores for RGEʼs top creditors range from 1 percent to 24 percent, indicating a lack of comprehensive policy coverage regarding forest-risk commodity sectors.
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Sinar Mas Group (SMG), Indonesiaʼs largest conglomerate, has attracted substantial financing, receiving more than $20.3 billion in credit since 2019. Its palm oil division alone obtained $3.7 billion, primarily from Indonesian and Malaysian banks, between 2019 and September 2023. Despite this financial backing, SMG faces accusations of human rights abuses, massive greenhouse gas emissions, and large-scale deforestation, mainly through its pulp and paper division, Asia Pulp and Paper (APP).
The destruction of the Rawa Singkil Wildlife Reserve by illegal palm oil plantations linked to SMGʼs operations poses a significant concern, threatening biodiversity and local communitiesʼ well-being within the Leuser Ecosystem. Despite documented evidence, SMG and its subsidiaries have failed to address these issues adequately, raising questions about their commitment to sustainability.
The report evaluates the policies of banks and investors financing SMG, revealing a spectrum of approaches. Malaysian banks CIMB and Maybank and Dutch bank Rabobank exhibit more robust policies, scoring highest for the palm oil sector. However, Indonesian banks such as Bank Panin, BRI, and Japanese bank MUFG have notably weaker policies, indicating insufficient measures to address environmental and social risks.
The report underscores the urgent need for financial institutions to adopt robust policies and due diligence measures to address environmental and social risks associated with companies like JBS and RGE. Failure to do so perpetuates ecological destruction and human rights abuses and exposes banks and investors to significant financial and reputational risks.
Critically, the report also advocates for governments to step in and mandate financial sector regulation necessary to safeguard society and the ecosystems we depend on, consistent with international public policy goals. This is a problem that ultimately demands stronger, more systemic interventions. These could include, for example, prohibiting the allocation of capital to certain sectors or corporations driving ecosystem destruction and legislating for meaningful sanctions against financial institutions that fail to align their lending and investment accordingly.
[strong]This article was produced by Earth • Food • Life for Wiki Observatory. How Banks and Investors Are Fueling a Global Biodiversity Crisis” by Laurel Sutherlin is licensed by the Observatory under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). [/strong]
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2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status…
twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status…
twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1…
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
#agribusiness #animals #banks #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottMeat #BoycottPalmOil #Cerrado #consumerRights #corruption #deforestation #ecocide #extinction #investment #meat #PalmOil #palmOilBiofuel #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #plywood #rainforests #supermarket #supplyChain #supplychain #timber #vegan
The forests of the world are “biodiversity hotspots,” places where we can find an extraordinarily high number of unique species — including species that are currently threatened with extinction in the wild.margot (Rainforest Action Network)
UK Pressuring Forests For Palm Oil and Beef
Short version
Urgent call to action! 🌍 #UK’s heavy use of #palmoil #soy & #beef fuels global #deforestation. Demand stricter regulations & transparency. Make every purchase count and #Boycottmeat #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife, learn more: wp.me/pcFhgU-78V
The Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) in the UK has raised serious concerns about the country’s consumption of soy, cocoa, palm oil, beef, and leather and its importation of global deforestation from these commodities.Despite the UK government’s announcement that it would certify these commodities as “sustainable” for UK markets, the EAC criticises the lack of a clear timeline and weak loopholes that could enable deforestation to continue.
The report highlighted that the UK has a higher consumption footprint per tonne compared to China. The EAC urges the government to close these gaps, enhance legislative frameworks, and develop a global footprint indicator to illustrate the UK’s deforestation impact and set reduction targets. Additionally, the report emphasises the need for more transparency in funding and meaningful inclusion of indigenous peoples in all deforestation negotiations.
Campaign groups like Global Witness and Friends of the Earth underscored the dire consequences of deforestation, including the alarming statistic of one environmental defender being killed every other day.
The UK’s role in global deforestation is fuelled in part by British banks. As the world experiences the intensifying effects of climate change and deforestation – comprehensive action is essential to truly safeguard forests and combat climate change.
Take action against deforestation by using your wallet as a weapon in the supermarket, be #vegan for the animals and #BoycottPalmOil and #Boycott4Wildlife. Learn more
Media release originally published in the Guardian as ‘Deforestation effect of UK consumption unsustainable, say MPs’ on 4th January, 2024. Read original
EAC chair Philip Dunne said this “should serve as a wake-up call to the Government”.
It comes after the Government announced that four commodities – cattle products (excluding dairy), cocoa, palm oil and soy – will have to be certified as “sustainable” if they are to be sold into UK markets.
The Government, which plans to gradually incorporate more products into the regime over time, has yet to provide a date for when the legislation will be introduced.
The committee said it is concerned this lack of timeline and its phased approach does not reflect the necessity of tackling deforestation urgently.
The report said: “The failure to include commodities such as maize, rubber and coffee within this scope does not demonstrate the level of urgency required to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030.”
The EAC, which outlined a series of recommendations in the report, urged the Government to address these gaps and strengthen the existing legislative framework to ban businesses from trading or using commodities linked to deforestation.
It also called on ministers to develop a global footprint indicator to demonstrate the UK’s deforestation impact to the public and set a target to reduce it.
The committee said it heard concerns there is a lack of transparency over how planned investments into nature and climate programmes – including £1.5 billion earmarked for deforestation – will be spent and called for more clarity from ministers.
The MPs said they were also alarmed to hear from campaign group Global Witness that one person is killed every other day defending land and the environment.They said support for indigenous peoples to participate fully in negotiations on deforestation activity is critical.
To fulfil its commitment to put environmental sustainability measures at the heart of global production and trade, the EAC repeated its calls for sustainability impact assessments to be conducted for all future trade agreements.
Mr Dunne said: “UK consumption is having an unsustainable impact on the planet at the current rate.
“UK markets must not be flooded with products that threaten the world’s forests, the people whose livelihoods rely on them and the precious ecosystems that call them home.”
Chair of the committee, Philip Dunne MP
“There is little sense of urgency about getting a rapid grip on the problem of deforestation, which needs to match the rhetoric.
“Countries all around the world contribute to deforestation and the international community of course needs to do much more to tackle deforestation.”
He added: “To demonstrate genuine global leadership in this critical area, the UK must demonstrate domestic policy progress and embed environmental and biodiversity protections in future trade deals.”
“The findings are clear, the UK will not reach net zero while British banks continue to fuel, and profit from, rampant deforestation of our climate-critical forests overseas. The Government will miss the global deadline to halt and reverse deforestation by 2030 unless it acts now.”Alexandria Reid, senior global policy adviser at Global Witness, who gave evidence to the inquiry.
Kate Norgrove, executive director of advocacy and campaigns at WWF, said: “Despite some progress, this report shows that the UK Government needs to do much more to save our forests, which are one of our strongest allies in the fight against climate change.
“Every hectare of forest we lose takes us closer to runaway climate change which will be devastating for us all.”
“The committee is right to highlight the many flaws in the Government’s plans to curb deforestation. Not least, the failure to include all high-risk commodities as part of its proposed new deforestation law, as well as the fact that it will only apply to illegal logging, which is notoriously difficult to determine. We’re already seeing the very real impacts of climate and ecological breakdown both here in the UK and globally, through extremes such as searing heat, storms and floods, and this is only set to intensify.”Clare Oxborrow, forests campaigner at Friends of the Earth.
A Government spokesperson said: “The UK is leading the way globally with new legislation to tackle illegal deforestation to make sure we rid UK supply chains of products contributing to the destruction of these vital habitats.
“This legislation has already been introduced through the Environment Act and is just one of many measures to halt and reverse global forest loss.
“We are also investing in significant international programmes to restore forests, which have avoided over 410,000 hectares of deforestation to date alongside supporting new green finance streams.”
Media release originally published in the Guardian as ‘Deforestation effect of UK consumption unsustainable, say MPs’ on 4th January, 2024. Read original
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Read more about deforestation, greenwashing and the palm oil industry
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1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
Enter your email addressSign Up
Join 3,174 other subscribers
2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
Wildlife Artist Juanchi Pérez
Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings
Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao
Health Physician Dr Evan Allen
The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status…
twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status…
twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1…
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
#beef #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottMeat #BoycottPalmOil #deforestation #greenwashing #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #RSPOGreenwashing #soy #UK #vegan
Deforestation effect of UK consumption unsustainable, say MPs
Committee finds British consumers contributing particularly highly to destruction of world’s forestsHelena Horton (the Guardian)
A six-month investigation reveals Socfin’s exploitation of rubber and palm oil in Ghana and Nigeria, leading to deforestation, landgrabbing and human rights abuses. SOCFIN is a palm oil company and member of the RSPO purportedly using “sustainable” palm oil. The company’s activities have caused significant environmental and social harm, including the destruction of vital rainforests and the displacement of indigenous communities. Despite its substantial profits, Socfin’s operations have left local communities impoverished and struggling financially for survival. Help them to survive each time you shop when you #Boycottpalmoil
“Sustainable” #palmoil and rubber co. and #RSPO member SOCFIN is on a decades long rampage of violent #landgrabbing and #ecocide in #Ghana and Nigeria. Help local communities to fight back against #humanrights abuses when you #Boycottpalmoil @palmoildetect wp.me/pcFhgU-8H0
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Written by Gideon Sarpong, Elfredah Kevin-Alerechi and Audrey Travère. Writing and Editing by Gideon Sarpong. Article originally entitled ‘Socfin exploitation of rubber & palm oil linked to deforestation & human rights abuses in Ghana & Nigeria’ This report was supported by JournalismFund Europe. Originally published on IWatchAfrica. Read original.
