UPDATE 1/17/08:RSPO Criteria for Certified Sustainable Palm Oil
Our conservation effort at the CMZOO regarding palm oil and orangutans has strongly focused on the power of the consumer by encouraging individuals to support companies who use “sustainable palm oil” in their products.  However, like any complex issue there are new developments and information surfacing which has caused the CMZOO to modify our approach. 

At the 5th Roundtable Meeting (RT5) in November of 2007 the RSPO launched a certification system, establishing criteria and a definition for certified sustainable palm oil (SPO).  The RSPO projects that evidence of certified SPO on the market could be seen as early as the first quarter of 2008.  Because this is a new process CMZOO can not confirm any of the companies previously compiled on our consumer shopping guide as utilizing a certified sustainable palm oil source and have temporarily  removed the shopping guide from the site. 

We CONTINUE to believe in the power of an individual to affect change by connecting others with a compelling idea.  Our focus remains on educating the public about the palm oil crisis and strongly encouraging consumers to write companies using palm oil on the importance of using it from a certified source.  In time we hope to be able to provide another shopping guide listing products utilizing certified sustainable palm oil. 

We at CMZOO are encouraged by this development as well as the work being done by RSPO and ask you to continue with us in this critical conservation effort.

Supply and demand pressures are driving the production of palm oil up to an all time high. Palm oil is now the second most widely produced edible oil. Palm oil is found in cookies, crackers, shampoo, skin care and beauty products, in different varieties of pet food, and many other products. It is also found in a wide array of products sold in natural food stores. And now it is being investigated as a possible fuel alternative. 

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo releases all information on this webpage into the public domain in an effort to promote the timely dissemination of knowledge surrounding palm oil. This applies worldwide. In some countries this may not be legally possible; if so: Cheyenne Mtn. Zoo grants anyone the right to use this work for any purpose, without any conditions, unless such conditions are required by law.

• A form of edible vegetable oil obtained from the fruit of the African oil palm tree (Elaeis guineensis).
• African Oil palms originated in West Africa, but can flourish wherever heat and rainfall are abundant.  The majority of all palm oil is grown and produced in Borneo and Sumatra; it is an introduced agricultural crop (not gathered from the rain forests).
• Second-most widely produced edible oil, behind soybean oil.
• It is also used in many cosmetics and bath products.
• Demand for this commodity is rapidly increasing because of recent trans-fat health concerns and bio-fuel development.
• Download a Palm Oil Education Handout Fact Sheet [.pdf] 

• Indonesia is facing the highest rate of tropical rain forest loss in the world.
• The deforestation rate is about 4.9 million acres of rainforest each year.  That equals 40 times the size of the 2002 Colorado Hayman fire EACH year, or slightly larger than the size of the state of New Jersey.
• There are millions of hectares of degraded land available that could be used for palm oil plantations.  Instead, many companies choose to use high conservation value rainforest land in order to gain the additional timber profits.
• Borneo is home to 13 primate species, 350 bird species, 150 reptiles and amphibians and 15,000 plant species.
• Sumatra is home to Sumatran rhinos, clouded leopards, Sumatran tigers, Asian tapirs, Sumatran elephants, and thousands of other species.

• The wild population of Bornean orangutans is estimated at 45,000-50,000.  There are 15 times more deer in the state of Colorado alone than there are orangutans on Earth!
• There are about 7,300 Sumatran orangutans in the wild; they are on the list of top 25 most endangered primates in the world. 
• Orangutans give birth once every 6 -10 years, the longest interbirth interval of any mammal! 
• Orangutans are the only Asian great ape; they are the largest arboreal mammal on earth.
• After logging rainforest habitat, palm oil companies often use uncontrolled burning to clear the land.  In 1997-98 a devastating fire killed almost 8,000 orangutans in Borneo.
• Orangutans will be extinct in the wild in the next 10 years if the palm oil industry, deforestation and burning of peat forest do not change.

• One goal of biofuel is to decrease greenhouse gasses and mitigate global warming.
• HOWEVER…Rainforests remove massive amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.  When palm oil is produced through deforestation, the burning peat soil and loss of rainforest actually causes an increase in greenhouse gasses.
• Biofuel made from soy oil will most likely negatively impact rainforests in Brazil…other types of vegetable oil are more expensive but may offer more sustainable solutions.
• Palm oil, biofuel and global warming - short video clip

• Millions of people in Borneo and Sumatra rely on the palm oil industry for their livelihood.  That is one reason we do not support a blanket boycott on all palm oil.
• The land for new plantations is often forcibly taken from indigenous people who traditionally owned the land, resulting in violent conflicts.
• Local people can and should be trained in environmentally sustainable agriculture, (including palm oil and other food sources) and other sustainable trades, crafts and professions. 
• Learn about what the United States is contributing through USAID. 

