Asian rainforests in countries like Malaysia and Indonesia are being chopped down and burnt so that palm oil can be grown instead.
This is a big problem. Those rainforests are ancient; some of the oldest rainforests on the planet. They are home to incredible tree species and plants. These trees and plants in turn support all kinds of amazing animals such as butterflies the size of plates, orangutans, rafflesia flowers, clouded leopards, rhinoceros hornbills, Sumatran tigers, Sumatran rhinoceros and Bornean elephants.
When the rainforests are chopped down and turned into palm oil plantations the amazing rainforest animals have no where to go. Their homes are lost forever and they die.
This cartoon explains what is going on.
Palm oil is being planted everywhere because it provides cheap oil that is being shipped around the world for foods and all kinds of products.
Click here to watch a video where I tell the story of ‘The Wild Treehouse of Borneo’ about palm oil and the rainforests and animals. It was given to us from a friend who visited the island.
We can help!! We can cook food that doesn’t contain palm oil. We can also stop buying palm oil. Palm oil is in all sorts of foods from bread, to shampoo, to pizzas, to stock cubes. But some companies are removing it from their products.
Can you help us by telling us about foods and products that don’t contain palm oil? Then we can be sure to avoid them and all help save these amazing forests and their stunning animal species.
So far we have found out that Divine chocolate, Cadbury’s Bounty, Essentials peanut butter, Doritos original and tangy cheese, Morrison’s Sourdough mozzarella, tomato and pesto pizza and KP honey roast peanuts don’t contain palm oil. All Iceland home-brand food does not contain palm oil.