DON'T PALM US OFF - Zoos Victoria

DON’T PALM US OFF
You can help save orang-utans from extinction.
Speak up for your right to choose food products
that don’t destroy orang-utan habitat.
Orang-utans in South-east Asia are facing
rapid extinction. Palm oil production is
the single biggest threat to their survival.
You may be unknowingly contributing to
the destruction of orang-utan habitat as
currently it is not compulsory to label palm
oil in Australia.
Zoos Victoria’s Don’t Palm Us Off
campaign aims to drive the introduction
of palm oil labelling to give Australian
consumers the choice.

Zoos Victoria is committed to Fighting Extinction
The United Nations has warned that orang-utans could be extinct
within a generation. You have the right to know if the products you buy
contain palm oil. You have the right to choose food products that won’t
push orang-utans to extinction but currently you don’t have that choice.
WHAT’S THE STORY?
The single biggest threat to the survival of
orang-utans is the unsustainable production
of palm oil. Its rampant cultivation is
destroying rainforest habitat at an alarming
rate. The simple fact is that Australian
consumers can’t tell whether they are
contributing to this crisis because palm oil is
not clearly labelled on most food products
– instead it is often grouped under the
misleading category of ‘vegetable oil’.
Since late 2009, Zoos Victoria’s Don’t Palm
Us Off campaign has advocated for the
mandatory labelling of palm oil in all food
products in Australia and New Zealand.
CAMPAIGN OBJECTIVES
Don’t Palm Us Off aims to:
+ Raise public awareness about the palm
oil crisis, exposing the link between food
products and the risk to orang-utan
survival in the wild
+ Change food labelling legislation in
Australia and New Zealand to mandate
the labelling of palm oil on all food
products
+ Create a market for certified sustainable
palm oil (CSPO) by giving consumers
their right to choose products that don’t
push orang-utans to extinction.
FACILITATING CONSERVATION ACTION
In the first 12 months, Don’t Palm Us Off
collected petition signatures from the public
demanding their right to clearly identify palm
oil in products through mandatory labelling.
The many thousands of signatures collected
highlight the widespread community concern
about this hidden ingredient. Zoos Victoria
has continued to offer our community
targeted actions to maintain pressure on
government and food manufacturers, whilst
profiling product brands who have taken
positive steps to ensure responsible and clear
labelling. Zoos Victoria has provided a strong
voice for the community’s concerns and will
continue to fight for transparent palm oil
labelling in Australia and New Zealand, in
order to drive a market for CSPO.
ACHIEVEMENTS
+ Inspired more than 160,000 petition
signatures demanding mandatory palm
oil labelling
+ Increased the availability of orangutan
friendly products on supermarket
shelves (including Country Life Soaps and
Orange Power cleaning products)
+ Motivated large organisations to commit
to CSPO by 2015 – Unilever and
Woolworths confirmed their decision
was prompted by the rise in community
awareness as a result of Don’t Palm us Off
and the work of WWF
+ Independent Senator Nick Xenophon
introduced the Truth in Labelling (Palm
Oil) Bill 2009, calling for the mandatory
labelling of palm oil, inspired by Don’t
Palm Us Off – to be reintroduced in 2012
+ Zoos Victoria was awarded the 2011
Banksia Environmental Foundation
People’s Choice Award, reinforcing the
continued strong public support for the
issue.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
You can voice your opinion on behalf of
orang-utans and exercise your right as an
informed consumer by demanding the right
to know whether your purchases are driving
orang-utans to extinction:
+ Write to your local Member of Parliament
and request that he or she support the
mandatory labelling of palm oil
+ Write to your favourite food manufacturers
asking them to source CSPO, and to
clearly label palm oil products
+ Download a palm oil ingredient card to
help identify misleading descriptions used
for palm oil on food products.
www.zoo.org.au/palmoil
Supporters
Aukland Zoo
National Zoo
Perth Zoo
Taronga Conservation Society
Zoos South Australia
IMAGES
Front: The production of palm oil is the
single biggest threat to South-east Asian
rainforests. Orang-utans are a flagship
for the survival of these rainforests.
Photo: Zoos Victoria.
Below top: Don’t Palm us Off has
attracted high profile celebrity support.
Photo: Zoos Victoria.
Below bottom: Don’t Palm us Off was
announced as the winner of the Banksia
Environmental Foundation People’s Choice
Award 2011, highlighting the public’s
endorsement of this advocacy campaign.
FIND OUT MORE
Community Conservation
Zoos Victoria
takeaction@zoo.org.au
(03) 9340 2744
www.zoo.org.au/palmoil
Zoos Victoria is a not-for-profit, zoo based conservation organisation.
We are Fighting Extinction through our local and global conservation programs,
research projects and community conservation campaigns. For more information
on this or any other Zoos Victoria project, visit www.zoo.org.au/conservation
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