31 Jan 2013

PALM OIL / GREAT APES

The UN Environment Programme and its Messenger of Peace Jane Goodall warn that a palm oil boom is threatening the habitats of great apes in Africa and Asia, and say consumers can stop the destruction with careful shopping. Orangutan habitats in Indonesia have already been largely wiped out by palm oil cultivation. UNEP / FILE

Posted at: January 31, 2013 4:54 pm

Duration: 02:52

Available in: SD

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Full script

STORY: PALM OIL / GREAT APES
TRT:  2:52
SOURCE: UNEP / UNICEF / UNTV
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE 26 JANUARY, NAIROBI, KENYA / FILE

SHOTLIST

FILE - UNICEF - JUNE 2011, LAHAD DATU, SABAH, MALAYSIA

1. Wide shot, palm plantation
2. Med shot, worker cutting palm leaves
3 Pan down, palm trees
4. Med shot, worker with machete
5. Wide shot, worker walking through palm plantation
 
UNEP - 26 JANUARY 2013, NAIROBI, KENYA

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Doug Cress, Programme Coordinator, Great Apes Survival Partnership (GRASP):
" As with any item that becomes a fad or a luxury item, especially in the developed world, red fruit palm oil has taken off very quickly – really in 2013 only – because it's been endorsed by several high-profile personalities as a medical cure-all. It's been given credit for being a weight-loss supplement, as the cure for cancer, for being an anti-aging supplement. At one point it was being described as the miracle find of 2013."
 
FILE - UNEP - 2012, SUMATRA, INDONESIA

7. Cutaway orangutans

UNEP - 26 JANUARY 2013, NAIROBI, KENYA

8. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Jane Goodall, Goodwill Ambassador, Great Apes Survival Partnership (GRASP):
"The proliferation of palm oil, the need for palm oil, the perceived need for palm oil, uses to which palm oil is being put, both commercial and as part of the diet is an enormous threat. It's just grown out of all proportion. It's just gone 'poof' like this!"

FILE - UNEP - 2012, SUMATRA, INDONESIA

9. Cutaway, orangutans

UNEP - 26 JANUARY 2013, NAIROBI, KENYA

10. SOUNDBITE (English) Doug Cress, Programme Coordinator, Great Apes Survival Partnership (GRASP):
"We're finding that Asia is really a test case for the patterns being played out in Africa regarding palm oil and growth of oil palm plantations. All the same devastation and biological destruction and the loss of biodiversity occurring in Asia is hitting us now in Africa. We have to learn from these lessons. 80% of Asia's tropical rainforests were wiped out to convert to palm oil plantations. And we're seeing an even faster deforestation right now in Africa as this boom grows."

FILE - UNTV - 17-29 NOVEMBER 2008, PUCALLPA, PERU

11. Wide shot, harvesting palm berries
12. Med shot, women collecting red palm berries

UNEP - 26 JANUARY 2013, NAIROBI, KENYA

13. SOUNDBITE (English) Doug Cress, Programme Coordinator, Great Apes Survival Partnership (GRASP):
"The problem with palm oil is that it's cheap, it's fast, and is backed by major consortiums that want to see their profits stay up with very little regard for the environment and for biodiversity."

FILE - UNEP - 2012, SUMATRA, INDONESIA

14. Cutaway, orangutans

UNEP - 26 JANUARY 2013, NAIROBI, KENYA

15. SOUNDBITE (English) Doug Cress, Programme Coordinator, Great Apes Survival Partnership (GRASP):
"I think until consumer markets make wise and informed consumer choices we're going to have this problem. It has to be driven by the buying public. They need to make smart choices and to realize that when you buy that tin of house paint, or when you buy that make up item, you're probably cutting down orangutan habitat or you may be killing a chimpanzee. It is that much of a straight line."

