Orangutan Conservation & Palm Oil
Palm Oil: The Good, The Bad and The App That Can Help You Save Rainforests
With spooky season just around the corner, many people are stocking up on candy. It may come as a surprise, but the type of candy you purchase has an impact on wild orangutan habitats because it likely contains palm oil.
Palm oil is a form of edible vegetable oil obtained from the fruit of the African oil palm tree. Palm oil is widely used in about half of the products we buy, ranging from food to cleaning supplies to cosmetics and more. As the demand for palm oil increased, unfortunately, so did unsustainable farming practices. Rainforests were cleared to quickly make way for more oil palm crops. It is grown in tropical areas, including Borneo and Sumatra, which are home to orangutans and other unique endangered species, like Sumatran rhinos and tigers.
Palm oil, when farmed responsibly, is really efficient compared to other edible oils. Oil palm trees – the plants palm oil comes from – produce four to ten times more oil per hectare than other popular oil crops like soy, olive, rapeseed and coconut. Boycotting palm oil would lead to increased demand for these other edible oils that require more land and resources to be cultivated.
Additionally, for many of the people who live in Indonesia and Malaysia, palm oil cultivation is their main source of income. If these people cannot rely on palm oil cultivation then they could turn to a different economic endeavor such as planting rubber trees, planting a less efficient oil crop, or even, unfortunately, illegal wildlife trading and hunting. Asking for sustainable palm oil means asking for the most efficient oil crop to be grown and harvested correctly with the least amount of impact on our planet.
“Palm oil isn’t the enemy, so we don’t think boycotting is the answer,” said Chelsea Wellmer, palm oil and conservation programs coordinator at CMZoo. “Boycotting is really difficult because there are over 600 names for palm oil on ingredient labels. You could be eating and using palm oil every day without being aware of it. Learning about palm oil and adding it to your list of things to consider as an ethical and conscientious consumer can make a big difference. With our free shopping app, we’ve made that easy for consumers in the U.S. and Canada.”
Cheyenne Mountain Zoo has been integral in promoting the worldwide effort to support sustainably produced palm oil. The Zoo’s free sustainable palm oil shopping guide mobile app, which consumers can use to discover their favorite companies’ level of commitment to using sustainable palm oil, has now been downloaded over 155,000 times and is being promoted by other zoos across the country.
To download the free app, search “Cheyenne Mountain Zoo palm oil” in the Apple App Store or Google Play, and look for the logo with the green orangutan. Once the app is installed, consumers can scan the bar codes of their favorite products to see how the Zoo has rated that company’s progress towards sourcing 100% certified sustainable palm oil.
All products listed in the app are from companies that are members of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) has established global standards for environmentally and socially responsible palm oil, and engages stakeholders as part of the solution to make sustainable palm oil the norm.
As long as the company is in the app, they have made a commitment to work towards using only certified sustainable palm oil that is deforestation-free. There are three ratings on the app:
- Green – excellent
- Yellow – good
- Orange – needs improvement
The best way to help protect wild orangutan habitats from destruction due to unsustainable palm oil production is to show large companies that consumers will choose products made by companies that have committed to sustainable production over those that have not.
“We understand there are a myriad of issues to consider as a conscientious consumer,” said Wellmer. “As animal advocates and palm oil experts, our goal is to arm consumers with the knowledge that this is another important aspect to consider as they make decisions.”
CMZoo’s palm oil team can also help consumers encourage their favorite companies to make the commitment to using sustainably produced palm oil in their products.
“If there’s a company that you love, because they meet the rest of your ethical standards, but they’re falling short of protecting wild places through sourcing sustainable palm oil, we can help,” said Wellmer. “Our online palm oil resource tool kit has free letter-writing resources that we have seen make an impact with companies. Information is power, and we can help companies learn why they should commit to using only sustainable palm oil in their products.”
Next time you’re visiting CMZoo’s orangutans at Primate World, check out the palm oil resources and activities available. You can also learn more about the use of certified sustainable palm oil and download the Zoo’s free palm oil shopping app by visiting cmzoo.org/palmoil.
Palm Oil FAQs
Palm Oil FAQs
Orangutans & Palm Oil
Palm Oil Tool Kit
PALM OIL CRISIS: Protect Orangutans by Promoting Sustainable Palm Oil that is Deforestation-Free
Cheyenne Mountain Zoo releases all information on this web page 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 Mountain Zoo grants anyone the right to use this work for any purpose, without any conditions, unless such conditions are required by law.
Customize Materials with the Animal(s) of Your Choice
Most of the materials in the tool kit are focused on orangutans because that is the animal that Cheyenne Mountain Zoo feels best represents its own palm oil program. If orangutans are not relevant to other organizations, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo encourages those organizations to take these materials and customize them to the animal of their choice, for example from orangutan to tiger, as seen with the Spring Guides here.
Resources by Type
Expand any section below to download resources.
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PalmOil Scan Mobile App
PalmOil Scan Mobile App
DOWNLOAD the FREE PalmOil Scan Mobile App
Make orangutan friendly choices with the most extensive and popular sustainable palm oil mobile shopping guide, PalmOil Scan. Now shop with confidence that you are doing all you can to save wild species like orangutans. Use PalmOil Scan, produced under the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) and led by Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, Chester Zoo, Auckland Zoo, and Zoos SA, to check if the product you are about to purchase is “orangutan friendly” and RSPO certified.
App Details
- The barcode scanner allows you to scan your favorite products and learn if the companies who make them are members of the RSPO and committed to sustainable palm oil.
- Search for a product by keyword in our “Search a Keyword” feature.
- You can let us know which companies we should contact to either thank for exemplary sourcing, or, which companies we should contact to encourage improvement in sourcing.
- This App and barcode scanner are supported in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia and Singapore.
- Learn more about how we rate companies in the App here
- For PalmOil Scan mobile app support, email [email protected].
Orangutan-Friendly Shopping Guides - PDFs
Use these guides to shop for products made by companies that are members of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil.
Cheyenne Mountain Zoo releases all information on this web page 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 Mountain Zoo grants anyone the right to use this work for any purpose, without any conditions, unless such conditions are required by law.
Boo at the Zoo – (Oct. 18-20, 25-27, 31)