In April 2025, Bloomberg conducted an investigation into SOCFIN’s rubber plantations. The investigation uncovered that SOCFIN’s rubber and palm oil companies continue and sustain colonial slavery in Africa in the modern day.
youtube.com/watch?v=8kb1lHJ1IQ…
Okumu, Nigeria – Okumu Oil Palm Company, a subsidiary under the umbrella of the Socfin Group, possesses an extensive 7,335-hectare rubber plantation and a sprawling 19,062-hectare palm plantation, all nestled within the Ovia South-West local government area of Edo State.
The company’s presence in the Okumu community has become a contentious issue, notably for the indigenous people, including children who have endured displacement due to the company’s activities.
In 2021, the Socfin Group reported a remarkable profit of 80.4 million euros, its highest figure since at least 2014 due to increasing prices for palm oil and rubber. Yet, paradoxically, the Okumu community and other host communities throughout West Africa remain a stark contrast to the image of prosperity associated with Socfin’s substantial export earnings.
In a deeply distressing account of events, residents of Okumu have leveled accusations against the company for forcibly dismantling three villages within the district, namely—Lemon, Agbeda, and Oweike.
This action resulted in the displacement of hundreds of indigenous inhabitants and the grim aftermath of community farmland destruction, loss of life, and the disruption of children’s education.
For many of these people, their roots run deep within these villages, with no kin beyond the boundaries of their home. The repercussions of the company’s actions continue to haunt the affected communities, even decades after the devastation was wrought.
Today, Lemon, once a thriving community, has been reduced to a mere memory, while the residents of Oweike and Agbeda have been compelled to relocate to nearby communities, seeking refuge and new beginnings.
Upon closer examination, our investigation unveiled a disconcerting narrative: following the eviction of these three communities, the company proceeded to expand its palm and rubber plantations, acquiring a staggering 1,969 hectares of oil palm and 1,811 hectares of rubber in the process.
According to the company’s own website, these expansions represent only a fraction of their broader growth trajectory, with an astounding total of 33,112 hectares now under their purview.
The story of Austin Lemon, a mere 15 years old at the time Socfin’s presence descended upon his community, serves as a heart-wrenching testament to the trauma endured by these communities. As he watched the Luxembourger company, accompanied by security personnel, lay waste to his ancestral home, he also witnessed the pleas of his parents and fellow Lemon village residents in Okomu.
They implored the company to allow them to remain, as they had no alternative haven. Regrettably, their appeals fell on deaf ears, as Socfin’s relentless pursuit of rubber and palm resources took precedence.
His father, the founder of Lemon Village in 1969 and the namesake of the community, followed the age-old Nigerian customary law, which dictates that the first person to settle on a virgin land gains rightful ownership.
Lemon, who is now 33, recalls the profound “shock” that gripped his father, the respected leader of Lemon village within the Okumu community, upon learning that Socfin had acquired their ancestral home. In a desperate bid to secure some semblance of justice for his fellow villagers in the face of impending displacement, Lemon’s father implored the company to provide compensation for their relocation but that did not happen.
He ruefully reflects, “The Company planted their plantation without heeding to their pleas.” The consequences were catastrophic – every single house in Lemon village met its demise, and the once-thriving areas reserved for the cultivation of plantain, cassava, cocoa, and cocoyam were reduced to ruins.
Lemon’s personal account of these events is a poignant reminder of the human cost inflicted by the company’s actions. He reveals, “For a whole year, I couldn’t attend school because we were displaced and struggling to make ends meet.”
“It was the company’s actions that ultimately led to the death of my father, who had high blood pressure. He perished because the farms he once relied upon to feed his 32 children were also obliterated,” he revealed.
In a surprising turn of events, the company denied the findings presented to them.
According to Socfin’s communications team, they acquired their plantation following the de-reservation of a portion of Okomu Forest Reserve by Nigeria’s federal government, in compliance with the Edo Forestry Commission Law (1968) and its subsequent amendments, among other relevant legislation.
Nevertheless, Ajele Sunday, a spokesperson for the Okumu community, contradicts the company’s account. He asserts that the community “never received any compensation” when Socfin claimed to have procured the land from the government.
Multiple sources within the Okomu village have raised concerns, contending that the company conducted negotiations with the government without seeking or taking into consideration the community’s perspective.
This apparent lack of consultation with the community “directly contradicts the principles outlined in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, particularly the concept of Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC),” Ajele argued.
This breach raises critical concerns about the treatment of indigenous communities and their rights in the context of corporate activities, shedding light on the urgency of adhering to these vital principles.
According to FPIC, Indigenous Peoples possess the right to grant or withhold consent for projects that stand to impact them or their territories.
In 2022, Socfin (Okumu Oil Palm Company) took a contentious step by excavating a large trench around its plantation, effectively barricading the community, leaving residents stranded with no access to the outside world. During the rainy season, the runoff from this trench, laden with fertilizers, contaminated the Okomu River, the sole source of drinking water, and proved fatal to fish in the water. Frustrated by this environmental degradation, the residents organized a peaceful protest at the company’s entrance, demanding the closure of the trench.
The protests had spanned two days, with the first day devoted to demonstrations within the community. On the second day, the residents decided to take their grievances to the company’s gate. En route, they were intercepted by security officers determined to quell the protest.
Among the protesters, Iyabo Batu, aged 56, found herself at the forefront. On May 3, 2022, while demonstrating against the company’s closure of the sole road leading to her village, Marhiaoba, she was struck by a bullet in the knee, believed to have been fired by a Socfin security personnel.
“It was very difficult for my grandchildren to go to school because the white man blocked the road,” Iyabo Batu explained, referring to the Socfin manager. She went on to describe how the road closure, a consequence of the trench excavated by the company, led to children in the village discontinuing their schooling. This was the sole route in and out of the community, now obstructed by the company’s actions.
The peaceful protest turned tragic when security personnel attached to the company targeted Iyabo Batu, shooting her in the knee. She was swiftly transported to a clinic before being transferred to the general hospital of Igbuobazua headquarters. Her hospitalization extended beyond a month following the surgery for her gunshot wound, but she expressed her deep sadness at the fact that the company had neither covered her medical expenses nor offered their sympathy.
The company denied any involvement in the incident, insisting that no employee had shot Mrs. Batu. However, community spokesperson Sunday, among others, claimed that the company was attempting to distance itself from the actions.
Iyabo Batu’s X-ray results unveiled multiple patella fractures, and she credited Environmental Rights Actions (ERA) for her survival. Rita Ukwa of ERA disclosed that they supported Batu, including arranging a city apartment for her for a year after her hospital discharge, as evidenced by her hospital discharge receipt, indicating a payment of 226,940 naira[$296] to the Benin Teaching Hospital.
The company, in responding to findings of this investigation, asserted that they were unable to comment on the allegations as no “formal complaint had been filed by the alleged complainant, either to the company or the Nigerian Police Force.” They also clarified that their security personnel “were not permitted to carry weapons, as per government regulations.”
However, multiple witnesses, both within and outside the company, contended that a company security officer was indeed responsible for the shooting of 59-year-old Iyabo Batu. A non-Okomu resident working for the company identified the officer in question as a government anti-terrorism officer. The source chose to remain anonymous out of fear, considering the potential repercussions from either the company or the police officers who delayed recording the community’s statement when Mrs. Batu was rushed to the police station.
Our investigations showed that the security apparatus for Okumu Oil Palm Company comprises police, private security, and military officers, even though they are compensated by the federal government. These officers are also subject to the directives of the company, raising questions about the dynamics of power and accountability in this complex relationship.
A spokesperson for Edo State Chris Osa Nehikhare said, “the government will also monitor what is happening in Okomu to ensure no one is exploited and to make life better for the community,”
Meanwhile in Ghana, the operations of Plantation Socfinaf Ghana (PSG), a subsidiary of the Socfin Group which operates rubber and oil palm plantations in Manso and Daboase in the Western Region has led to the destruction of vital rainforests.
