Palm oil supplier to food giants clears forest, peatland in Indonesia, Greenpeace says

Greenpeace has released video evidence that a palm oil supplier for several major food companies has destroyed rainforest in Indonesia. Mars, Nestlé, PepsiCo and Unilever have all purchased palm oil from subsidiaries of the Yemen-based Hayel Saeed Anam Group, according to the companies’ disclosures of their suppliers. Crews on the group’s PT Megakarya Jaya Raya oil palm concession in Indonesia’s Papua province cleared 40 square kilometers (15 square miles) of forest between May 2015 and April 2017, according to Greenpeace’s satellite-image analysis. “Companies like Unilever and Nestlé claim to be industry leaders,” forest campaigner Richard George of Greenpeace UK said in a statement. “So why are they still buying from forest destroyers like the HSA group? What are their customers supposed to think? What will it take to get them to act?” Video © Greenpeace. Unilever, Nestlé, PepsiCo and Mars have all committed to buy palm oil and other products that aren’t tainted with the clearing of forests, the destruction of peatlands or the exploitation of workers — known collectively as “no deforestation, no peat, no exploitation” policies. But two of these companies’ suppliers, Arma International and Pacific Oils and Fats, are controlled by the Hayel Saeed Anam Group. PepsiCo, Mars and Unilever purchased palm oil from the Arma International, according to lists of suppliers released by the food producers. And Nestlé said that it bought palm oil from Pacific Oils and Fats. Greenpeace published a report in March questioning whether these and other high-profile companies that have made no-deforestation pledges…

from Conservation news https://ift.tt/2Kmr1tM
via IFTTT