The RSPO, in part, calls palm oil sustainable if produced from land cleared before 2005. The Roundtable of Sustainable Palm Oil or RSPO was formed in 2004 in response to increasing concerns about the impacts palm oil was having on the environment and on society. Palm oil is in many of the items we eat and use every day. In fact, about 50% of the packaged foods in your typical supermarket contain palm oil. Orangutans Are Hanging On in the Same Palm Oil Plantations That Displace Them. Although mostly arboreal, males in Borneo occasionally travel on the ground to move between stands of trees. Global production and demand for palm oil is increasing rapidly. Orangutans prefer eating fruits that have a fatty pulp. Palm oil and its derivatives have … In some regions, orangutans also occasionally eat soil, thus ingesting minerals that perhaps neutralize the high quantities of toxic tannins and acids in … The RSPO, in part, calls palm oil sustainable if produced from land cleared before 2005. What is The Orangutan Project's position on palm oil and the RSPO? Orangutans are known as gardeners of the forest, because they help spread seeds around. Palm oil is the most consumed oil in the world. Palm oil and its derivatives have more than 50 different names on product labels. ... Orang-utans also pull up oil palm trees and eat them, because the flesh is very sweet – they can be a real pest for the plantations. It is estimated that between 1,000 to 5,000 orangutans are killed each year in oil palm concessions. Every year it is estimated that between 1,000 to 5,000 orangutans are killed in Palm Oil concessions. The demand for palm oil is increasing, both in Indonesia and globally. Orangutans are in trouble in the wild. Orangutan bones are secretly traded in souvenir shops in several cities in Kalimantan, Indonesia. If we boycott palm oil, another crop will take its place. Palm oil can be produced more sustainably and things can change. It does not seem effective or realistic to boycott. The RSPO has a production standard that sets best practices producing and sourcing palm oil, and it has the buy-in of most of the global industry. Palm oil is used for cooking, cosmetics, mechanics, and biodiesel. On May 1, the world’s largest consumer goods company Unilever pledged it would switch to palm oil that did not sign a death warrant for orangutans. TOP therefore has a firmer approach and will not support palm oil that comes from the islands of Borneo or Sumatra. Most of their lives are spent in trees where they travel from branch to branch by climbing, clambering, and swinging. Orangutans discard the skin, eat the flesh, and spit out the seeds, acting as major seed dispersers for this fruit as well as for many others. However this still could of been orangutan habitat, killing orangutans. Palm oil plantations are responsible for the clearing of hundreds of thousands of acres of orangutan habitat. What is The Orangutan Project's position on palm oil and the RSPO? Their forest homes are being destroyed to make way for palm oil plantations. Losing habitats because the forests they are living in being cleared is the biggest contributor to the animal’s population decline. “In the forest of Kinabatangan, wild orangutans feed on … Not only is Palm Oil bad for the environment, and a major cause of climate change, but it is also the leading cause of orangutan extinction. Answer to: Do orangutans eat palm oil? “Orangutans need a very diverse diet to survive,” Ancrenaz explained. For instance, Denmark imports more than 150,000 tons of palm oil annually despite an intensified international focus on the environmental consequences of palm oil. By signing up, you'll get thousands of step-by-step solutions to your homework questions. Orangutans may be killed for the bushmeat trade, crop protection, or for use for traditional medicine. If grown the right way – sustainably – palm oil can be the best choice for vegetable oil. Forest clearing for palm oil plantations and illegal logging are driving massive deforestation.