In 2017 and 2018, PSG contracted Proforest and HS+E respectively to conduct environmental assessments at its Subri site in Daboase ahead of the construction of a palm processing mill in 2019.
Findings from this assessment showed that any large-scale operations at the Subri site would result in the “loss of biodiversity, land degradation, increase in ambient noise levels, aerial emissions and the destruction of unique endangered ecosystems and species within the catchment areas.”
Notably, the Proforest assessment emphasized the substantial environmental value of the PSG Subri site. It was found to host a substantial “carbon stock of 981,080.74 metric tons” and served as a crucial “habitat for a vulnerable population of species” in need of conservation measures. Despite these findings, PSG proceeded with the construction of the palm processing mill in in 2020 costing US$20 million.
PSG also admitted that between 2012 and 2016, over 1 089 ha of natural forests were cleared to make way for its plantations failing to heed to concerns by environmental groups.
Despite mounting concerns and inquiries into PSG’s actions, the company has remained conspicuously silent, failing to respond to our requests for information regarding their mitigation plans and the repercussions of their operations on the communities around Daboase and the environment at large.
Data from Global Forest Watch paints a distressing picture of the situation. Between 2001 and 2022, Ghana’s Western Region witnessed the loss of a staggering 536,000 hectares of tree cover. This represents a 23% decline in tree cover since the turn of the millennium, accompanied by a grim emission of 297 million metric tons of CO₂ equivalent. It’s worth noting that this region, the wettest in Ghana, plays host to PSG’s extensive plantations.
The ramifications of this ecological decline extend beyond the boundaries of forests and into the lives of the local communities. Farmers like Godwin Ofori, a 35-year-old resident of Daboase in close proximity to PSG’s plantation, have borne the brunt of these changes.
Mr. Ofori expressed his frustration with the evolving rainfall patterns, stating, “One of the biggest challenges over the last decade has been unpredictable rainfall patterns. We cannot predict the rainfall pattern nowadays, and I believe that this is partly a destruction of our forests.”
Recent study by researchers at University of Leeds has shown that African tropical forests remain critical to the fight against the climate emergency, absorbing three times more carbon each year than the UK emitted in 2019.
The direct link between the decline in critical rainforests and these erratic weather patterns underlines the adverse impact on the livelihoods and food security of those living in the vicinity.
Startling findings from Global Witness showcase the unsettling consequence of industrial rubber plantations across the expanse of West and Central Africa, witnessing the loss of nearly 52,000 hectares of ecologically rainforest since the turn of the century—equivalent to an expanse 16 times the size of Brussels.
In June 2023, the EU introduced regulations on deforested products to address the challenge of rubber and oil plantation-driven deforestation. The EU remains the biggest export destination for palm oil and rubber cultivation from West Africa. Data from the Observatory of Economic Complexity shows that the EU imported over $500 million worth of natural rubber from West Africa in 2020 alone making natural rubber the EU’s most significant import from West Africa in terms of rainforest destruction.
The effect has been the loss of critical rainforests, with a damning impact on local communities, biodiversity, and the environment. This new law has the potential to put a check on Socfin’s operations across West Africa.
Colin Robertson, a Senior Forests Investigator at Global Witness lauded EU efforts describing it as a “very promising step towards reducing European consumers’ impact on the world’s forests.”
He however cautioned that “the inclusion of rubber should mean that European tire manufacturers will have to check that the rubber plantations they buy from are sticking firmly to zero deforestation pledges.”
Based on detailed export data examined, our investigation unearthed a direct link between Société des Matières Premières Tropicales PTE and the procurement of natural rubber from Okomu Oil Palm Company over the last two years.
Société des Matières Premières Tropicales PTE functions as the sole consolidated purchaser of natural rubber for tire manufacturing giant, the Michelin Group. This revelation gives rise to profound ethical concerns, casting a shadow on the European tire manufacturing industry’s dedication to fostering sustainability.
In response to our investigation, the Michelin Group acknowledged our findings and affirmed their awareness of “historical grievances expressed by local communities” against Okomu Oil Palm Company, insisting that they have closely monitored the situation since 2015.
“In collaboration with a civil society organization, we urged Socfin to enhance its sustainable development performance, which eventually led to Socfin’s adoption of “zero deforestation” and “non-exploitation” commitments,” Michelin wrote in their response.
However, our findings expose a crucial discrepancy: Socfin’s interpretation of “zero deforestation” does not align with the industry-recognized standard known as the High Carbon Stock Approach (HCSA). Neither Socfin nor its subsidiaries across West Africa are members of the HCSA. This incongruity highlights the urgent need for greater clarity and alignment within the industry.
Greenpeace has sounded a resounding alarm, cautioning that Socfin’s steadfast resistance to adopting the industry’s zero-deforestation standard poses a significant and looming threat to the forests of West Africa, where the company’s operations are concentrated.
The future of these critical ecosystems remains at a crossroads, demanding enhanced vigilance and rigorous commitment to sustainable practices.
——
Written by Gideon Sarpong, Elfredah Kevin-Alerechi and Audrey Travère. Writing and Editing by Gideon Sarpong. Article originally entitled ‘Socfin exploitation of rubber & palm oil linked to deforestation & human rights abuses in Ghana & Nigeria’ This report was supported by JournalismFund Europe. Originally published on IWatchAfrica. Read original.
ENDS
The Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global’s ethics committee has issued a damning report recommending the exclusion of Socfin’s main shareholder, the Bolloré group, due to evidence of systemic human rights abuses at Socfin’s plantations, particularly in Cameroon. The report outlines serious allegations, including violations of labour rights, widespread sexual violence, harassment of women by plantation supervisors, and deplorable working conditions where workers are often employed as day labourers without contracts, paid below the legal minimum wage, and subjected to arbitrary hiring and firing practices. The report also highlights unsanitary living conditions and a lack of social benefits for workers, painting a grim picture of exploitation and abuse across Socfin’s operations in Africa. These findings have intensified scrutiny on Socfin and the Bolloré group, pressuring them to address these human rights concerns. Read more at Delano
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Investigation by Bloomberg exposes that despite being RSPO members, #SOCFIN plantations in #WestAfrica are the epicentre of #humanrights abuses, sexual coercion, environmental destruction, and #landgrabbing. Operating in #Liberia, #Ghana, #Nigeria, and beyond, SOCFIN’s…
Colonial palm oil and sugarcane causing the loss of West Papuans’ cultural identity. Land grabs force communities from forests, threatening Noken weaving
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Indigenous Melanesian women in West Papua fight land seizures for palm oil and sugar plantations, protecting their ancestral rights. Join #BoycottPalmOil
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#BoycottPalmOil #BoycottPalmOil #corruption #deforestation #ecocide #Ghana #humanRights #HumanRights #hunger #landgrabbing #Nigeria #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #poverty #RSPO #workersRights #WorkersRights
A company majority-owned by billionaire Vincent Bolloré's Bolloré Group and Hubert Fabri is the subject of allegations of labor abuses at some of its African...Bloomberg Originals (YouTube)
Palm Oil Threatens Ancient Noken Weaving in West Papua
A powerful new indigenous art exhibition has highlighted the tragic loss of #WestPapua’s cultural identity due to #deforestation for #palmoil and #sugarcane monoculture plantations. A situation perpetuated by the illegal Indonesian colonisation of Melanesia. The ancient Melanesian tradition of noken weaving is under threat, as military-backed land grabs force Indigenous Muyu communities from their forests. Protect people and culture, when you shop make sure you #BoycottPalmOil #HumanRights #IndigenousRights#News: Exhibition highlights vanishing of West Papua’s UNESCO recognised #noken weaving for #palmoil and #sugarcane in #WestPapua. Reject corporate #landgrabbing for palm oil in when you shop! #BoycottPalmOil #HumanRights #IndigenousRights @palmoildetect wp.me/pcFhgU-bmj
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Share to TwitterAsia Pacific Report. (2025, March 28). Researcher warns over West Papuan deforestation impact on traditional noken weaving. Evening Report. eveningreport.nz/2025/03/28/re…
West Papuan doctoral candidate Veronika T. Kanem has issued a stark warning about the cultural and ecological destruction unfolding in Indonesia-occupied West Papua. As the region faces what may be the world’s largest deforestation project—two million hectares for palm oil and sugarcane—centuries-old Indigenous traditions are being pushed to the edge of existence.
Veronika T. Kanem, whose exhibition “Noken/Men: String Bags of the Muyu Tribe of Southern West Papua” opened at Auckland University, says the forced removal of her people from their forests has endangered not only biodiversity but the sacred art of noken weaving—a practice deeply embedded in the identity and social fabric of her father’s tribe, the Muyu.