• This is a multi-stakeholder group with many members including social and government organizations, companies, businesses and government institutions.
• Learn about what RSPO is doing. 
• Encouraging companies to join RSPO and/or become familiar with RSPO’s certification process may be the best hope for change.
• RSPO Member Profiles

• Read product labels at the store and become familiar with companies using palm oil in their products.
• Write to your favorite companies and supermarkets to educate them on the importance of using certified sustainable palm oil (when it becomes available).  Encourage them to become familiar with RSPO’s certification process and those companies that supply certified SPO. * See the Speak Out section for suggestions.  Each person CAN make a difference!
• Ask for FSC(Forest Stewardship Council)-certified wood products and lumber (or recycled wood).
• Try to avoid wood products, such as furniture and picture frames, made of teak, ebony, sandalwood, ironwood or mahogany; also avoid dowels made from ramin.
• Educate yourself and tell your friends – spread the word and encourage certified sustainable palm oil production and labeling! 
• Kids ages 7 and above would love this Ranger Rick's Adventure (pdf). Story by Jody Marshall; Art by Laura and Rody Gilbert. From the February and March 2008 issues of Ranger Rick magazine, with the permission of the publisher, the National Wildlife Federation.

A few examples of products that may contain palm oil:

“Let us remember, always, that we are the consumers.  By exercising free choice, by choosing what to buy, what not to buy, we have the power, collectively to change the ethics of the business of industry.  We have the potential to exert immense power for good–we each carry it with us, in our purses, checkbooks, and credit cards.” - Dr. Jane Goodall

BOS UK (Borneo Orangutan Survival UK)www.savetheorangutan.co.uk
Forest Stewardship Council www.fscus.org
Great Ape Trust www.greatapetrust.org
Nyaru Meteng Orangutan Rehabilitation Center www.orangutan.com/projects_nyarumenteng.html
Orangutan Conservancy www.orangutan.com
Orangutan Outreach http://redapes.org/
Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) www.rspo.org
SafePalmOil www.SafePalmOil.com
SAWIT Watch www.sawitwatch.or.id (Indonesian website; translates to “Palm Oil Watch”)
Sumatran Orangutan Societywww.orangutans-sos.org
United States Agency for International Development (USAID)  www.usaid.gov/
World Wildlife Foundation www.wwf.org (search: palm oil; Borneo; Sumatra)

During our research at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, regarding the palm oil crisis, we used reputable sources which are listed below. We have created a brief, neutral summary of this large and complicated issue.  Much of the information available is conflicting, but I believe this summary to be accurate to the best of my ability.
- Dina Bredahl, Supervisor of Primates and Conservation, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo 

Indonesia vows to protect endangered orangutans – Dec 07

Plight of the Red Apes – orangutans may become extinct in the next decade – ABC news, Jan 08

Eco-conscious palm oil – IMPORTANT INFO – Jan 08

Organutans should become symbol to unite conservationists against damaging palm-oil production – Jan 08

Borneo tribesman who fought logging found dead in Malaysia – Jan 08

Wetland loss is increasing climate change in South-east Asia

Peat-CO2 Assessment of emissions from drained peatlands in South-east Asia – report released by Wetlands International

The Oil for Ape Scandal– collaborative report:Friends of the Earth Trust, Ape Alliance, Orangutan Conservancy, Orangutan Foundation (UK) and the Sumatran Orangutan Society

The Last Stand of the Orangutan – released by UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) 

Palm oil, biofuel and global warming - short video clip

Realising Sustainable Oil Palm Development in Indonesia - Challenges & Opportunities

Biofuel - worse than fossil fuel

Palm oil overview

Producing palm oil without threatening rainforests

Heart of Borneo: Three countries, one vision

Indonesian oil palm companies commit to protect forests

Roundtable: a consensus-based approach

USAID overview of goals in Indonesia

The US (USAID) is doing something to help PEOPLE in Indonesia – due to expire in 2008

The US (USAID) is doing something to help ORANGUTANS and biodiversity

Great apes in the wild - population statistics

Palm oil for biofuel - increases social conflicts and undermines land reform in Indonesia

Palm Oil - Implications for indigenous people

The Kalimantan Border Project

Ecological impacts of palm oil - not just orangutans

Oil palm and soy, expanding threat to rainforests

Heart of Borneo news

Sumatra and Borneo

Bornean wildlife

Conservation in Borneo

Lists of sustainable versus non-sustainable palm oil companies and products

US Government - find your elected officials – type in your zip code

US House - find your representative 

US Senate - find your senator