The Ecologist
Indonesia’s largest palm oil and pulp group, Sinar Mas, is continuing to destroy rainforests and peatland despite promises to end the practice
A major supplier of palm oil and pulp (paper) to multinationals, including food giant Cargill, has been caught clearing orang-utan habitats and carbon-rich peatlands.
The Sinar Mas group, which has supplied palm oil to Nestlé, Kraft and Unilever, had previously promised to clean up its act and claims it doesn’t touch peatland or forests of ‘high conservation value’.
However, a Greenpeace investigation has photographed plant operators clearing rainforest in peatland areas (illegal in Indonesia since 2007) and in a known orang-utan habitat.
Confidential documents obtained by the NGO also reveal that the company has ambitions to expand further into rainforest and peatland areas, which store vast amounts of carbon that is released into the atmosphere when they are burnt in preparation for plantations.