EU support Orangutans and other rainforest species with new food labelling legislation

Posted by Bronwen Maher on July 28, 2011 at 04:14 PM

Recently the Parliament agreed a piece of legislation I have been working on almost since I was first elected two years ago, but which will now see the EU extend it's support to Orangutans and other rainforest species in Asia as a direct result of my intervention.

Currently, food producers label their products as using 'vegetable oil', without the need to specify the type of oil they use. This is important because some types of oil can be a lot more destructive than others- Palm Oil, which is grown primarily in Indonesia and Borneo, is cultivated on an industrial scale using land which had been lush Asian rainforest. The trees which were felled to produce this land had been home to many diverse species which have subsequently become threatened, including the Orangutan. However public pressure has been building in Europe for palm-oil producing companies to be more responsible and, with Palm Oil set to be labeled on packs, consumers will now know exactly what they are eating and what environmental effects it is having.

Dr Lesley Dickie, Executive Director of the European Association of Zoos commented that "This version of the proposed Regulation, by ensuring the mandatory labelling of palm oil, contributes to protecting tropical forests and the apes that live in them."

To support the Ape Campaign and become involved in the fight to protect endangered species, visit this address- http://www.apecampaign.org/

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