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11/10/06 AUSTRALIA PALM OIL CAMPAIGN Oct 06 Rainforest Information Centre - Web Announcement Indonesia Malaysia
11/10/06 Happy bird day — forest reveals a new species , Lauren Dake, Bogota, The Age Colombia
10/10/06 Haze raises tourism fears, Kuala Lumpur, AP, REUTERS Indonesia Malaysia
AUSTRALIA PALM OIL CAMPAIGN
Oct 06 Rainforest Information Centre
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
** 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.
**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 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.
If you would like to help out, pleasesend us an email and we'll let you know how you, as a consumer, can be actively involved.
For further background information please see
Links
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
Articles
Losing land to palm oil in Kalimantan - Barto is more sad than angry. He is a leader of a Dayak Kanayan community in a remote part of the rainforest in deepest Borneo. by James Painter, BBC News, West Kalimantan, 3.8.2007
Orang-utans face a $20 death warrant Sydney Morning Herald, 5.6.2007
Be Careful Where You Palm Oil Comes From The Byron Echo 5.6.2007
Happy bird day — forest reveals a new species
Lauren Dake, Bogota, The Age
October 11, 2006
A COLOURFUL bird new to science has been discovered in an unexplored forest, spurring efforts to protect the area.
The bright yellow and red-crowned Yariguies brush-finch was named after the indigenous tribe that once inhabited the mountainous area where it was discovered. The Yariguies committed mass suicide instead of submitting to Spanish colonial rule. For conservationists the discovery of the species came at a crucial time.
Thanks in part to the discovery, the Government has decided to set aside 200 hectares of the pristine cloud forest where it lives to create a national park.
"There are about two new birds found in the world every year," said Thomas Donegan, one of the two who discovered the bird. It's a very rare event."
To reach the bird's isolated habitat, Mr Donegan and his partner, Blanca Huertas, regularly hiked 12 hours into the nearly impenetrable jungle. "It's a huge patch of isolated forest that no one knew about, not even in Colombia," Mr Donegan said.
The new finch, the size of a fist, is native to Colombia's eastern Andean range, and is considered by its discoverers to be near threatened and in need of close monitoring to prevent it winding up on a list of about 100 bird species endangered in Colombia.
One of the two birds caught by the team was released unharmed after they took pictures and DNA samples, while the other died in captivity.
With as many as 1865 different species, Colombia has long been considered a bird watchers' paradise, although a risky one because of four decades of civil war and drug trafficking.
AP
Kuala Lumpur, AP, REUTERS
October 10, 2006
A landmark obscured by haze outside Kuala Lumpur.
Photo: Reuters
MALAYSIAN tour agents and hoteliers expressed concern yesterday that travellers will shun the country as a grey, choking haze blamed on smoke from Indonesian forest fires worsened across the country.
According to the Environment Department, 14 out of 51 monitoring stations nationwide recorded unhealthy air quality early yesterday, compared with only 10 on Sunday.
Malaysia's largest city, Kuala Lumpur, the Government administrative capital, Putrajaya, and the states of Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Malacca and Perak were among the worst hit.
The highest reading, 194, was registered in Nilai in Negeri Sembilan state, near the main airport.
The official Air Pollutant Index designates readings of above 100 as unhealthy, above 200 as very unhealthy and above 300 as hazardous.
An early morning shower in Kuala Lumpur failed to bring respite, with city landmarks remaining cloaked in grey smog and visibility dipping to as low as 500 metres in some areas.
Malaysia's Education Ministry has told principals to stop outdoor activities if the air pollutant index rises above 200 and to close schools if it passes 300. Hoteliers and tour agents are worried that the worsening haze will hit tourism and affect the country's plans to woo 17.5 million visitors this year and another 20.1 million next year.
Tourism is Malaysia's second largest source of foreign income after exports.
"The haze is not a new phenomenon, but it is worse now than last year," Ngiam Foon, president of the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents, said.
"There are no reported major cancellations yet, but if this level of haze continues for a prolonged period, it will hurt tourism."
Malaysia has warned ships sailing through Asia's busiest waterway to guard against accidents as a result of the haze. Visibility has been reduced to less than 1.6 kilometres from a usual 19 kilometres along the narrow Malacca Strait linking Asia to the Middle East and Europe.
AP, REUTERS