Sharp criticism for Indonesian-Malay advertising campaign for palm-oil in Europe

The Society for Threatened Peoples (GfbV) sharply criticised on Thursday an advertising campaign of Indonesia and Malaysia for the use of palm-oil as bio fuel. "Instead of playing down the destruction of the rain forest and the habitat of the native inhabitants living there the two countries should rather use the money for the implementation of their own laws for the protection of the forests”, said the GfbV Asia expert, Ulrich Delius. Indonesia and Malaysia produce 83 percent of the palm-oil sold in the world and they intend to extend production.

At the outset of the publicity campaign, which is intended to prevent further losses in turnover in the export of palm-oil, the Malaysian Minister for Plantations, Peter Chin Fah Kui, travelled to Europe at the beginning of June to Brussels, London and The Hague. He complained that the criticism of environmental and human rights organisations in Europe has caused a drop in the use of palm-oil for energy purposes by 500,000 tons.

Reports on massive damage to the environment through the extension of the oil-palm plantation economy were termed by Indonesia and Malaysia as "disinformation”. Research by the GfbV shows however that more than 300 indigenous peoples – as the native communities are called – are acutely threatened by the extension of the oil-palm plantations.

Criticism comes not only from the environmental and human rights organisations. The World Bank also warned in a report published in June on the consequences of the climate change for Indonesia of an extension of the oil-palm plantations. This report states: "Historically the production of palm-oil is one of the most important reasons for the destruction of the rain forest.” The amount of land needed for new plantations is enormous. At least seven million hectares are to be used for the planting of oil-palms by the year 2011. The estimates of the World Bank show that about two million hectares of forest are lost to forest fires and illegal tree-felling in Indonesia every year. The deforestation is responsible to 85% for the fact that after China and the USA Indonesia has become the third largest producer of greenhouse gases.

An eco-certificate for palm-oil, developed for the Office for Renewable Raw Materials of the German Ministry of Agriculture and published at the beginning of June, was termed by the GfbV as "pure eyewash”. "It is absurd and naive to demand a certificate for the protection of species from the producers in a country in which not even the local authorities keep to the provisions for the protection of the rain forest of the central government”, said Delius. Indonesia has already lost 72% of its rain forest and loses a further 1.4 thousand million dollars worth of income from illegal tree-felling. "In a country in which every hour more than 300 football-fields of rain forest are felled mainly in illegal operations it is not realistic to push for a credible eco-certificate”.

The illegal deforestation is encouraged by various interests of the central government and regional authorities. In many cases regional authorities grant permission for deforestation to fill their own coffers although they are supposed to be there to protect the forest. The regional authorities receive 80% of the proceeds of the timber activity and they are also responsible for all agricultural projects.