Known locally as “men,” the noken is more than a string bag. Made from inner fibres of the genemo tree and other natural materials, noken symbolises a woman’s womb, a vessel of life used in ceremonies, food gathering, child-rearing, and cultural gift-giving. It holds economic, spiritual, and ancestral significance across Melanesia.
Now, industrial agriculture and military occupation threaten the entire cultural landscape. These new plantations are not only destroying forests; they are severing communities from their knowledge systems, their land, and each other.
Kanem’s research applies Indigenous Melanesian methodologies, using the act of noken weaving as a metaphor for knowledge, kinship, and resistance. Her work captures the lived experience of displacement and climate injustice at the intersection of colonial occupation, corporate extraction, and Indigenous resilience.The Auckland exhibition also screened a documentary showcasing noken weaving traditions from across West Papua, including Asmat, Nabire, and Wamena. Speakers at the event, including Pacific scholars and artists, praised the project as a vital act of cultural preservation and defiance.
As Indonesia accelerates its colonial development schemes, the voices of West Papuans like Kanem are essential. Indigenous peoples must lead solutions to environmental destruction. Without indigenous justice, there can be no climate repair.
Defend West Papua’s forests and ancient indigenous cultures. Reject palm oil-driven genocide. #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife #HumanRights #IndigenousRights
Read more: Researcher warns over West Papuan deforestation impact on traditional noken weaving (Evening Report, 2025)
Asia Pacific Report. (2025, March 28). Researcher warns over West Papuan deforestation impact on traditional noken weaving. Evening Report. eveningreport.nz/2025/03/28/re…ENDS
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West Papuan Indigenous Women Fight Land Seizures
Indigenous Melanesian women in West Papua fight land seizures for palm oil and sugar plantations, protecting their ancestral rights. Join #BoycottPalmOil
Greasing the Wheels of Colonialism: Palm Oil Industry in West Papua
A landmark study published in Global Studies Quarterly in April 2025 has revealed that the rapid expansion of the #palmoil industry in #WestPapua is not only fuelling #deforestation, #ecocide and environmental destruction but…Load more posts
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3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status…
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4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
#art #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #childLabour #childSlavery #deforestation #humanRights #HumanRights #indigenousRights #indigenousrights #landRights #landgrabbing #News #noken #PalmOil #palmoil #slavery #sugarcane #WestPapua
SOCFIN’s African Empire of Colonial Oppression: Billionaires Profit from Palm Oil and Rubber Exploitation
Investigation by Bloomberg exposes that despite being RSPO members, #SOCFIN plantations in #WestAfrica are the epicentre of #humanrights abuses, sexual coercion, environmental destruction, and #lan…Palm Oil Detectives
Situated on Mexico’s lush and biodiverse Pacific coast is La Encrucijada Biosphere Reserve – One of Mexico’s most spectacular natural treasures. Now the government and palm oil businesses are trying to sieze vast areas of land and legalise a huge area of illegally-cultivated oil palm, by reducing the size of this internationally significant environmental reserve. They are also using RSPO certification of a palm oil plantation close to the reserve in order to legitimise the expansion of palm oil in the area.
In a protected reserve in #Chiapas #Mexico, government loopholes allow #palmoil #ecocide to continue unchecked. “Sustainable” palm oil is #greenwashing, fight back and #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife in the supermarket via @palmoildetect @Avispa_Midia palmoildetectives.com/2024/06/…
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La Encrucijada Biosphere Reserve in #Mexico faces a looming threat. #Palmoil expansion putting both iconic and little known animals and plants at risk of #extinction. Resist when you shop #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife via @palmoildetect @Avispa_Midia palmoildetectives.com/2024/06/…
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This investigation and report was written by Santiago Navarro F. is an economist, journalist, photographer, and documentary filmmaker. He is co-founder of the investigative journalism portal Avispa Midia. Along with Aldo Santiago, a documentary filmmaker and independent journalist. He is also an editor and correspondent for Avispa Midia for Connectas’s ARCO initiative and with support from the International Center for Journalists in the framework of the initiative for Investigative Journalism in the Americas. Read the original article here.
La Encrucijada Biosphere Reserve (REBIEN, Reserva de la Biosfera La Encrucijada), one of Mexico’s greatest environmental treasures, is home to an important system of wetlands, including mangroves up to 115 feet tall. These are threatened, though, by an enormous extension of monocrop oil palm plantations.
La Encrucijada Biosphere Reserve is a protected area located in the southern part of the Mexican state of Chiapas. It is known for its rich biodiversity and serves as an important habitat for numerous plant and animal species.
La Encrucijada is an important nesting site for hawksbill sea turtles, which are critically endangered. These turtles are known for their beautiful shells and are threatened by habitat loss, poaching, and pollution.
The reserve is home to several species of crocodiles, including the American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus) and the Morelet’s crocodile (Crocodylus moreletii), both of which are considered vulnerable due to habitat degradation and hunting.
This freshwater turtle species is listed as critically endangered. La Encrucijada’s rivers and wetlands provide a vital habitat for this species.
The jaguar is a near-threatened species that can be found in the biosphere reserve. Habitat loss and poaching pose significant threats to their populations.
Spider monkeys are considered vulnerable due to habitat destruction and hunting, and they can be found swinging through the trees of La Encrucijada.
The tapir is a large herbivore and is listed as vulnerable. It inhabits the forests and wetlands of the reserve.
Baird’s tapir, a closely related species to the Central American tapir, is also found in the area and faces similar threats.
The REBIEN lies in the coastal region of Chiapas, in Mexico’s southeast. It was created by presidential decree on June 6, 1995 and is regulated by a Management Plan that was published in 2000. This states that in mangrove areas, activities “that alter the ecological equilibrium” are prohibited, except in cases of “preservation of scientific research, monitoring, education, and training, under strict regulation and supervision.”
However, over the last few decades, the ecological equilibrium in La Encrucijada has been altered. “There are more than 7,000 ha [17,300 acres] of palm planted inside the REBIEN,” said Juan Carlos Castro Hernández, current director of the REBIEN, who forms part of National Commission of Protected Areas (CONANP).
Avispa Midia requested a report and georeferencing information from the CONANP regarding oil palm plantations within La Encrucijada. The agency sent back two data sets that report the presence of producers and palm dispersed throughout the reserve.
The document’s figures are conservative, since they don’t contain a complete list of palm plantations within the reserve—satellite images can identify palm groves that aren’t included in the database.
Matilde Rincón, Mexico landscape manager at Earthworm Foundation, confirmed that they have identified 500 producers who cultivate a total of 19,030 acres (7,700 ha) of palm within La Encrucijada. Earthworm Foundation works with businesses and small producers in Chiapas to promote the sustainability of this crop. “Sixty percent of them struggle to meet government land-use standards,” Rincón said in an article by Earthworm.
The proliferation of large palm plantations has been on the CONANP’s radar since 2014. According to the agency, these groves have grown by more than 81,540 acres (33,000 ha) in the REBIEN’s area of influence—the area surrounding the reserve, which is not regulated, but is supposed to benefit from conservation efforts and is strongly ecologically linked with the park. Now the exotic plant had invaded mangrove ecosystems in the core zones.
Oil palm is so invasive that even the plantations outside of the reserve should be regulated, “because there’s even palm on the banks of the canals and the seeds can migrate, whether that be by water currents, or hypothetically, from animals,” said Castro, the director of the REBIEN.
RSPO certification of palm oil plantations in Mexico offer no reassurances that the REBIEN reserve will remain protected.
The RSPO has been criticized around the world for failing to deliver on its promises.
In 2019, the EIA stated that the RSPO still hadn’t taken significant measures to address these problems.
Between 2007 and 2012, the government of Chiapas distributed 4 million plants without supervising where they would be grown. At that time, plantations expanded in the coastal region. (Santiago Navarro F.)
On a tour of the Reserve, Avispa Midia found that in the middle of hundreds of palm plantings, on the banks of the San Nicolás river, lies a processing plant of the company Industrias Oleopalma. It’s the first plant the company built within the REBIEN’s area of influence, in 2000.
According to the Mexican Palmgrowers Federation (Femexpalma), processing plants must be installed as close to the plantations as possible, since the oil must be extracted within three days. There are 18 palm processing mills in Mexico, 12 of them in Chiapas. Seven of these are in La Encrucijada’s area of influence, including Oleopalma’s plant.
This company is relevant to the product’s current market because in March 2020 it became the first Mexican company to be certified sustainable by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), which states that its goal is to reduce the negative impacts of oil palm cultivation on the environment and communities.
RSPO certification began in Switzerland in 2004 under the leadership of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) along with financiers like the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, and multinational companies that buy palm oil, such as Cargill, Nestlé, Unilever, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, and others.
