Join the mass online protest against whaling in the Southern Ocean

By Deb Baxter -The Body Shop

Create your own electronic whale out of virtual origami paper, and send it "swimming" with a personal message to the Prime Minister of Japan.

In just over a month, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) meets in Chile. Japan will be pushing hard for approval to resume full-scale commercial whaling. Greenpeace will be delivering all the origami whales to the Japanese embassy in Canberra, highlighting them in the media, and showing them to IWC delegates in Chile. Meanwhile, Greenpeace has released explosive evidence of corruption in the whaling program - where whale meat is being stolen and sold on the black market. The scandal - resulting from a 3-month undercover investigation by Greenpeace - has made the front pages of newspapers across Japan and brought the entire whaling program into further disrepute. Increasingly, the Japanese public is concerned about their taxes subsidising an aging whaling fleet conducting fake science to justify a hunt for whale meat few want to eat. Now is the moment to increase the swell of international outrage about whaling with "Origami whales" and bring Japan into the fold! Click to make your origami whale today!

Could you stay in a mosh pit for 32 days?

By Adam Valvasori - Values Manager

I took this photo on my way to work this morning.

Look at how crammed these poor sheep are. The only way I can relate to this is the times I've chosen to be in a mosh pit... I can't take it for more than an hour. Imagine it was you in a hellish mobile mosh pit / jail like this. How long could you survive being squashed by other humans? How about a month non-stop?

This is how animals in our country are treated (mistreated) on long journeys from their farm to the port and then on a voyage by ship. Eg: From Fremantle, Western Australia to Aqaba, Jordan in the Middle East takes 32 days.

Notice the poor sheep squashed into the corner? Over the past 30 years more than 150 million animals have left Australian shores for slaughter in the Middle East, 2.5 million of these animals died during the journey.

Each year many shipments exceed the ‘reportable’ death rate of 2% for sheep and 1% for cattle on long haul shipment. Read more about the live animal export death toll

The Government says:

Australia leads the world in animal welfare practices. The Australian Government does not tolerate cruelty towards animals and will not compromise on animal welfare standards. Our ongoing involvement in this trade provides an opportunity to influence animal welfare conditions in importing countries.

And yet they have recently decided to allow a resumption of the live cattle export trade to Egypt, which was suspended two years ago after animal cruelty was exposed. The world’s leading animal protection groups have united in the condemnation of this move.


Act now:
It will only take 5 minutes to express your opposition to live exports, by writing an email from the Handle with Care website. They have everything you'll need to contact:

• The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
  
• Your local MP

Don't forget to help spread the word about this campaign by letting your family and friends know. You could also contact the media by writing a letter to the editor or calling talk back radio.


~ Adam

Save the Mary River Turtle!

YOU ARE LOOKING AT A THREATENED MARY RIVER TURTLE!

I think this is quite possibly the coolest turtle in the world! He has his own grass patch on his head and can breathe out of his bum!

The Mary River Turtle is an endangered species which only lives in one river in the whole of Queensland. Unfortunately, the Queensland Government is planning to build the Traveston Crossing Dam on the Mary River that will destroy 36.5 km of the river, flooding the habitat of turtles and many other rare and endangered species.

Find out more and join the ACF campaign to save the Mary River Turtle

(Photo: Chris Van Wyk)


Adam Valvasori - Values Manager

Thailand's Orangutan Shame

Photo from Safari World - Thailand showing the shameful abuse of orangutans.

Last year I travelled to Borneo and visited the Sepilok Orangutan Sanctuary in Sabah . The Sepilok sanctuary was founded in 1964 to rehabilitate orphan orangutans. The sanctuary is located on the edge of the Kabili Sepilik Forest Reserve and is used as a rehabilitation site for orangutans . The orangutans are taken to the centre when they are orphaned or for treatment when they have been injured. After spending some time in quarantine they are gradually released into the reserve. The orangutans learn to look for food so they are able to fend for themselves.

100 years ago there were probably more than 230,000 orangutans in Borneo and Sumatra. In the last ten years alone their numbers have declined by 30-50%, and now just over 60,000 survive.

