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  1. Misterio Shader Brushes for Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Affinity, and Procreate

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    Pixelbuddha’s latest release challenges everything designers think they know about digital shading. The Misterio shader brushes arrive at a moment when most digital artists still wrestle with flat, lifeless gradients. Meanwhile, the demand for tactile, authentic texture has never been higher. These 18 brushes don’t just add noise to your artwork. Instead, they introduce what we’ll call Cryptographic Shading — a methodology where each stroke reveals information gradually, building atmospheric depth through calculated randomness.

    Download the brushes from Creative Market

    What Makes Misterio Shader Brushes Different From Traditional Digital Brushes?

    Most brush packs throw tools at designers without philosophy. Consequently, artists accumulate hundreds of brushes they never use. The Misterio collection operates differently. It presents a curated system built on a principle we can define as Textural Intentionality — the idea that every mark should contribute to narrative depth rather than decorative noise.

    The collection splits into two distinct families. First, fifteen noise brushes form the foundation. These tools manipulate light-shadow interplay through controlled chaos. Second, three pressure brushes respond to stylus dynamics with remarkable sensitivity. However, Adobe Illustrator users should note that pressure brushes remain incompatible with that platform.

    This division isn’t arbitrary. Furthermore, it reflects a deeper understanding of how designers actually work. Noise brushes establish an atmospheric foundation. Pressure brushes add gestural authenticity. Together, they create what we term Layered Authenticity — the visual quality that separates professional work from amateur attempts.

    Pixelbuddha’s Misterio Shader Brushes for Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Affinity Designer, and Procreate Download the brushes from Creative Market

    The Science Behind Shader Brush Technology

    Traditional digital shading relies on algorithmic gradients. These produce mathematically perfect transitions that paradoxically feel artificial. The human eye evolved to read natural light scattering. Consequently, perfectly smooth gradients trigger subtle cognitive dissonance.

    Misterio brushes solve this through strategic imperfection. Each noise brush contains carefully calibrated irregularity patterns. Moreover, these patterns simulate how light actually behaves in physical media. Paint absorbs into paper fibers unevenly. Graphite catches on the tooth texture randomly. Digital tools typically erase these “flaws.” The Misterio approach embraces them.

    Cross-Platform Compatibility: Why Universal Tools Matter Now

    The shader brushes work across four major platforms: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator (CC and CS6), Affinity (both vector and raster modes), and Procreate. This compatibility matters more than specifications suggest.

    Modern creative workflows rarely stay within a single application. A logo starts in Illustrator. Therefore, textures get added in Photoshop. Final touches happen in Procreate during client meetings. Designers who maintain consistent tools across platforms save cognitive energy. They develop muscle memory once, rather than learning different brushes for each program.

    Additionally, cross-platform tools future-proof your workflow. Software changes constantly. However, a brush set that works everywhere reduces platform dependency. You’re investing in capability rather than software-specific tricks.

    Understanding the Fifteen Noise Brushes

    The noise brush collection deserves closer examination. These aren’t random texture generators. Instead, each brush embodies specific materiality concepts.

    Some replicate paper grain interaction. Others simulate charcoal dust distribution. Several mimic watercolor bloom patterns. The variety enables what we call Material Code-Switching — the ability to shift between different physical media references within purely digital work.

    This matters because contemporary design increasingly values hybrid aesthetics. Clients want digital efficiency with analog warmth. They expect quick turnarounds without sacrificing tactile quality. Noise brushes bridge this contradiction effectively.

    Furthermore, these brushes enhance depth perception through subtle texture variation. Flat color areas feel closer to viewers. Textured regions recede visually. By controlling texture density, designers manipulate spatial relationships without traditional perspective techniques.

    The Three Pressure Brushes: Gestural Intelligence

    Pressure sensitivity transforms digital brushes from stamps into instruments. The three pressure brushes in Misterio respond to stylus pressure with sophisticated nuance. Light touches create delicate marks. Heavy pressure produces bold, dense strokes. This range enables genuine gestural expression.

    Many designers underestimate pressure brushes. They assume any pressure-sensitive tool works similarly. Actually, implementation quality varies dramatically. Poor pressure curves feel mushy or abrupt. Well-designed curves feel like natural extensions of hand movement.

    Misterio’s pressure brushes demonstrate refined curve design. The response feels intuitive rather than requiring mental adjustment. Consequently, designers can focus on artistic decisions instead of tool management. This psychological shift proves more valuable than technical specifications suggest.