However, the RSPO has been criticized around the world for failing to deliver on its promises. The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) published a report called “Burning Questions: Credibility of sustainable palm oil still illusive,” which revealed generalized fraudulent assessments by the RSPO. It also documented that abusive labor practices, forest clearing, territorial conflicts, and even human trafficking had been permitted on plantations belonging to RSPO members. In 2019, the EIA stated that the RSPO still hadn’t taken significant measures to address these problems.
Greenpeace International’s report Destruction: Certified, published in 2020, focuses in on how 30 years after product certification was implemented in supply chains, it is functioning as greenwashing for businesses.
Earthworm Foundation’s Rincón says that, at a global level, the RSPO doesn’t allow the purchase of oil that comes from protected natural areas; however, she affirms that Mexico is the exception because the cultivation and sale of palm from La Encrucijada is permitted.
The CONANP and the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT) attribute the problem of the spread of palm to poor control by producers, so they have looked for strategies to legalize it. In October 2015, they presented the Preliminary Supportive Study for the Modification of the Declaration of 1995 of the REBIEN, which sought to remove areas where there are crops, livestock, and fisheries from the reserve.
Both agencies wanted to reduce the size of the reserve in order to regulate oil palm, arguing that “the goal is to adapt zoning, in particular incorporating areas with well-conserved ecosystems into the core zones, and removing areas where agricultural, ranching, and fishing activities are conducted,” as the document Avispa Midia had access to states.
They sought to remove an area of 8,345 acres (3,377 ha), of which 1,841 (745 ha) belong to El Palmarcito Core Zone and 6,504 acres (2,632 ha) to La Encrucijada Core Zone. This proposal never moved forward.
In 2016, the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) issued General Recommendation 26/2016, for addressing impacts on protected natural areas and human rights. It highlighted the degradation of the REBIEN, explaining that for several years, the reserve has faced “the use of these lands for the establishment of oil palm plantations.”
Palm fruit is transported to strategically located storage facilities like the one in Matamoros ejido in the municipality of Acapetahua, close to the REBIEN’s buffer zone. (Aldo Santiago)
That same year, instead of going after the plantations, CONANP hired the nonprofit organization Naturaleza y Redes A.C. to run a project called Strengthening African palm control strategy in the REBIEN, which only focused on the problem of seed spread. Information gathered through this project helped to eradicate and control individual oil palm trees covering 28.4 acres (11.5 ha) inside the reserve.
Poulette Hernández, co-founder of the Digna Ochoa Human Rights Center, clarified that this is no easy task. She explained that people are mistaken in thinking that palm is like any other tree that can be disposed of by being cut down and burned. REBIEN’s Castro agrees that eradicating this crop is not simple. He explained that palm trees can’t be cut down with a machete, and even doing it with a chainsaw is very complicated. What’s more, all of the brush must be removed from the site, since it can contaminate the mangroves.
The CNDH’s General Recommendation 26/2016 states that the advance of this crop in the REBIEN is not an accident: “it has to do with a change in production promoted by the state government for several regions of Chiapas, which has led to its expansion to lands in this conservation area [La Encrucijada].”
Castro was quick to emphasize that the expansion of oil palm began long before his tenure as director of the REBIEN. He stated that it hasn’t been penalized due to the size of the reserve “and maybe because of political pressure,” although, he reiterated, he doesn’t know about the early phases, since he didn’t witness the process.
Juan Sabines, the governor of Chiapas at the time, and Manuel Velasco, then governor-elect, unveil the Zitihault palm oil processing plant in Villa Comaltitlán. July 2012.
What is known is that between 2007 and 2012, the state government promoted the crop through the Productive Conversion Program and distributed four million plants for free without overseeing where they would be planted. It received 165 million dollars for this from the International Finance Corporation. In 2011, this entity granted another loan to continue expansion of the agricultural zone for two more years.
The federal government also drove palm expansion through Agricultural Trust Funds (FIRA). By way of the Production Stimulus Incentive program, linked with Femexpalma, it proposed equipping producers with infrastructure and technology to increase productive capacity for oil palm.
This financing was earmarked primarily for small producers. However, wealthy businesspeople who have palm inside of La Encrucijada also benefited.
Palm cultivation on the Chiapas coast has gotten new momentum with the government program Sembrando Vida (Sowing Life). The directory committee of La Encrucijada said that there are oil palm producers who have “slipped through” and are growing palm within the protected natural area, even though “they know they have to stop.”
Rincón said that there are producers who are combining their palm groves with cacao as part of this government program, which purports to address rural poverty along with the country’s environmental decline. “The people in Sembrando Vida pushed an agricultural model in which cacao is grown within the palm groves, so there is a diversified crop,” said Rincón, who added that producers share a commitment to eliminate palm “at some point” if it’s in a zone where it’s prohibited within the reserve.
Palm expansion in Mexico also has the support of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (SADER).
The story of the REBIEN is not unique in Mexico. Oil palm cultivation in Mexico, a study authored by Dr. Anne Cristina de la Vega-Leinert (member of Mexico vía Berlin and the University of Greifswald) and Daniel Sandoval, among others, and edited by the Center of Studies for Change in the Mexican Countryside (CECCAM), confirms that after years of palm production in the country, protected areas in Chiapas have been impacted: principally, La Encrucijada Biosphere Reserve and Palenque National Park.
The biggest problem, said Claudia Ramos Guillén, is that these policies are not going to stop, because millions of dollars are in play.
“Palm comes from an expansionist policy at the international level, primarily affecting ecosystems like that of La Encrucijada,” she said. “So, the governments end up adjusting to the demands of the international market.”
This work was completed by Santiago Navarro F. and Aldo Santiago for Avispa Midia and Connectas, in partnership with Aristegui Noticias and Pie de Página, within
This investigation and report was written by Santiago Navarro F. is an economist, journalist, photographer, and documentary filmmaker. He is co-founder of the investigative journalism portal Avispa Midia. Along with Aldo Santiago, a documentary filmmaker and independent journalist. He is also an editor and correspondent for Avispa Midia for Connectas’s ARCO initiative and with support from the International Center for Journalists in the framework of the initiative for Investigative Journalism in the Americas. Read the original article here.
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After wildfires, Belize’s indigenous people rebuild stronger based on “se’ komonil”: reciprocity, solidarity, gender equity, togetherness and community.
Investigation by Bloomberg exposes that despite being RSPO members, #SOCFIN plantations in #WestAfrica are the epicentre of #humanrights abuses, sexual coercion, environmental destruction, and #landgrabbing. Operating in #Liberia, #Ghana, #Nigeria, and beyond, SOCFIN’s…
Colonial palm oil and sugarcane causing the loss of West Papuans’ cultural identity. Land grabs force communities from forests, threatening Noken weaving
An explosive report by the Environment Investigation Agency (EIA) details how Indonesia’s Fangiono family, through a wide corporate web, is linked to ongoing #deforestation, #corruption, and #indigenousrights abuses for #palmoil. Calls mount for…
Indigenous Melanesian women in West Papua fight land seizures for palm oil and sugar plantations, protecting their ancestral rights. Join #BoycottPalmOil
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#BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #Chiapas #deforestation #ecocide #ewaste #extinction #greenwashing #landRights #landgrabbing #Maya #Mexico #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil
Situated on Mexico’s lush and biodiverse Pacific coast is La Encrucijada Biosphere Reserve - One of Mexico's most spectacular natural treasures. Now the gove...Palm Oil Detectives (YouTube)
Indigenous Peoples Fight Climate Change
In the wake of the worst wildfires in living memory in Mexico and Central America in 2024, news outlets were looking for someone to blame. Howler monkeys and many species of parrots perished in the blazes. Slash and burn farming practices by Belize‘s indigenous communities were singled out as a primary cause. Yet this knee-jerk reaction is not evidence based and doesn’t take into account forces like corporate landgrabbing for mining and agribusinesses like meat, soy and palm oil.Belize’s indigenous Maya communities are rebuilding stronger based on the collective notion of se’ komonil: reciprocity, solidarity, traditional knowledge, gender equity, togetherness and community.
In the wake of horrific #wildfires in #Belize and #Mexico caused by #climatechange, #indigenous #Maya are rebuilding using the notion of se’ komonil: reciprocity #community and solidarity. #indigenousrights #landrights #BoycottPalmOil @palmoildetect wp.me/pcFhgU-924
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Share to TwitterWritten by James Stinson, Senior Research Associate and Evaluation Specialist, Young Lives Research Lab, Faculty of Education, York University, Canada and Lee Mcloughlin, PhD student, Global Sociocultural Studies, Florida International University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Driven by extreme heat and drought, some of the worst wildfires in living memory raged across Mexico and Central America through April and May 2024.
News agencies reported howler monkeys dropping dead from trees, and parrots and other birds falling from the skies.
In Belize, a state of emergency was declared as wildfires burned tens of thousands of hectares of highly bio-diverse forest. Farmers suffered huge losses as fires destroyed crops and homes, and communities across the country suffered from hazardous air quality and hot, sleepless nights. Many risked their lives to fight off the approaching fires.