After visiting the sanctuary, my partner and I decided to adopt a baby orangutan. We adopted a young male named Sen. Sen had been orphaned when his mother was shot in a palm plantation and left to die.


Sen (our orangutan)

Recently we received our 6 month progress report on Sen and discovered he had grown to a healthy 6.4kg from 1.6kg when he was taken into the sanctuary. He is beginning to feed himself and is interacting with the other orangutans.

Attached to the report was a newsletter from the sanctuary, imagine my disgust when I sighted an article on Safari World in Thailand and their boxing orangutans exhibitions.

Animals in Captivity at Safari World


Apparently Sepilok ran a campaign in 2006/07 that resulted in the orangutans being confiscated and sent to Indonesia and Sepilok in Malaysia. The orangutans are made to participate in boxing and perform in a band they are also severely mistreated and several orangutans have perished at Safari World.

Safari World have resumed their orangutan exhibitions and Sepilok are appealing to people to campaign the Thai government to end the exhibitions. If you are interested in defending the rights of these orangutans you can send a letter to the King of Thailand; Bhumibol Adulyadej to lobby him to take action against Safari World.

Safari World are proudly advertising their orangutan shows on their website and you can contact Safari World directly to urge them to stop the orangutan shows info@safariworld.com


Orangutans at Safari World



Cassie Monahan - The Body Shop Learning & Development Team

11 March 2009 - The End Of Animal Testing!?

Image courtesy of DailyMail

Skin Ethic Labs which is owned by L'Oreal is making and selling fake human skin! Wait, don't be grossed out, it's a good thing!

Although I just found out about this yesterday, this isn't new news but for animal activists, it's the greatest news of all!

If you can speak 'scientist' head over to the lab's website to read how it's done. Here's an easier to understand translation by Treehugger:

A team of researchers at L'Orèal have just invented an artificial skin, dubbed "Episkin," that may soon take the place of all those beleaguered creatures in future trials. Grown from cells obtained from the top layer of pieces of skin, Episkin can be manipulated and adapted based on the tester's needs: it can be made to resemble older skin, can be made to tan and, by using donor cells from women of different ethnicities, can assess the efficiency of sunscreen for various skin tones.

This is proof you should believe in your activist power to change government policy. Pressure from organisations like WSPA, individual activists like Anita Roddick and groups of activists like The Body Shop staff has culminated in the European Union passing a directive which provides for a ban on animal testing of finished products (applicable from 11 September 2004), and a complete ban on animal testing of cosmetic ingredients as soon as alternative methods are validated and adopted by EU legislation.

The final deadline of 11 March 2009 applies even if alternative tests are not available then.

This very strong legislation has been successful in forcing the cosmetic industry to search for alternatives!

I called the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council's Ethics Section and they didn't know of any cosmetics companies actually testing in Australia (I'll investigate this in the near future). If there are they would be required by the Australian code of practice for the care and use of animals for scientific purposes 7th edition 2004 to demonstrate there are no other alternatives to animal testing available.

The Body Shop is famous for never testing on animals. The investment into developing Episkin supports the Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetics and the European Coalition to End Animal Experiments when they said they were optimistic about L'Oreal acquiring The Body Shop. They recognised the opportunity The Body Shop has to positively influence its parent company on the issue of animal testing in the cosmetics industry.

Episkin is going to save the lives of thousands of rabbits. Kinda speaks for itself huh?

Hooray!


Adam Valvasori - Values Manager

Handle With Care - Stop Live Export!

It's not easy to watch the video below but you should try. Remember when you do, over four million sheep are exported from Australia every year.



I watched parts of the video on the 7.30 Report last night and I just feel sick, disgusted, embarrassed and ashamed that we allow this to happen.

I feel it's a massive black mark against our humanity and dignity to allow defenseless animals to be treated with such barbarity and disrespect.

According to the Department of Agriculture our previous Government felt Australia are world leaders in animal welfare practices. Either they were deluded or the world standard is ridiculously low.