    Introducing the Veil Technique: A New Shader Methodology

    Through extensive testing, a particular working method emerged. We call it the Veil Technique. This approach layers noise brushes at varying opacities to build cumulative atmospheric effects.

    Traditional shading adds highlights and shadows directly. The Veil Technique instead builds translucent texture layers. Each layer subtly modifies underlying tones. After several passes, complex tonal relationships emerge organically. The result resembles traditional media more closely than standard digital rendering.

    Here’s how it works practically. Start with base colors blocked in flatly. Next, select a noise brush and reduce opacity to 15-20%. Then, build up texture gradually through multiple strokes. Finally, use pressure brushes for accent marks and focal emphasis.

    This methodology encourages patient layering over instant results. Moreover, it produces work that withstands close inspection. Zooming reveals texture detail rather than exposing digital flatness.

    Why Adobe Illustrator Users Face Limitations

    The pressure brush incompatibility with Illustrator deserves explanation. Illustrator operates fundamentally differently from raster-based programs. It calculates vector mathematics rather than manipulating pixel grids. Pressure sensitivity requires raster-based rendering that Illustrator doesn’t natively support for brushes.

    This limitation doesn’t diminish the collection’s value for Illustrator users. The fifteen noise brushes still function perfectly. They add crucial texture to vector work. However, designers seeking full gestural control should work in Photoshop, Affinity Designer’s raster mode, or Procreate for those elements.

    Interestingly, this restriction encourages beneficial workflow segmentation. Keep vector work clean and geometric in Illustrator. Add organic texture in raster programs. This separation often produces stronger final results than trying to accomplish everything in one application.

    Affinity Designer: The Overlooked Advantage

    Affinity Designer’s dual vector-raster capability creates unique opportunities. Designers can switch between modes without changing applications. Therefore, Misterio brushes gain special utility in Affinity workflows.

    Work vectorially for structure and scalability. Then, switch to raster mode for texture application. This approach combines both worlds efficiently. Furthermore, Affinity’s performance often exceeds Adobe alternatives on identical hardware.

    The shader brushes perform identically across Affinity’s modes. This consistency eliminates the common problem of brushes behaving differently between programs. Designers develop confident muscle memory faster.

    Procreate Integration: Mobile Workflow Revolution

    Procreate transformed iPad illustration from a novelty to a professional tool. The Misterio shader brushes extend this capability further. Mobile design work no longer means compromising on texture quality.

    Many designers now start projects on iPad during commutes or travel. Consequently, having identical brushes across desktop and mobile platforms maintains workflow consistency. Sketches begun in Procreate transfer seamlessly to Photoshop for refinement.

    Additionally, Procreate’s brush engine handles the Misterio collection exceptionally well. Pressure response feels natural. Noise patterns display accurately even on smaller screens. This reliable performance encourages genuine mobile productivity rather than mere sketching.

    The Mystery Metaphor: Philosophy Meets Function

    Pixelbuddha named this collection deliberately. Mystery implies gradual revelation. Each brush stroke reveals partial information. Full understanding emerges through accumulated marks. This metaphor extends beyond marketing into actual usage patterns.

    Working with these brushes encourages exploratory experimentation. Designers discover unexpected texture combinations. Random variations produce happy accidents. The tools reward curiosity over rigid planning.

    Moreover, the mystery theme acknowledges creative truth. Great work often surprises its creator. Rigid control produces predictable results. Controlled chaos enables discovery. The Misterio brushes facilitate this productive uncertainty.

    Predicting Future Shader Brush Evolution

    Looking forward, several trends seem inevitable. First, AI will increasingly generate base imagery. However, human-applied texture will remain valuable for adding authenticity signals. Consequently, high-quality shader brushes become more important rather than obsolete.

    Second, cross-platform compatibility will grow more critical. Designers will expect tools that work everywhere without friction. Collections like Misterio establish this standard for competitors to match.

    Third, brushes will incorporate more sophisticated pressure curves and tilt responsiveness. Current tools only scratch the surface of stylus capability. Future iterations will likely offer deeper customization while maintaining intuitive defaults.

    Practical Application: Logo Design Case Study

    Consider logo design workflows. Traditional approaches keep logos purely vector for scalability. However, many contemporary brands embrace subtle texture. This creates presentation challenges.

    Using Misterio brushes, designers can create textured logo variations efficiently. Design the core mark in Illustrator. Then, export to Photoshop and apply noise brushes selectively. The texture adds warmth without compromising the vector original.

