Orang-Utans Demise The challenge of saving the Orang-Utan - man's closest relative - from extinction is trickling down to the

weekly shop. Many of the biscuits, margarines, breads, crisps and even bars of soap that consumers pick off supermarket shelves contain an ingredient that is feeding a growth industry that conservationists say is killing the Orang-Utans. The mystery ingredient in the mix is palm oil - the cheapest source of vegetable oil available - and one that rarely appears on the label of most products. Palm oil is grown on land that was once home to the vast rainforests of Borneo, and the natural habitat of the orangutan. The International Union for Conservation of Nature estimates that the population has declined by 50% in recent decades and the Indonesian government admits that 50,000 Orang-Utans have died as a result of de-forestation.
I think its really about what consumers can do because the most powerful message that can be sen anies is from their consumers about what it is they want to buy nment Secretary Hilary Benn

A BBC Panorama investigation into clear-cutting in Indonesian Borneo - the island it shares with Malaysia - found that the thirst for land on which to plant palm plantations is encroaching on areas that the Indonesian government has deemed to be off-limits. Oran-Utans, displaced as the trees of old-growth forests are burned and at times killed by workers who see them as a nuisance in the logging process, are not the only victims of the runaway growth in palm oil - scientists say there is a wider environmental price being paid. Greenpeace has identified the draining of ancient peat lands to make way for palm oil as a global threat, saying it had lead to massive amounts of trapped methane and carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere. As a result, Indonesia is the world's third largest emitter of greenhouse gases, behind only America and China. LIST OF RETAILERS INCLUDING HOW & WHERE THEY USE PALM OIL Aldi ASDA GreenPalm Cert Aunty Bettys Roast Potatoes Birds Eye Bisto Granules Cadburys Cakes Chicago Town Pizza Nairn Oat Cakes Clover Pringles - all Co-Op: Labelled Tesco: Bakery/pies/pasties/soap/cosmetics Dove soap/shampoo etc Waitrose: All own brands Flora: Knorr Soup, Pot Noodles Warburtons Bread Ginsters: All pies..... Wrigleys gum Glaxay/Kit Kat/Quality Street/Aero Youngs Chip Shop lines Haribo and all their sweet products Hovis bread/Mr Kiplings Cakes Kellogs Crunch Nut Clusters Kraft Food: Sources sustainable palm oil Mars bar & Malteesers Marks & Spencer: Own products and notes them where possible