The video is a result of undercover research conducted by Animals Australia and a campaign called Handle With Care, launched yesterday by an impressive coalition of animal rights organisations which also includes RSPCA, Compassion in World Farming and our Values Partner WSPA. Animals Australia says: "We have spared you from the worse images (no slaughter footage is shown)."

The campaign is opposed by Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) their spokesperson Scott Hansen said on the 7:30 Report :

"This is a trade that importantly the value that's created by it in large part is in rural and regional areas that don't have access to alternative marketplaces. And as such, it's a value and an economic worth generated for regions that really have little other options in terms of their markets."

Bzzzt! Wrong Scott. Australia exports live animals to meet a demand for Halal slaughter. Australia, however, also exports chilled and/or frozen meat to every country it exports live animals to and has Halal-certified export slaughterhouses currently supplying high quality Halal meat the Middle East.

So there's no reason why Aussie farmers would be out of pocket. In fact surely Halal slaughter in Australia would be more economical, as it would take far less room to ship. And the lives of thousands of animals that die during the transportation process wouldn't need to be wasted.

I think it's laziness and lack of imagination on the exporters behalf. I talked to Ferida, a very helpful staffer at the Islamic Council of Victoria today to clarify some issues about Halal meat. She feels that Halal abattoirs in Australia probably do just as good a job as the Halal abattoirs in the Middle East. It's just a matter of importers and or consumers not trusting the level of integrity and quality of Halal slaughter in Australia as much.

Ferida quickly came up with a solution; simply invite Middle Eastern importers to inspect our Halal abattoirs to allay their concerns. It would also be easy for the MLA to run marketing campaigns in Middle Eastern media to build awareness and trust in Australian Halal Meats.

"Each animal has the right to sanctity of life and this life is taken from some by the permission of ALLAH (s.w.t) and for good reasons only for food, by the most humane and merciful ways of killing." - Dr. Abdul Majid Katme, (Chairman of the Islamic Medical Association in the UK)

Read more:

• The Handle with Care FAQ is very good.
• Handle with Care - The Cruel Truth.
  
• WA sheep exporter Emanuel Exports on cruelty charges (8 Feb 08)
• An Up-To-Date Assessment of the Muslim Method of Slaughter
  

Act now:
It will only take 5 minutes to express your opposition to live exports, by writing an email from the Handle with Care website. They have everything you'll need to contact:

• The Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
  
• Your local MP

Don't forget to help spread the word about this campaign by letting your family and friends know. You could also contact the media by writing a letter to the editor or calling talk back radio.

Good Luck!


Adam Valvasori - Values Manager

Stinky Fish!

If you're anything like me, you grew up listening to the sage advice of muppets. They broke down complex concepts like co-op-er-at-ion into bite sized bits that were easy to understand (Thanks hairy siamese monster twins!) The repetition also helped.

So it makes sense for puppets to be an effective way of getting a campaign message across. The Stinky Fish campaign was launched by the WWF last week and features a fish puppet espousing the benefits of buying fish from accredited sustainable sources!

“We’ve aimed Stinky Fish mainly at fish buyers and eaters with the underlying message that your seafood spread is going to be all the more satisfying if you buy and eat with a conscience” said Sarah Bladen of WWF’s International Marine Program. Or, in the cartoon chatter that Stinky Fish uses: “It's time to slap your appetites into line with your ethics.”

It's a great tactic - watch the Stinky Fish YouTube video below!

Action you can take:

1. Visit the Stinky Fish website and help spread the word!

2. Find out more about Sustainable Fishing from WWF

3. Ask your local fish monger if they're getting their fish from sustainable sources. Ie: Is it Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) approved?