FILE - UNEP - 2012, SUMATRA, INDONESIA

16. Cutaway, orangutans

STORYLINE:

In Southeast Asia, more than 80 per cent of the orangutans' habitat in Borneo and Sumatra has been lost to agricultural conversion in the past 20 years, predominantly for the production of palm oil. The wild orangutan population has plummeted in that time, and the Sumatran orangutan is classified as "critically endangered."

The UN-supported Great Apes Survival Partnership (GRASP) is working to help the orangutans to survive.

When Turkish-American television personality Dr. Mehmet Oz declared red fruit palm oil a "miracle find for 2013" on a recent episode of his syndicated programme, "The Dr. Oz Show," he helped spur a global buying frenzy for the product. "The Dr. Oz Show" currently airs in 188 countries and earns some of the highest ratings among syndicated programming

SOUNDBITE (English) Doug Cress, Programme Coordinator, Great Apes Survival Partnership (GRASP):
"As with any item that becomes a fad or a luxury item, especially in the developed world, red fruit palm oil has taken off very quickly – really in 2013 only – because it's been endorsed by several high-profile personalities as a medical cure-all. It's been given credit for being a weight-loss supplement, as the cure for cancer, for being an anti-aging supplement. At one point it was being described as the miracle find of 2013."

International press picked up the story and many predicted that palm fruit oil would become the first "superfood" of 2013, thanks to his endorsement. Suppliers have announced record sales of red fruit palm oil in the first month of 2013.

SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Jane Goodall, Goodwill Ambassador, Great Apes Survival Partnership (GRASP):
"The proliferation of palm oil, the need for palm oil, the perceived need for palm oil, uses to which palm oil is being put, both commercial and as part of the diet is an enormous threat. It's just grown out of all proportion. It's just gone 'poof' like this!"

A growing number of the other leading producers are African.

Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon and Cote d'Ivoire are all major players - and great ape range states - and the high-profits of palm oil production leave host countries with very difficult decisions. Liberia, Sierra Leone, and DR Congo are also rapidly expanding production, and most of these countries are hosting Asian manufacturers.

In Cameroon and Nigeria, for instance, the rarest great apes on earth - the Cross River gorillas, estimated to comprise no more than 300 individuals - are threatened with the agricultural expansion for oil palm production on both sides. The Cameroonian government is considering granting agricultural permits that could further isolate the gorillas in the easternmost Mone reserves.

SOUNDBITE (English) Doug Cress, Programme Coordinator, Great Apes Survival Partnership (GRASP):
"We're finding that Asia is really a test case for the patterns being played out in Africa regarding palm oil and growth of oil palm plantations. All the same devastation and biological destruction and the loss of biodiversity occurring in Asia is hitting us now in Africa. We have to learn from these lessons. 80% of Asia's tropical rainforests were wiped out to convert to palm oil plantations. And we're seeing an even faster deforestation right now in Africa as this boom grows."

Indonesia and Malaysia currently rank 1-2 in worldwide palm oil production with combined sales of $40 billion, an economic investment that has destroyed 80 percent of their rainforest. Indonesia also possesses the world's second-fastest deforestation rate.

SOUNDBITE (English) Doug Cress, Programme Coordinator, Great Apes Survival Partnership (GRASP):
"The problem with palm oil is that it's cheap, it's fast, and is backed by major consortiums that want to see their profits stay up with very little regard for the environment and for biodiversity."

The great ape habitat index released by International Union for Conservation of Nature last year found that forests were vanishing at a staggering pace - particularly across Africa - and the palm oil industry was a major driver.

SOUNDBITE (English) Doug Cress, Programme Coordinator, Great Apes Survival Partnership (GRASP):
"I think until consumer markets make wise and informed consumer choices we're going to have this problem. It has to be driven by the buying public. They need to make smart choices and to realize that when you buy that tin of house paint, or when you buy that make up item, you're probably cutting down orangutan habitat or you may be killing a chimpanzee. It is that much of a straight line."