As the wildfire crisis subsided with rains in June, public attention shifted toward identifying the causes and allocating blame. Many singled out the “slash and burn” farming practices in Belize’s Indigenous communities as the primary cause. This simple knee-jerk reaction ignores the underlying causes of the climate crisis, are scientifically unfounded and stoke resentment of Indigenous Peoples.
Young Mayan women. Image source: Wikipedia
Fanning the flames
On June 5, one of Belize’s major news networks ran a story with the headline “Are Primitive Farming Techniques Responsible for Wildfires?” The story placed blame for Belize’s wildfires on “slash-and-burn farming”, arguing that “there has to be a shift away from this destructive means of agriculture.”The story was followed by an op-ed published online asserting that “because of the increased amounts of escaped agricultural fires, aided by climate change, global warming and drought, slash and burn has become more of a problem than the solution it once was.” This sentiment was further reinforced by Belize’s prime minister, who declared that “slash аnd burn has to be something of the past.”
While some of the recent fires in Belize were connected to agricultural burning — and poorly managed fire-clearing practices can have negative air-quality impacts — blaming “slash and burn” for the wildfire crisis ignores the larger context and conditions that made it possible, namely global warming.
May 2024 was the hottest and driest month in Belize’s history. This extreme heat is part of a broader global trend, with June 2024 marking the 13th consecutive “hottest month on record” globally.
More fundamentally, these statements confuse other forms of slash-and-burn agriculture with the distinct “milpa” systems employed by Indigenous people in Belize.
Indigenous knowledge undermined
Throughout Belize, Indigenous Maya farmers commonly practise a form of agriculture referred to as milpa in which fire is used to clear fields and fertilize the soil. Within this system, small areas of forest are chopped down, burned, and planted with maize, beans, squash and other crops. After being cultivated for a year or two, the field is then left fallow and allowed to regenerate back to forest cover while the farmers move on to a new area within a cyclical pattern where areas are reused after a regenerative period.Commonly derided as slash-and-burn farming, milpa has long been perceived as environmentally destructive. This perspective has been perpetuated by long-standing myths and misconceptions that portray the farming practices of non-Europeans, and specifically the use of fire, as wasteful and irrational.
In Belize, this negative view of slash and burn has driven many colonial and post-colonial interventions to modernize Maya farming practices.
Recent research, however, has shown that the lands of Indigenous Peoples around the world have reduced deforestation and degradation rates relative to non-protected areas. The southern Toledo district of Belize, where the majority of Maya communities are located, boasts a forest cover rate of 71 per cent, significantly higher than the national average of 63 per cent.
Further research has found that the species composition of contemporary Mesoamerican forests has been shaped by the agricultural practices of ancient Maya farmers.
In Belize, fire has been found to play a role in promoting ecosystem health and resilience and intermediate levels of forest disturbance caused by milpa can increase species diversity. Well-managed milpa farming can support soil fertility, result in long-term carbon sequestration and enriched woodland vegetation.
Research has also shown that previous studies of deforestation in southern Belize significantly overestimated the rate of deforestation due to milpa agriculture by not accounting for its rotational process.
Many researchers now believe that milpa is a more benign alternative, in terms of environmental effects, than most other permanent farming systems in the humid tropics. Indeed, findings such as these have led to a growing appreciation for the role of Indigenous Peoples in advancing nature-based and life-enhancing climate solutions.
Unfortunately, research in the region has also found that climate change is undermining the ecological sustainability of milpa farming by forcing farmers to abandon traditional practices and adopt counterproductive measures in their struggle to adapt. In some cases, this has resulted in a decrease in the biodiversity and ecological resilience of the milpa system. This issue is compounded by the decreasing participation of young people, resulting in a further generational loss of traditional ecological knowledge.
Together, these issues are serving to alter and undermine a livelihood strategy that has proven sustainable for thousands of years. However, rather than call for Maya farmers to abandon slash and burn, we encourage support for the self-determined efforts of Maya communities to adapt to this changing climate. youtube.com/embed/ok787HRp_gA?… A video documenting the Maya response to the 2024 wildfire crisis.
Planting seeds of collaboration
Since winning a groundbreaking land rights claim in 2015, Maya communities in southern Belize have been working to promote an Indigenous future based on principles of reciprocity, solidarity, traditional knowledge, gender equity and, most significantly, se’ komonil, the Maya notion of togetherness and community.Led by a collaboration of Maya leaders and non-governmental organizations, work toward this has included efforts to revitalize traditional institutions and governance systems, as well as the development of an Indigenous Forest Caring Strategy and fire-permitting system. In an effort to encourage and support the participation of youth in this process, Maya leaders have collaborated with the Young Lives Research Lab at York University to develop the Partnership for Youth and Planetary Wellbeing.
Building on previous research with Maya youth, the project has produced innovative youth-led research and education on the impacts of climate change, the importance of food sovereignty, traditional ecological knowledge and the struggle to secure Indigenous land rights in Maya communities. This work has been shared with global policymakers at the United Nations and local audiences in Belize.
Rather than fanning the flames of climate blame, we must work together to revitalize Indigenous knowledge systems and plant seeds of climate collaboration and care.
Written by James Stinson, Senior Research Associate and Evaluation Specialist, Young Lives Research Lab, Faculty of Education, York University, Canada and Lee Mcloughlin, PhD student, Global Sociocultural Studies, Florida International University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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Read more about human rights abuses and child slavery in the palm oil and gold mining industries
SOCFIN’s African Empire of Colonial Oppression: Billionaires Profit from Palm Oil and Rubber Exploitation
Investigation by Bloomberg exposes that despite being RSPO members, #SOCFIN plantations in #WestAfrica are the epicentre of #humanrights abuses, sexual coercion, environmental destruction, and #landgrabbing. Operating in #Liberia, #Ghana, #Nigeria, and beyond, SOCFIN’s…
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Colonial palm oil and sugarcane causing the loss of West Papuans’ cultural identity. Land grabs force communities from forests, threatening Noken weaving
Family Ties Expose Deforestation and Rights Violations in Indonesian Palm Oil
An explosive report by the Environment Investigation Agency (EIA) details how Indonesia’s Fangiono family, through a wide corporate web, is linked to ongoing #deforestation, #corruption, and #indigenousrights abuses for #palmoil. Calls mount for…
West Papuan Indigenous Women Fight Land Seizures
Indigenous Melanesian women in West Papua fight land seizures for palm oil and sugar plantations, protecting their ancestral rights. Join #BoycottPalmOil
Greasing the Wheels of Colonialism: Palm Oil Industry in West Papua
A landmark study published in Global Studies Quarterly in April 2025 has revealed that the rapid expansion of the #palmoil industry in #WestPapua is not only fuelling #deforestation, #ecocide and environmental destruction but…Load more posts
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Take Action in Five Ways
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3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
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#Belize #BoycottPalmOil #BoycottPalmOil #childLabour #childSlavery #climatechange #community #goldMining #humanRights #hunger #indigenous #IndigenousActivism #indigenousKnowledge #indigenousRights #indigenousrights #landRights #landgrabbing #landrights #Maya #Mexico #PalmOil #poverty #slavery #wildfires
Planetary Health Film Lab 2023: Belize Edition for COP28
This compilation showcases six films made by youth from Belize. The films examine the impacts of climate change and other planetary health issues on these co...Youth Climate Report (YouTube)
Gyatso Bista remembers the sacks of kutki. As a child learning to become a healer in Nepal’s kingdom of Lo Manthang, Bista would watch as heaps of the bitter-tasting herb, prized for treating fever, coughs and liver problems, arrived on horseback fro…Latoya Abulu (Mongabay Environmental News)
Gold mining kills indigenous peoples throughout the world like the Yanomami people of Brazil and Papuans in West Papua. The bloody, violent and greedy landgrabbing that goes on for gold forces indigenous women and children into sex slavery! Mercury poisons the water, which kills people and puts 1000’s of species closer to extinction. To help indigenous peoples to fight for their ancestral lands and help endangered animals you should #BoycottGold #BoycottGold4Yanomami
#Gold #mining kills #indigenous peoples 🩸 forcing women and children into sex #slavery! Help #Yanomami people forced violently from their #rainforest homes for the #greed of gold! 🪙⛔️ #BoycottGold #BoycottGold4Yanomami 🫶🌳@BarbaraNavarro @palmoildetect wp.me/pcFhgU-8uY
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DYK #Gold #mining 🥇🚫 is sending species like #Tapirs and #jaguars 🐅 towards #extinction? 😿It causes #ecocide and violently displaces #Yanomami of #Brazil and #Papuans of #WestPapa. Fight for them 🦥🌱 and #BoycottGold @BarbaraNavarro @palmoildetect wp.me/pcFhgU-8uY
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Gold mining in the Amazon devastates the Yanomami people’s ancestral land. Meanwhile, Illegal mining drives deforestation, violence, and human rights abuses. Sadly, successive governments in many South American countries, including Brazil, have failed to safeguard the rights of Indigenous peoples, turning a blind eye to the issue. A little known fact is that mercury used in gold extraction poisons ecosystems, wildlife, and people. Another horrifying fact is that indigenous women and children are often forced into sex slavery near mining sites. Major companies and criminals profit from this illegal trade, while the Yanomami suffer.