4. Buy MSC approved products. Please see below to find out which packaged products are currently available with the MSC label in Australia:

John West

Canned Pink salmon 105g, 210g, 415g
Canned Pink salmon NAS 105g, 210g
Canned Red salmon 105g, 210g, 415g
Canned Red salmon NAS 210g
Canned Medium red salmon 210g
Salmon tempters 95g (Sweet Chilli and Lime, Natural Smoke Flavour, Chilli, Lemon and Cracked Pepper, Onion and Tomato, Vinaigrette, Lemon and Dill, seeded mustard and capers, basil and oregano)

Talley's

Skin on hoki fillets 1.5kg
Smoked hoki fillets 1kg
Skinless 1kg

Sealord

Hoki in Tempura Batter 425g
Hoki Tasty Bread Crumb 565g
Hoki Lemon Pepper 565g
Hoki Lite 360g
Hoki Fish Fingers 375g
Nuggets Crispy Crumb 520g
Nuggets in a crispy batter
Fish Flips 480g

Birds Eye

‘Steam Fresh’ fish fillets marinated in asian lime 360g
‘Steam Fresh’ fish fillets marinated in lemon and parsley 360g
‘Steam Fresh’ fish fillets with chilli 360g
‘Steam Fresh’ fish fillets with garlic 360g


Adam Valvasori - Values Muppet

A Dingo Took Our Moral High Ground

Ok, sometimes it's uncomfortable to have a mirror held up to you. You don't like what you see. This happened to me today when I watched the above video (9:56mins) released by the pro-whaling movement in Japan. Although I think the way they've gone about this is totally wrong not to mention downright misleading at times. It made me wonder in a Carrie Bradshaw fashion...

Did a dingo take our moral high ground?

RACISTS?
Some of the accusations the video makes are true. The White Australia policy describe a collection of historical legislation and policies which intentionally restricted non-white immigration to Australia from 1901 to 1973. - Wiki

INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS?
Our treatment of first Australians is maybe even more disgraceful. Indigenous Australians didn't have the right to vote until Commonwealth legislation in 1962. We didn't acknowledge their right to native title of land until 1990! Our federal government has promised to say 'sorry' for a whole generation of children stolen from their families this year! - Wiki

DINGOS?
The video does reveal a disturbing truth about Dingos that I don't think many of us (including yours truly) are aware of. I was ready to disbelieve everything, so, when they claimed Dingos are in the same World Conservation Union (ICUN) status as Humpback whales... I had to investigate. Sadly it's true! In 2004 the ICUN gave Dingos 'Vulnerable' status. However, the video fails to mention that although hunting and killing them as pests is abhorrent, it's not the main reason why they're population size is vulnerable. Both the ICU and the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) Dingo Policy Statement site interbreeding with wild or domestic dogs as being the major threat to their species.

KANGAROOS?
I'm sure the vast majority of people that use or eat animal products don't wish for that animal to have suffered in death. Those images of joeys being killed - make me sick. They are barbaric and awful. However I've heard that eating kangaroo meat is much more sustainable compared to other livestock. According to this Burke's Backyard Fact Sheet on Kangaroo Meat,(I know) Tim Flannery (then) biological scientist at the Australian Museum says:

• It costs the Australian environment nothing to produce kangaroo meat. In comparison, seven kilograms of soil are used to produce one kilogram of wheat.
• Farming wild animals is less cruel than raising domesticated animals for meat. Kangaroos do not suffer the stress of live trucking and abattoirs. Instead they live freely in the wild until they are killed instantly by professional shooters.

WHALES?
Australia stopped whaling in 1979. Japan continues to whale for commercial use despite an international ban. I've never tasted it but the Japanese girl towards the end of the video looked like she was trying hard not to spit her whale out (didn't she realise she was on a pro-whaling commercial?).

MEDIA?
This video made me consider how we treat animals in Australia. We see whales being harpooned but kangaroos (and all other animals we eat) happily cruising around. Why? We don't like holding up the mirror do we? Are our killing methods humane?

I just wish the Japanese would understand that it's not just Australia but the entire global community's wish to protect whales from extinction.

I'd like to give a big shout out to the activists on the high seas working or volunteering for Greenpeace and the Sea Shepards. Stay safe! I hope you put aside your differences and support each other out there to defeat a common enemy.

