Tag Archives: Palm oil

Urge the President of Indonesia to stop the fires in Indonesia’s Tripa Swamp forest

Over ninety-two fires burn out of control in the Tripa swamp rainforest of Indonesia—home to one of the largest remaining populations of wild orangutans in the world. The fires now ablaze in Tripa started as palm oil companies rushed to clear forests once they realized that community groups had gone to court to try and stop their plantation expansion.
Sumatran orangutans could be completely wiped out if these fires are allowed to continue. We must all take collective action now to save these orangutans.
Demand that the president of Indonesia declare a state of emergency in Tripa and deploy firefighting units immediately to stop the burning.
The current crisis in Tripa could have been avoided with greater palm oil expansion oversight and attention to forest protection, species conservation and community rights.
President Yudhoyono stated this past September, “I will continue my work and dedicate the last three years of my term as president to deliver enduring results that will sustain and enhance the environment and forests of Indonesia.”
Please hold Indonesia’s president to his word. Urge President Yudhoyono to order palm oil companies to cease the burning of Tripa immediately.
Thank you for your rapid response to this urgent crisis.

		For the forests,
		Lindsey Allen Forest Program Director Twitter: @probwithpalmoil #savetripa

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Are you connected to rainforest destruction? …Ashley Schaeffer, Rainforest Action Network

09/22/2011 Nativegrl77

Until recently, very few consumers had even heard of palm oil—much less understood that the expansion of palm oil plantations is one of the biggest causes of rainforest destruction in the world today.

Most people still have no idea that rainforest destroying palm oil is in roughly 50% of packaged goods sold on grocery store shelves.

Please share the infographic below to spread awareness about the problem with palm oil and help build public demand for sustainable options.

Awareness is the first crucial step to building necessary pressure on corporations like Cargill that will transform how business gets done in the palm oil industry and the fate of Indonesia’s rainforests.

Share RAN’s new palm oil infographic with everyone you know. Email it, blog it, tweet it, Facebook it!

Thank you for empowering the people in your life with the knowledge they need to protect the world’s forests.

For the forests,

Ashley Schaeffer
Rainforest Agribusiness Campaigner
Twitter: @probwithpalmoil

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Ask Michelle Obama to Help Girl Scouts Save Rainforests

04/19/2011 Nativegrl77

It’s been almost a month since Girl Scouts Madi & Rhiannon asked for your help in their campaign to remove rainforest destroying palm oil from Girl Scout cookies.

After receiving a stunning 70,000 letters, Girl Scouts USA is now issuing a stock reply that lets us know they are paying attention, but their response contains only baby steps in the right direction. While still refusing to meet with Madi & Rhiannon, their spokeswoman recently stated, “we all want the girls to stand up for what they believe in. They’re trying to make changes, and we applaud them for that.”  

Unfortunately, applauding won’t protect rainforests, CEO Cloninger. We think it’s time for an intervention by Girl Scouts USA Honorary President Michelle Obama.

www.ran.org

Will you join us in asking Michelle Obama to use her influence as Honorary President of Girl Scouts USA to make Girl Scout cookies rainforest friendly by next cookie season?

For Earth Day 2010, Michelle Obama told a group of children that the Obama household is “trying to save the tigers,” a request her daughter Malia frequently makes of her father.

The critically endangered Sumatran tiger is at risk of extinction. Logging to grow the palm oil now found in nearly every Girl Scout cookie, is largely to blame. The connections between industrial-scale palm oil plantations, tiger extinction and Girl Scout cookies are clear.

For Earth Day 2011, help us turn up the volume on our message to Girl Scouts USA by asking Michelle Obama to demand Girl Scout cookies be rainforest safe.

Thanks for your help getting controversial palm oil linked to tiger extinction out of Girl Scout cookies!

For the forests,

Ashley Schaeffer

Rainforest Agribusiness Campaigner

Twitter: @probwithpalmoil

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Girl Scout Cookies

04/15/2011 Nativegrl77

Yes, we love Girl Scout cookies. They support the important work of the Girl Scouts, and they’re ridiculously tasty.

Here’s the problem: Almost every type of Girl Scout cookie contains palm oil, which is commonly harvested through the clearing and burning of irreplaceable tropical rainforests.

This method harms the global ecosytem, endangers local indigenous populations, and threatens the survival of orangutans, humankind’s closest relative.

It would be easy to change — Girl Guides, an equivalent organization in the United Kingdom, recently eliminated palm oil from its cookies and has even offered Girl Scouts USA help to do the same.

Girl Scouts Madison Vorva and Rhiannon Tomtishen, both 15-year-olds from Michigan are urging Girl Scouts USA to make the switch. Click here to add your name to their petition.

Five years ago, while doing research for a Girl Scouts Bronze Award, Madison and Rhiannon were horrified to learn that the cookies they sold contributed to this serious global problem. The two girls have written letters and made presentations to Girl Scouts USA, and even launched something called Project ORANGS (Orangutans Really Need and Appreciate Girl Scouts).

These girls are the embodiment of the Girl Scouts’ mission to build “girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place.” But instead of becoming poster children for the organization, Girl Scouts USA is still giving their campaign the run-around.

Madison and Rhiannon need our support. They’ve launched a campaign on Change.org with the help of the Rainforest Action Network. Please sign their petition today:

http://www.change.org/petitions/make-girl-scout-cookies-rainforest-safe?alert_id=SkDUpVJLTF_YKVwqoGhho&me=aa

Thanks for taking action,

– Judith and the Change.org team

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

We are here for a reason …a message from RAN

12/22/2010 Nativegrl77

With your help, RAN fights for forests like nobody else. With your support, we win. Make your tax-deductible year-end gift today.

Six months ago, I took on the job of leading this amazing and unbelievably committed organization—Rainforest Action Network.

Since then, not a day has gone by that I haven’t felt the weight of what my job means. We are on the front line of a fight that will determine what kind of world we live in, and what kind of world we leave behind. Every single day I am challenged. Excited. Honored.

Every day, my purpose is absolutely clear to me: to stand in solidarity with communities around the globe and do everything I can to protect the earth’s forests and climate.

I know I’m not the only one. I know you care very deeply about the same things. This is the time of year to make good on our commitments, and one way you can do this is by supporting Rainforest Action Network with a tax-deductible year-end contribution.

RAN is no ordinary organization–but you probably know that. We take on the biggest, most well-funded polluters and exploiters in the world–oil, coal, agribusiness and timber corporations–and we win. It sometimes takes years, but we persist, we fight, we organize, and we absolutely refuse to give up.

It took two years, but we finally forced eight major banks to acknowledge their role in destroying Appalachian communities and agree to severely limit funding of mountaintop removal. It took thousands of RAN activists speaking out, but this summer General Mills agreed to stop harming Indigenous communities and fragile ecosystems by sourcing only responsibly produced palm oil.

That’s what it takes to create change. It takes time, it takes courage, it takes passion–it takes RAN, and it takes you.

These victories are exactly what you support when you contribute to RAN. Unlike many organizations, we never take money from big business. We have no government money. This independence is what allows us to speak the truth no matter the consequences. It is the right thing to do, and it’s why RAN is here.

With victories though, comes increased opposition, and our opposition has deep, deep pockets. RAN’s annual budget is pocket change compared to the multi-national corporations who’d like to see us fail. That’s why your support matters so very much to RAN. We can’t keep this up without you.

So thank you in advance for your support. And thank you for being a part of Rainforest Action Network, for sharing our vision and our passion, and for fighting every single day for a just and thriving earth.