    Furthermore, this approach enables context-appropriate variations. Digital applications use clean vectors. Print materials incorporate texture for tactile appeal. The shader brushes make creating these variations quick rather than laborious.

    Editorial Illustration: Where Shaders Shine

    Editorial illustration demands rapid turnaround without sacrificing quality. Misterio brushes excel in this environment. They add professional polish quickly.

    Illustrators can establish mood through texture choices. Gritty noise patterns suit dystopian themes. Subtle grain adds vintage sophistication. The fifteen-brush variety provides enough range without overwhelming decision-making.

    Additionally, the brushes help meet tight deadlines. Instead of laboriously building texture manually, designers apply sophisticated shading in minutes. This efficiency matters when publications demand same-day revisions.

    The Economics of Premium Brush Collections

    Quality tools require investment. However, premium brush collections often deliver better value than free alternatives. Free brushes typically lack consistency and refinement. They require extensive testing to find usable options.

    Premium collections like Misterio offer curated quality. Every brush serves a specific purpose. Consequently, designers save time on experimentation. Time savings quickly offset financial costs for working professionals.

    Moreover, consistent quality across a collection enables reliable workflow development. Designers can create repeatable processes using known tools. This predictability proves invaluable when managing multiple projects simultaneously.

    Community Response and Professional Adoption

    Early adopters report significant workflow improvements. Many designers note reduced time spent achieving professional texture quality. Others appreciate the cross-platform consistency, enabling flexible working arrangements.

    Professional illustrators particularly value the pressure brush responsiveness. These tools enable genuine gestural expression that cheaper alternatives fail to match. Consequently, the finished work exhibits more authentic mark-making qualities.

    Download the brushes from Creative Market

    The design community increasingly recognizes that tool quality matters. Software subscriptions cost hundreds annually. Investing in premium brushes that enhance capabilities across all projects makes financial sense.

    Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ):

    Are Misterio shader brushes compatible with older Photoshop versions?

    The brushes work with recent Photoshop versions. However, very old versions may experience compatibility issues. Adobe CC users should encounter no problems.

    Can beginners use these brushes effectively?

    Absolutely. Moreover, quality tools often help beginners learn faster. The brushes produce professional results with basic application. This encourages continued experimentation and skill development.

    Do the noise brushes slow down program performance?

    Not significantly. Modern computers handle these brushes easily. However, extremely large canvas sizes with many layers might experience a slight slowdown on older hardware.

    Why are pressure brushes incompatible with Illustrator?

    Illustrator’s vector-based architecture doesn’t support the raster-based calculations required for pressure-sensitive brushes. This represents fundamental software design rather than brush collection limitations.

    How do Misterio brushes compare to Photoshop’s default texture brushes?

    Default brushes provide basic functionality. Misterio offers significantly more refined texture quality and better pressure response. The difference becomes obvious in finished work.

    Can these brushes replace all other texture tools?

    No single collection handles every situation. However, Misterio covers the majority of common shading needs. Most designers find them sufficient for everyday projects.

    What file formats do the brushes use?

    The collection includes appropriate formats for each supported platform. Photoshop receives .ABR files, Illustrator gets .AI brush files, and so forth. Installation follows standard procedures for each application.

    Do updates or new brushes get added over time?

    Pixelbuddha’s update policy varies by product. Check their website for specific information about the Misterio collection’s long-term support plans.

    Don’t hesitate to find other professional design templates here at WE AND THE COLOR.

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    By continuing, you accept the privacy policy #adobeIllustrator #adobePhotoshop #Affinity #Misterio #PixelBuddha #Procreate #shaderBrushes
  2. Eyewitness Story: The Last Village by Dr Setia Budhi

    A lone Dayak village in Borneo surrounded by palm oil plantations has held out for 14 years and resisted
    corporate infiltration by global palm oil giants. My name is Dr Setia Budhi, I am a Dayak ethnographer and human rights advocate. I visited this village recently to see how they were going.