Gold mining also leads to the loss of biodiversity, disrupts traditional livelihoods, contaminates water sources, and contributes to climate change. You can help when you boycott gold and support Indigenous sovereignty. Share social media posts with the hashtags #BoycottGold and #BoycottGold4Yanomami and follow Barbara Crane Navarro to raise awareness.
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Almost 25% of all land in Africa has been damaged driven by climate change and deforestation for mining palm oil and cocoa. Take action and protect forests!
The fertile lungs of our planet, the Amazon jungle faces severe drought due to El Niño, climate change, and deforestation for agriculture like palm oil, soy and meat. This along with gold mining,…
Illegal mining for minerals like gold is driving Amazonia deforestation. Empowering Indigenous peoples to care for biodiversity-rich areas is the key!
Although #deforestation rates in the Brazilian #Amazon have halved, this globally critical biome is still losing more than 5,000km² every year. That’s an area three times larger than Greater London. By combining satellite…
The dung beetle may eat and nest in poop, but their role in nature is anything but humble. These hardshelled scarabs live on every continent except Antarctica, recycling feces and suppressing parasites that…
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1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
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2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
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4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
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#BarbaraCraneNavarro #BoycottGold #BoycottGold #BoycottGold4Yanomami #Brazil #childLabour #childSlavery #ecocide #extinction #gold #goldMining #greed #humanRights #indigenous #indigenousRights #Jaguars #landRights #landgrabbing #mining #Papuans #rainforest #slavery #Tapirs #WestPapa #Yanomami
DYK #Gold #mining 🥇🚫 is sending species like #Tapirs and #jaguars 🐅 towards #extinction? 😿It causes #ecocide and violently displaces #Yanomami of #Brazil...Palm Oil Detectives (YouTube)
Dung Beetles Are Rainforests’ Diligent Regrowth Soldiers
Unsung heroes of the Amazon jungle, the dung beetle may eat and nest in poop, but their role in nature is anything but humble. These hard-shelled scarabs live on every continent of the world except Antarctica, recycling feces and suppressing parasites that could otherwise harm people and animals. Dung beetles also spread both seeds and nutrients into the soil, helping to maintain a healthy ecosystem. Help them every time you shop and #Boycottpalmoil #BoycottGold and #Boycott4Wildlife
Written by Filipe França, Researcher, Tropical Ecology, Federal University of Pará and Joice Ferreira, Researcher in Ecology, Federal University of Pará. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.Dung #beetles 🪲🦗🐛 are unsung heroes of ecosystems. If both drought and fire kill off dung beetles, then the Amazon #rainforest is in serious trouble. Help them to survive by going #vegan and #Boycottpalmoil 🌴🪔☠️🤮⛔️ #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect wp.me/pcFhgU-4IZ
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Share to TwitterConversely, dung beetles suffer when an ecological system is struggling. In tropical forests, for example, stress caused by environmental disturbances causes dung beetles to gain body fat and work less. Species diversity declines.
That’s why, as Amazon researchers, we use the marvelous, hard-working dung beetle to measure the ecological health of the world’s largest rainforest. Since 2010, we have collected and studied over 14,000 dung beetles from 98 different species in the vast and still wild interior of Brazil’s Santarém region, a remote corner of the Amazon forest – part of a long-term project with the Sustainable Amazon Network.
Most recently, we studied dung beetles to assess the Amazon’s recovery from the intense drought and forest fires of 2015 and 2016, extreme climatic events brought on by the most severe El Niño on record.
Stressed beetles take less crap
Some forests in our 10,586-square-mile research area were burned in the El Niño fires, which scorched 4,000 square miles of the Amazon. These climate-triggered fires are not to be confused with last year’s Amazon fire crisis, which was deforestation-related. Other Amazonian forests in our study experienced extreme drought but not fire.
We knew going into this project that Amazonian fauna are particularly sensitive to fire – unlike animals in Australia, which have a long history of fire adaptation. But our study, which was published in the scientific journal Biotropica in February 2020, reveals that both forest fires and drought are far more damaging than previously thought.Dung beetles are captured in traps baited with – what else? – human and pig poop. There we count and physically examine them. To assess their activity level, we trick dung beetles into dispersing seeds by building a small arena filled with a mix of dung and artificial seeds on the forest floor.
Researchers measuring beetles’ dung-removal and seed-dispersal services. Marizilda Cuppre/ RAS Network, Author provided
Comparing our catches before and after the El Niño forest fires, we learned that almost 70% of dung beetles had disappeared. We believe that’s because most dung beetles nest in shallow soil depths of between zero to 6 inches, so fire heat is likely to kill them.
The El Niño droughts likewise decimated the Amazonian dung beetle populations. Their populations dropped by about 60% in forests affected only by drought, not fire.
Author Filipe França with an Amazonian dung beetle. Marizilda Cuppre/RAS Network, Author provided
Together, extreme drought and forest fires in the Amazon had severely diminished the beetles’ ability to remove dung and spread seeds, which declined by 67% and 22%, respectively, in comparison to data recorded in 2010 – before El Niño. This reduced haul is probably the result of population loss.Both the reduction in the number of dung beetles captured and their diminished waste disposal functions persisted even two years after El Niño. While dung beetle populations recover quickly in fire-dependent ecosystems, insect recovery from fire disturbance in tropical forests can take many years.
Tropical beetles: If both drought and fire kill off dung beetles, the Amazon forests are in serious trouble
In damaged forests, most regrowth depends on seed dispersal by animals. Dung beetles disperse the seeds that promote revegetation and spread nutrients in the soil, helping seedlings survive.
They aren’t the only animals that play this critical ecological function. Tapirs, monkeys, ants, bee beetles and even wasps also spread the seeds that aid vegetation regrowth.
But many studies show that dung beetle responses to environmental stress are similar to those suffered by other seed-spreading animals necessary to tropical forest health. And climate change is likewise causing the collapse of these insect populations, killing off ants, bees, butterflies and wasps.
Without these important tropical animals, forests damaged by fire and drought will recover much more slowly. That means they may barely begin their regrowth before the next disaster. And with climate change projected to bring the tropics more intense and frequent droughts, along with hotter and dry global temperatures, such disasters will likely come ever more quickly.
From our field sites deep in the Amazon, we are rooting for all the little creeping and crawling creatures that keep the world running – with, admittedly, some particular affection and concern for the humble dung beetle.
Here are some other ways you can help by using your wallet as a weapon and joining the #Boycott4Wildlife
What is greenwashing?
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Greenwashing Tactic #4: Fake Labels
The Counterpunch: Consumer Solutions To Fight Extinction
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#AmazonRainforest #animalBehaviour #AnimalBiodiversityNews #animalExtinction #beetles #biodiversity #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottGold #BoycottPalmOil #deforestation #dungBeetle #extinction #fire #ForgottenAnimals #insects #PalmOil #pollination #pollinator #rainforest #ReasonsToBeHopeful #SeedDispersers #vegan
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According to a 2021 survey by Nestle of 1001 people, 17% of millennial shoppers (25-45 years old) completely avoid palm oil in the supermarket. 25% said that they actively check to see if products …Palm Oil Detectives
Gold mining is unparalleled in its environmental destruction and human rights toll. Frustratingly, 93% of gold is used for non-essential purposes like jewellery and investments.A recent study suggests that transitioning to a fully circular gold economy, relying entirely on recycled gold, is achievable. Recycling gold eliminates mercury use, reduces carbon and water footprints, and still supports industries like technology and jewellery. Human rights groups have long called for the end of this destructive industry. To end gold mining, investors should focus on existing reserves. Governments must ensure justice and ‘land back’ for displaced indigenous peoples; along with a just transition for miners. Make sure you #BoycottGold #BoycottGold4Yanomami and demand the end to gold mining right now!
New #study finds that recycling #gold would eliminate the mercury pollution and #deforestation of #goldmining. It would also mean an end to violent #indigenous landgrabbing for #gold in #SouthAmerica #BoycottGold4Yanomami @BarbaraNavarro @palmoildetect wp.me/pcFhgU-90d
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#Gold 🥇🚫 is a controversial commodity because it is unmatched in destruction to #indigenous peoples and #forests. A new study shows how we can end the #ecocide of gold #mining for good! #BoycottGold #BoycottGold4Yanomami @BarbaraNavarro @palmoildetect wp.me/pcFhgU-90d
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Written by Stephen Lezak, Research Manager at the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, University of Oxford. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
The 16th-century King Ferdinand of Spain sent his subjects abroad with the command: “Get gold, humanely if possible, but at all hazards, get gold.” His statement rings true today. Gold remains one of the world’s most expensive substances, but mining it is one of the most environmentally and socially destructive processes on the planet.
