24 Apr 09

Saving the Sumatran Rhino: Is ‘Sustainable Palm Oil’ Just Another Corporate Buzz Word?

Sumatran Rhinos are in danger of becoming extinct sooner rather than later: Only about 200 individuals are still surviving.

In addition to continued poaching (fueled by the thriving illegal rhino horn market in China), habitat destruction for palm oil in Indonesia and Malaysia is taking its toll on this fragile species.

To make matters worse, the habitat destruction may not be curtailed any time soon, if accusations that the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) is merely a “corporate shield” for business as usual turn out to be true.

Because sustainability criteria still remain “controversial”, some conservation groups are questioning the motives of Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) member companies.

Novi Hardianto stated in a Center for Orangutan Protection press release that

It has been six years after RSPO was put into operation but forests are still cleared and orangutans are continually killed. Ironically, this was carried out by RSPO members. All criteria on sustainable palm oil and certification process are merely public lies.

There’s more. An excerpt from an “international declaration against the greenwashing of palm oil” states the following:

The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) – a voluntary certification process
promoted by large NGOs and industry – is an initiative contrary to peoples’ interests.
Declarations by actors involved in RSPO such as the Indonesian Palm Producers
Association (GAPKI), give a clear picture showing that it is a tool for the expansion of
the palm oil business and not an authentic strategy to contain its environmental and
social impacts.

While RSPO member companies have made “public” commitments to “sustainable” palm oil, the reality is that these changes, if indeed they are made, are several years away - 2012 at the earliest.

Unfortunately, Sumatran Rhinos do not have the luxury of time – and 2012 may be too late.

Rhishja Cota-Larson

I am the founder of Saving Rhinos LLC, which publishes news and information about the global rhino crisis. Besides writing Rhino Horn is Not Medicine, I am the author of the book Murder, Myths & Medicine, the Editor of Project Pangolin, and a writer for the environmental news blog Planetsave. When I'm not blogging about the illegal wildlife trade, I like to rock out to live music.

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