    Pictured: The Barito River, the largest river in South Kalimantan Borneo by Aditya Perdana, Getty Images

    “#Dayaks DO NOT want their lands turned to #palmoil. 1. They depend on rainforests for food/weaving. 2. They don’t want their roaming area disturbed 3. They don’t want to lose their land.” Dr Setia Budhi #Boycottpalmoil 🤬🌴🚫 https://palmoildetectives.com/2022/11/02/eyewitness-story-by-dr-setia-budhi-the-last-village/ @palmoildetect.bsky.social

    Share to BlueSky Share to Twitter

    “In #Indonesia and #Malaysia’s media, people can’t distinguish #fact from #fiction. A positive narrative about #Dayaks and #palmoil is #greenwashing. This is NOT the lived reality for #Dayak people” @Setiabudhi18 #Boycottpalmoil 🌴🩸🧐⛔️ @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2022/11/02/eyewitness-story-by-dr-setia-budhi-the-last-village/

    Share to BlueSky Share to Twitter Original tweet

    Recently, I stayed a Ngaju Dayak village for 15 days

    During my visit I wrote a lot, chatted with villagers and visited palm oil farmers.

    This remote village is 125 km from downtown Banjarmasin. It’s a distance of about two hours by motorbike to arrive in a neighboring village and from then there, three hours by boat.

    Located on the banks of the Barito river, the people who live here are the Ngaju Dayak.

    Pictured: Dayak long house in Kalimantan, PxFuel.

    The first time I visited this village was 14 years ago in 2008

    Since then, I’ve always followed its development by reading the news. Especially interesting is the development that the villagers have refused the presence of palm oil plantations. They have refused to give up their lands to global corporate palm oil companies.

    Fourteen years ago, I thought that this village would eventually be besieged by the expansion of oil palm plantations. My suspicions were based on what happened in neighbouring villages. They had given up and accepted the omnipresence of palm oil. Many residents sold their land to the plantations.

    In these other towns, some residents work with palm oil companies in a cooperative way. Their land is planted with palm oil and they, as owners, work for the company for wages. Their activities include land-clearing, planting palm oil, along with fertilising and liming the soil.

    So these people work on their own land. At that time, their daily wages are around 50,000 rupiahs ($3.30 USD) per day.

    Pictured: Klotok traditional river boat on a river in Borneo by Guenterguni Getty Images

    There are three reasons why the villagers do not want their ancestral lands to become a palm oil plantation:

    1. They depend on the rainforest and peatlands for natural resources such as fisheries, agriculture and rattan weaving.

    2. They don’t want their roaming area to be disturbed.

    3. They don’t want to lose their land.

    By roaming area‟ you probably think of a suburban area near you. For Dayaks, their roaming area is vastly different.

    Clockwise: The Barito River: The largest river in South Kalimantan Borneo by Aditya Perdana Getty Images; Wooden Dayak village – Long Iram on the riverbank Mahakam river East Kalimantan, Indonesia. Getty Images; Nature in Annah Rais Sarawak, Malaysia by Nyiragongo Getty Images; Barito River -The largest river in South Kalimantan, Indonesia by Aditya Perdana Getty Images; Borneo’s spectacular rivers and rainforests; Getty Images; A group of beautiful Dayak Fruit Bats Dyacopterus spadiceus perched inside a hut at the Way Kambas National Park in Sumatra via Getty Images Signature collection.

    The Dayak people need a roaming area for hunting, fishing and foraging for herbs, building materials and medicines

    Pictured: Dayak family, Central Kalimantan by IndoMet licensed under CC BY 2.0

    The palm oil industry is an unstoppable global corporate juggernaut that has become increasingly greedy for land in the past ten years.

    When you hear about even a tiny piece of land that is about to be sold, global palm oil companies immediately and aggressively go after the land as buyers. They bargain and negotiate, driving the price down that they pay for the land – so the traditional landowners do not get paid what the land is really worth.

    Pictured: Plasma Poverty, a joint investigation by Gecko Project and the BBC into major supermarket brands like Mondelez and Nestle (RSPO members) who are stripping smallholder farmers of their share of profit for palm oil.

    To read the news in Indonesia and Malaysia is to read brazen lies and greenwashing about palm oil

    Reading news about palm oil is an astonishing experience that will fill you with confusion and incredulity. Your newsfeed will be brimming with stories about the greatness of oil palm and the welfare of farmers.

    Palm oil is considered “good” in a neoliberal sense of the financial and economic growth that it brings here as a country. Also palm oil is considered “good” as an environmentally-friendly and healthy ingredient for all to buy and consume.

    There is a flood of greenwashing news across all media channels: TV, online media, and social media channels celebrating the virtues of this enormously destructive ingredient. This false narrative emphasises palm oil as a method of “care for the environment‟.

    For this reason, nowadays I choose to distance myself from social media, as this content is dishonest about what palm oil is in reality.