Take Action: The ACF is concerned that in most States/Territories, the dingo is classified as a noxious animal, pest or vermin species and that this status requires its destruction. Write to your State Government to get this changed!

Adam Valvasori - Not a Sex in The City fan

2007 Values @ The Body Shop Summary!

I'm sure I've missed bits... but these are some of The Body Shop Australia's achievements for 2007. I'm so stoked we can make such a meaningful difference to social and environmental issues at the local, national and international level!

• $21,658 raised for Staying Alive Foundation and 5,000 brochures distributed through our MTV HIV and AIDS 'Spray For Change' campaign.
• Sold 10,000 shower timers at cost and signed up 6,500 customers for climate change packs as part of our 'Spoil Yourself not the Planet' campaign with ACF
  
• $11,443 raised for UNIFEM through White Ribbon Day sales.
• $80,460 raised for Children on the Edge in East Timor through the sale of tri-massagers.
• Over $90,000 raised for Amnesty International through Christmas card sales.
• Volunteered over 4,500 hours to hundreds of grass-roots charities around Australia through our Community Projects program. That's the equivalent of 1.5 full-time staff members working free for a year!
  

Stop Violence in the Home campaign:

• Launched The Body Shop Australia’s survey of community attitudes, understandings and responses to abuse in relationships 2006 Report.
• Called for Small Grant Applications to distribute $100,000 raised from Daisy Soap sales. A panel of industry experts, TBS Staff and a young DV survivor selected and, disbursed funds to 13 grass-roots organisations working in the domestic violence prevention and care sector.
• Distributed 50,000 “Let’s Air It Out” booklet with stories from DV survivors.
• Collected 4,500 t-shirts with messages written about DV by staff and customers. Were exhibited in-store during the campaign. (plan to present them to the incoming Family and Community Services Minister in 2008).

In addition at our National Retail Support Centre here in sunny Mulgrave, Victoria we:

• Sponsored 15 orangutans from Borneo for four years.
• Sent five big boxes full of Christmas presents to Berry Street.

To all staff and customers involved in helping to make these achievements happen - a massive thank you. Happy New Year everyone, I can't wait to see what we can accomplish next year !!!

Adam Valvasori - Values Manager

Sounds Fishy!

Photo: Rebecca Hallas / The Age

The Body Shop would like to join the RSPCA and Animal Liberation in condemning the Ipond (pictured above). According to this article in The Age it's 15 times smaller than the recommended tank size for the fish it contains. The RSPCA has called on the device to be banned because it is too small to provide fish with adequate oxygen supplies and a clean environment.

RSPCA spokesman Hugh Wirth said despite the fighting fish's ability to breathe air from the surface, the tank was far too small for it to receive adequate oxygen. The small volume of water would lead to rapid temperature change and this meant the tropical fish would not live long, he said.

It looks like they have no room to turn around in and to complete the perfect torture box the sound reverberating into the tank would totally stress them out! So, please don't buy one!

Also, if you have two minutes can I suggest signing the Greenpeace & NineMSN Save the Whales petition, which is now over 50,000 people strong.

In case you missed it, you might want to read my rant about the Japanese "whale research with extreme prejudice" post, or watch an interview with the Greenpeace spokesperson for the campaign.

A tip for petition makers and amateur campaigners playing at home: When creating a petition, ask for people's postcode, it will help you sort your petition into electorates thus making it more potent in the political arena.

Adam Valvasori - Values Manager

Japanese whalers hunt humpbacks

A humpback whale off Port Macquarie, NSW. Photo: iansand

We (humans!!!) decimated the population of whales including humpback whales during the late 1950s and early 1960s to the very brink of extinction.

Some of the nicer humans amongst us took an issue with this and campaigned like crazy to "save the whales". Anita Roddick was one of them. She founded The Body Shop in 1976 and the very next year threw herself into Greenpeace's anti-whaling campaign.

Until now this campaign has been a real success story, proving we can make a difference and turn things around. Only a few countries in the world condone commercial whaling anymore.

