On World Rainforest Day what can we do at home to help save the Rainforests? It is surprising how few people realize that we are all responsible for rainforest destruction. Most of our food products contain palm oil much of which could be substituted with an alternative ingredient.
The palm oil Industry in Indonesia and Malaysia accounts for a vast amount of Rainforest destruction, displacing wild animal habitat like the Orangutan and Tapir. Do we all check the back of the packets when we buy food? It is appalling how much of our food continues to include palm oil. To name and shame a few Mc Vities digestive buscuits, Bertolli butter spread, Nairns oat cakes, most margarine spreads have palm oil in the UK and US but in France you can buy butter spreads that are marked Sans Huile de Palm. Why don’t they do that in England and the US? Because we are not demanding it! We all need to write to our favourite biscuit and butter spread manufacturers and demand they use an alternative to palm oil. There is no such thing as sustainable palm oil. The Rainforest was cut down when they planted the palm trees end of story. All we do is encourage them to continue by buying their products.
Palm oil is a globally traded agricultural commodity that is used in 50 percent of all consumer goods, from lipstick and packaged food to body lotion and biofuels. Palm oil is used in about half of the products on supermarket shelves, palm oil imports to the U.S. have jumped 485% in the last decade, pushing palm oil cultivation into the rainforests and making this crop one of the key causes of rainforest destruction around the globe.
Approximately 85 percent of palm oil is grown in the tropical countries of Indonesia, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea (PNG) on industrial plantations that have severe impacts on the environment, forest peoples the wildlife and the climate.
https://www.ran.org/palm_oil_fact_sheet/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIta_rpe—AIVw7TtCh14NgHKEAAYAiAAEgJ3uPD_BwE
https://www.rainforest-rescue.org/topics/palm-oil
We can’t do much about the Rainforest that is cut down in Brazil other than support the conservation groups fighting to preserve them. The Amazon Rainforest is destroyed mainly for cattle ranches but also for mining.
The Amazon Rainforest absorbs one-fourth of the CO2 absorbed by all the land on Earth. The amount absorbed today, however, is 30% less than it was in the 1990s because of deforestation. A major motive for deforestation is cattle ranching. China, the United States, and other countries have created a consumer demand for beef, so clearing land for cattle ranching can be profitable—even if it is illegal. The demand for pastureland, as well as cropland for food such as soybeans, makes it difficult to protect forest resources.
12 Major Companies Responsible for Deforestation of Rainforests:
Cargill, BlackRock, Wilmar International Ltd, Walmart, JBS, IKEA, Korindo Group PT, Yakult Honsha Co Ltd, Starbucks, Mc Donalds, Yum! Brands, Procter & Gamble [P&G], Ahold Delhaize.
https://earth.org/major-companies-responsible-for-deforestation/
Deforestation of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil has surged to its highest level since 2008, the country’s space agency (Inpe) reports.
A total of 11,088 sq km (4,281 sq miles) of rainforest were destroyed from August 2019 to July 2020. This is a 9.5% increase from the previous year.
The Amazon is a vital carbon store that slows down the pace of global warming.
Scientists say it has suffered losses at an accelerated rate since Jair Bolsonaro took office in January 2019.
The Brazilian president has encouraged agriculture and mining activities in the world’s largest rainforest.
The Amazon is home to about three million species of plants and animals, and one million indigenous people.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-55130304
Sumatran Tiger in a Banyan Tree
Conservation Groups fighting to protect the Rainforest:
The Rainforest Trust:
Fauna and Flora International:
https://www.fauna-flora.org/support/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMItPDq0_e–AIVF-vtCh2mCgx9EAAYASAAEgK3EPD_BwE
World Land Trust:
https://www.worldlandtrust.org/appeals/buy-an-acre/
There are many others but these are the groups I support and trust. World Land Trust actually buys Rainforest land so you can help buy Rainforest to protect it.
A percentage from the sale of my Rainforest paintings is donated to these Rainforest Conservation Groups.