Around 7% of the gold purchased globally each year is used for industry, technology or medicine. The rest winds up in bank vaults and jewellery shops.
Beautiful objects and stable investments are worthwhile things to create and own, and often have significant cultural value. But neither can justify gold mining’s staggering human and ecological toll. In a recent study, my colleagues and I showed how it might be possible to end mining and instead rely entirely on recycled gold.
Despite improvements in gold mining practices over the past century and new regulations designed to limit mining’s impacts, this industry continues to wreak havoc upon landscapes across every continent except Antarctica.
In a given year, gold mines emit more greenhouse gases than all passenger flights between European nations combined. Gold mining also accounts for 38% of annual global mercury emissions, which cause millions of small-scale miners to suffer from chronic mercury poisoning, which can cause debilitating illness, especially in children.
Our research involved modelling hypothetical scenarios in which gold consumption could decline to more sustainable levels. Using current recycling rates, we examined a fully circular gold economy in which the world’s entire supply of gold came from recycled sources.
Even today, nearly one-quarter of annual gold demand is supplied through recycling, making it one of the world’s most recycled materials. The recycling process uses no mercury and has less than 1% of the water and carbon footprint of mined gold.
We found that a global decline in gold mining would not necessarily derail any of gold’s three central functions in jewellery, technology or as an investment.
Our model showed that the gold used for industrial purposes (mainly in dentistry and smartphones) could be supplied for centuries even if all gold mining stopped tomorrow.
We also found that jewellery could still be produced with recycled gold in a fully circular gold industry. There would just be about 55% less to go around, which would still leave more than enough for essential uses.
In order to make this future a reality, investors would have to limit their trading to existing reserves, without adding newly mined gold to their coffers.
A world with a shrinking supply of gold would likely mean that consumers would pay more for the same 24-karat pure gold ring. But more likely, jewellery purchases would shift to cheaper (and more durable) alloys of gold that are already popular. And in the future, demand for gold may decline as consumers become more concerned with making sustainable choices.
The role that invested gold plays in the global economy would likely continue to function regardless of extraction. Like Renaissance art, gold is valuable precisely because it is scarce. Ending gold mining would not put an end to the buying and selling of gold for bank vaults. Instead, it would make existing stocks of gold more valuable.
Irrespective of whether the world needs gold, our research suggests that the world does not need gold mining.
Private investors and central banks may balk at this idea. The US government, for example, is the world’s single largest owner of gold, holding US$11 (9.1) billion in reserves. But transitions to sustainability are always hard-won and the gold industry is no exception.
Like gold, the extraction of fossil fuels is also environmentally damaging. But unlike gold, fossil fuels provide warmth and electricity to homes and businesses, power to vehicles and fertiliser to farms. Transitioning away from this resource required decades of research and investment into clean energy technologies.
By contrast, finding substitutes for gold does not require any research. Jewellery can be made more sustainable by blending gold with other metals. Investors can rely on existing gold stocks and diversify to other stable assets. And technology can continue to use recycled gold when appropriate.
Closing gold mines is the first step. But many regions have grown dependent on gold mining, and artisanal mining alone supports as many as 19 million miners and their families worldwide, mostly in developing economies.
These miners deserve a just transition that ensures they do not become collateral damage in the shift to sustainability. Governments must provide a robust safety net for former gold miners and their families. That includes offering low-cost training and reskilling to ensure that miners can find employment in more sustainable industries.
Responsibly drawing down gold extraction will take time. But several measures are available to begin the transition today.
On the demand side of the industry, major jewellery brands, including Pandora, have already committed to using only recycled gold by 2025. Global technology firm Apple has also recently set a goal to use exclusively recycled materials by 2030.
On the supply side, mining companies should begin retiring mines that extract only gold. Many copper mines produce gold as a byproduct, which will likely continue into the future.
Meanwhile, institutional investors should stop investing in new gold mines. That includes groups like the World Bank, which has invested US$800 (£660) million in gold mines in Africa, Asia, South America and the Pacific Islands since 2010.
Justice-minded fund managers, such as those overseeing endowments, should add gold mining firms alongside coal producers to their divestment lists. And central banks should redirect their future investments toward other stable stores of value, or at least source exclusively recycled gold.
The world is filled with difficult sustainability trade-offs. Gold mining is not one of them. Drawing down this industry stands out as a relatively easy way to reduce humanity’s footprint on a fragile planet.
Written by Stephen Lezak, Research Manager at the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, University of Oxford. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
ENDS
Gold mining kills indigenous peoples throughout the world like the Yanomami people of Brazil and Papuans in West Papua. The bloody, violent and greedy landgrabbing that goes on for gold forces indigenous women…
Artist Barbara Crane Navarro merges art and activism to defend the Amazon and Yanomami from destructive gold mining. Support #BoycottGold4Yanomami.
Hunger for Gold in the Global North is fueling a living hell in the Global South. Here are 20 reasons why you should #BoycottGold4Yanomami
1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
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2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
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4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
#BarbaraCraneNavarro #BoycottGold #BoycottGold4Yanomami #corruption #deforestation #ecocide #forests #gold #goldMining #goldmining #humanRights #indigenous #indigenousRights #mining #SouthAmerica #study #workersRights #WorkersRights #Yanomami
DYK #Gold #mining 🥇🚫 is sending species like #Tapirs and #jaguars 🐅 towards #extinction? 😿It causes #ecocide and violently displaces #Yanomami of #Brazil...Palm Oil Detectives (YouTube)
Did you know that gold kills indigenous people and rare animals?
Gold mining kills indigenous peoples throughout the world like the Yanomami people of Brazil and Papuans in West Papua. The bloody, violent and greedy landgrabbing that goes on for gold forces indigenous women and children into sex slavery! Mercury poisons the water, which kills people and puts 1000’s of species closer to extinction. To help indigenous peoples to fight for their ancestral lands and help endangered animals you should #BoycottGold #BoycottGold4Yanomami#Gold #mining kills #indigenous peoples 🩸 forcing women and children into sex #slavery! Help #Yanomami people forced violently from their #rainforest homes for the #greed of gold! 🪙⛔️ #BoycottGold #BoycottGold4Yanomami 🫶🌳@BarbaraNavarro @palmoildetect wp.me/pcFhgU-8uY
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Share to TwitterDYK #Gold #mining 🥇🚫 is sending species like #Tapirs and #jaguars 🐅 towards #extinction? 😿It causes #ecocide and violently displaces #Yanomami of #Brazil and #Papuans of #WestPapa. Fight for them 🦥🌱 and #BoycottGold @BarbaraNavarro @palmoildetect wp.me/pcFhgU-8uY
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Gold mining in the Amazon devastates the Yanomami people’s ancestral land. Meanwhile, Illegal mining drives deforestation, violence, and human rights abuses. Sadly, successive governments in many South American countries, including Brazil, have failed to safeguard the rights of Indigenous peoples, turning a blind eye to the issue. A little known fact is that mercury used in gold extraction poisons ecosystems, wildlife, and people. Another horrifying fact is that indigenous women and children are often forced into sex slavery near mining sites. Major companies and criminals profit from this illegal trade, while the Yanomami suffer.
Gold mining also leads to the loss of biodiversity, disrupts traditional livelihoods, contaminates water sources, and contributes to climate change. You can help when you boycott gold and support Indigenous sovereignty. Share social media posts with the hashtags #BoycottGold and #BoycottGold4Yanomami and follow Barbara Crane Navarro to raise awareness.
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Read more about why you should boycott gold
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Take Action in Five Ways
1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
Enter your email addressSign Up
Join 3,174 other subscribers
2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
Wildlife Artist Juanchi Pérez
Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings
Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao
Health Physician Dr Evan Allen
The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status…
twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status…
twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1…
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
#BarbaraCraneNavarro #BoycottGold #BoycottGold #BoycottGold4Yanomami #Brazil #childLabour #childSlavery #ecocide #extinction #gold #goldMining #greed #humanRights #indigenous #indigenousRights #Jaguars #landRights #landgrabbing #mining #Papuans #rainforest #slavery #Tapirs #WestPapa #Yanomami
Gold Mining in the Amazon devastates the Yanomami People
DYK #Gold #mining 🥇🚫 is sending species like #Tapirs and #jaguars 🐅 towards #extinction? 😿It causes #ecocide and violently displaces #Yanomami of #Brazil...Palm Oil Detectives (YouTube)
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