As a result, the Humpback population in eastern Australia has slowly crept back up. The current population migrating along our east coast was estimated to be 7,024 in 2005 and increasing at approximately 10-11% per annum and is likely to be around 9,500 individuals in 2007 according to the Southern Cross University Whale Research Centre. Note: the current classification by the World Conservation Union is still 'vulnerable'.

That's why I was furious to discover a Japanese whaling fleet has set sail in defiance of international condemnation with plans to bag and tag the biggest catch of minke and humpback whales since the 1960s. All in the name of "research" - yeah right!

The Japanese Government's position on whaling argues that there are plenty of whales now and they are eating all our fish! That's right, it's the whales that illegally caught and ate $6 billion worth of Southern Bluefin Tuna in the last 20 years... not Japanese fishing vessels. (I hope you're hearing my sarcasm here)

The weird thing is, according to this survey in 1999, the last time 61 percent of Japanese people ate whale meat, (if ever) was when they were children. Only one percent of them answered that they eat whale meat about once a month. No one answered that he/she eats whale meat more frequently than once a month.

According to the traveler that took this photo, (right) these are half price "whale hamburgers" in a Japanese supermarket. The sign says that the meat has been flavoured so that it is reminiscent of hamburgers - more palatable to the kids. Whale meat tastes a bit like beef but it has a strong aftertaste that might not be popular with children.

So, yes it's a part of their cultural history, but most of them don't even like eating it anymore! Can anyone make sense of why they are so hardcore about "researching" so many of them?

What you can do:

• Join Greenpeace's Great Whale Trail to track Humpbacks off our east coast.
  
• Join and support with gusto an anti-whaling, campaign organisation like Greenpeace or Sea Shepard
• Email the Japanese Embassy in Canberra cultural@japan.org.au
• Phone, write or visit your local Japanese Consulate
  

Adam Valvasori - Values Manager

Compassionate Traveller WSPA Documentary

See how your support is improving the lives of animals in an incredible upcoming documentary on WSPA's work - The Compassionate Traveller.

You‘ll journey through Thailand with presenter and vet Dr Julie Summerfield as she shows you some amazing projects protecting animals from cruelty and neglect. And discover how being an animal-friendly ‘compassionate traveller‘ on your next holiday can help transform the lives of animals now, and in the future.

Click here for a special documentary trailer and Julie's personal message of thanks to you for helping animals worldwide.

The Compassionate Traveller - Saturday, November 17 at 2.30pm on Network Ten. The Channel Ten website offers a free Reminder SMS.

Borneo!

Kids from Sabah in the "School Bus" on the way to a Borneo Child Aid Society Children's Centre.

Did I mention, I love working here? Today I've been reading about the great work The Body Shop Foundation is doing... I had no idea, we were being so philanthropic! The foundation is supporting innovative projects around the world working in the areas of human & civil rights and environmental & animal protection.

A great example of a grant that covers all of these bases is the AUD $11,351 granted to the Borneo Child Aid Society, which provides education for children in Sabah. These kids don't have access to the basic human right of education. The group is building a new learning centre that will provide education to 100 children in the rural plantation areas of Sabah. If you're passionate about protecting our planet, their education is vitally important. I'll tell you why:

There is a multi-layered problem taking place in Borneo right now. A surge in demand for palm oil as -ironically- a green biofuel alternative is giving jobs to people in drastic poverty. On the surface this seems like a great outcome: poverty alleviation and an investment in renewable clean energy. Sadly, this is short sighted unsustainable development for both man and beast. The deforestation is contribution to flooding and actually exacerbating the climate change problem. In addition, scores of animals in the forest island are facing extinction! This includes the amazing orangutans.















These maps from Hugo Ahlenius, UNEP/GRID-Arendal show the extent of the deforestation problem in Borneo.

"Palm Oil costs the lives of about 50 orangutans every week and it's cultivation is a major cause of global warming."- Palm Oil Action Group

Education is the only way for people in Borneo to find a long term solution to poverty. You can't blame the people in the videos below for chopping down trees, you'd do it to to survive.

