AUSTRALIA PALM OIL CAMPAIGN
The Rainforest Information Centre convened the Australia Palm Oil Campaign Group in October 2006. Together with Australian Orangutan Project, Friends of the Earth Australia and Borneo Orangutan Society Australia as well as the suppport of the Australian Conservation Foundation, we are working to to address the impacts that palm oil plantations are having in the Asia Pacific region.

** The campaign is a consumer campaign which you can easily be a part of **

Please visit www.palmoilaction.org.au. for sample brochures, letter writing and info.
If you can help to distribute brochures, write to us now to request some.

**Download this petition now to help collect signatures The petition asks the Government of Australia to label palm oil products, prevent the importation of non-sustainable palm oil and help to protect primary forests in Indonesia.

	In The Name of Oil Palm ... (12 minutes) The impact of oil palm in the Oro Province and the challenges faced by landowners and organisations who are trying to stop the expansion of oil palm plantations in the region. stream now or download mp4
	Palm Oil and Biofuels: Climate Saviours or Local Environmental Disaster? Audio podcast that can be downloaded. (42 MB in size, so you will need broadband connection). To download visit: http://www.foe.org.au/resources/audio-centre/Palm_Oil_and_Biofuels_Climate_Saviours_or_Environmental_Disaster.mp3/view Audio on other topics see http://www.foe.org.au/resources/audio-centre
	PALM OIL FREE PRODUCTS LISTING

If you would like to help out, please send us an email and we'll let you know how you, as a consumer, can be actively involved.

In brief, the palm oil industry is devastating the unique flora and fauna in the Asia Pacific region as well as exploiting local communities who are being forced off their land. If palm oil concessions continue to replace forest at the current rate, a viable future for the Orangutan in the wild will be impossible as well as for the Sumatran tiger, Sumatran rhino, Asian elephant and other species that are on the brink of extinction (World Bank 2001).

Moreover, the Australian Heart Foundation and the World Health Organisation have both stated quite categorically that consumption of palm oil promotes heart disease and should be avoided.

It is clear that palm oil is largely produced using unsustainable destructive practices that involve the devastation of rainforests and wildlife, local communities and waterways.

Within a global context, with climate change now threatening all ecosystems on the planet,  the palm oil industry is making a significant contribution to global warming (See Agence France-Presse article).  The standard practice of palm oil plantations is to log the valuable trees, and use fire to clear the remaining forest.  This releases massive quantities of carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane into the atmosphere adding significantly to the problem of global warming. 

For more information, see Palm Oil, Panacea or Environmental Nightmare.

Something urgently needs to be done.  We are now in dialogue with food companies to discuss a transition from palm oil to non-genetically modified ecologically friendly and socially responsible oils.

The campaign is just getting started. If you would like to help out, please send us an email and we'll let you know how you, as a consumer, can be actively involved.

For further background information please see

http://www.safepalmoil.org/           
http://www.eng.walhi.or.id/kampanye/hutan/konversi/060412_palmoilplantation_/
http://www.orangutans.com.au/           
http://www.orangutan.org.au/           
http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/article-71102.html
http://www.grasp.org.au