Our education and action on this issue is urgent too - it would be a tragedy for our planet if we were to allow these unique rain forests of Borneo to be destroyed. Australian companies importing palm oil need to immediately stop sourcing it from unsustainable sources like Borneo. Our Government should legislate to make sustainable palm oil importing and product package labeling mandatory.

What Can You Do?


If you have time, please watch this amazing documentary to learn more about the problem:

Orangutans & Palm Oil

Uploaded by Films4

• If you're interested in learning more, here are some more videos about the issue.
  
• Visit the Palm Oil Action Group website for activist ideas
• If you would like to help rescue and rehabilitate orangutans in Borneo please consider donating generously to the World Society for the Protection of Animals' Orangutan appeal.
• Adopt an Orangutan now for only $55 a year through the Australian Orangutan Project.
  

Photo: Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (WSPA Partners)







Related Blog Post: "Sustainability: In the Palm Oil of Our Hands"

Adam Valvasori - Values Manager & Orangutan Fan

P.S: The Body Shop only uses 100% sustainable & totally orangutan friendly palm oil in our soaps etc :)

Sustainability: in the palm oil of our hands

Aerial photo of a palm oil plantation in the middle of a natural forest in Sumatra, Indonesia. Photo: Flims4Conservation

Yesterday I found myself at a meeting convened by World Vision and attended by several giants of the retail world like the Coles Group, Independent Grocers Association, Unilever, The Australian Food Grocery Council as well as an advocate from Friends Of the Earth. Sounds weird but the group had actually come together to hear from us, or more specifically: Rikke Netterstrom, The Body Shop International’s Ethical Policy Manager and a member of the international Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). We were discussing ways to bring sustainable palm oil to the Australian marketplace.

As the second most used vegetable oil in the world, palm oil is responsible for the livelihood of millions of people, however it’s a crop that’s being blamed for:

• massive deforestation
• destroying fragile ecosystems
• threatening the extinction of wildlife like orangutans, asian elephants, sun bears, clouded leopards, Sumatran tigers and hornbills
• sever human rights and worker abuses of indigenous people living in poverty
• conflict over land rights disputes in Indonesia

Vanilla is a rescued Bornean orangutan. Her mother was killed and her forest habitat is now replaced by palm oil. Photo: Flims4Conservation

The Minister for the Environment, Malcolm Turnbull, has being looking at palm oil as a possible alternate energy source in Australia. In a media statement released 8/10/07 he warned:

“If palm oil is produced in areas which had previously been cleared for agriculture, biodiesel based on that palm oil does have a considerable reduction in CO2 emissions compared to petroleum. However if the land is cleared of rainforest or, worse still, forested peatland is cleared, the CO2 emissions attributed to that palm oil are in fact greater than petroleum.”

He also stated the Government is looking at local measures to ensure our palm oil imports are sustainable, including requiring certification with the RSO. Mr Turnbull also said co-ordinated international action is essential. Maybe that's why all those big players were at the table?

Pursuing sustainable palm oil would mean win:win:win for the farmers, the environment and the companies that use it. The limited size of the world's sustainable palm oil supply creates an added complexity, however I'm sure that where there's demand, supply will follow.

The great news is we have already changed our entire soap range to be manufactured using palm oil from one of the world’s leading sustainable, organic and fair trade certified plantations, owned by Daabon Organic in Colombia.

This is a really important global issue that’s flying under the radar at the moment even though it has the potential to devastate unique ecosystems in our own region. The Body Shop Australia is proud to continue championing the sustainable palm oil issue locally and play its part to help bring all sectors of the Australian community together to achieve the best outcome for our planet.

More:

• WWF: The Heart of Borneo presentation
• WWF: Heart of Borneo at risk from massive palm oil plantation
• Greenpeace: Choose the right bio-fuel or the orang-utan gets it video (or watch it on green.tv)
• Films4Conservation: Palm Oil images from Borneo and Sumatra (2005-2007)
• Palm Oil Action Group
• Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil

Polly Caldow – Chief Executive – The Body Shop