    Fake news and greenwashing example: Dayak indigenous palm oil smallholders

    “Many of us grow rice, fruits and vegetables on our indigenous lands for survival and depend on the cash sales from oil palm fruits to buy what we cannot grow. Our oil palm trees empower us as indigenous peoples.”

    ‘Discrimination against palm oil is an injustice against indigenous people’, Borneo Today, 2018.

    The reality of palm oil is vastly different for Dayak peoples

    Reports carried out by news media in Borneo simulate the facts about the real events and the detrimental impact of palm oil on Dayak communities.

    We as the audience must remain constantly vigilant and aware that this is bad news.

    “An assistant manager came to my home. On that day my oldest son had fever. He said to my husband, “Your five hectares of land here is gone and two hectares here is gone. Go to the company and get your money.” My husband told them he doesn’t want to sell. Months later, while I was at my mother’s new house [in the plantation] and my husband was away in Malaysia, we heard a loud noise and could see smoke. I went to see, and it was crazy. My house was already burned. Everything was in there, my son’s bicycle, clothes, and all the wood we planned to build a house, all was gone.”

    ~ Francesca, a 28-year-old Iban Dayak mother of two, told Human Rights Watch about how she and her husband refused relocation. She said that company representatives torched her home, rendering them homeless. Story via Human Rights Watch

    Pictured: Rainforest on fire, Getty Images

    Pollution run-off in an RSPO member palm oil plantation in Sumatra. Craig Jones Wildlife PhotographyDeforestation for palm oil at ground level – Getty Images videoDeforestation for palm oil waste reservoirs- Getty Images

    The difficulty of addressing and resolving oil palm conflicts is due not only to the inadequacies of Indonesia’s legal framework regarding land and plantations but also to the way in which Indonesia’s informalized state institutions foster collusion between local power holders and palm oil companies. This collusion enables companies to evade regulation, suppress community protests and avoid engaging in constructive efforts to resolve conflicts. Furthermore, this collusion has made the available conflict resolution mechanisms largely ineffective.

    Anti-Corporate Activism and Collusion: The Contentious Politics of Palm Oil Expansion in Indonesia, (2022). Ward Berenschot, et. al., Geoforum, Volume 131, 2022, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2022.03.002

    With the palm oil narrative in Indonesia – many people can no longer distinguish the real from the fake, the fact from the simulation

    The media presents a seemingly diverse chorus of voices that all seem to be singing from the same songbook – all of them praising palm oil.

    Interviews with field officers, researchers, seminar recordings, podcasts, PR and advertising campaigns are backed financially by the palm oil industry to glaze over and greenwash the immense environmental and social impact of palm oil.

    Instead we are presented with a positive narrative about palm oil that offers improved living conditions for farmers. This is not the lived reality for Dayak people. We are told that palm oil is a lucrative crop that benefits the farmers. This is not the lived reality for Dayak people.

    Pictured: A Dayak woman weaves pandan in a traditional longhouse, PxFuel

    The greenwashing of palm oil deforestation intensifies as time goes on

    News articles and reports talk about how this country is preparing to deal with climate change, so as not to damage forests and also to save forests from deforestation.

    The news about child labour, child slavery and women working on oil palm plantations in horrific conditions gets little attention in media.

    News about customary Dayak lands that are seized for palm oil illegally or by force is online only momentarily and quickly disappears. These violations human rights are rendered invisible by the media in here.

    In our news hungry and busy world, most people don’t read beyond the headlines. The messy, corrupt and invisible world of massive land-clearing for palm oil goes on without the world knowing about it through the media. In the meantime, tropical rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia are silently disappearing.

    Deforestation by Sean Weston https://seanweston.co.uk

    The current era of fake news was predicted by Jean Baudrillard several decades ago

    When we can no longer distinguish the truth, the facts and the real from a news. This is Hyperreality.

    “The real has died and been replaced by Simulation”

    ~ Jean Baudrillard.

    This is what Jean Baudrillard called the era of Simulacra, Simulation, and Hyperreality. When the news plays with symbols, and the public who consume or read the news only see and know about the simulation, we are existing in Hyperreality, in a Simulacra.

    People who consume the news only know the simulation/ hyperreality in a Simulacra – Jean Baudrillard

    A Simulacra is a combination of values, facts, signs, images and codes. In this reality we no longer find references or representations except the simulacra itself.

    People who consume the news only know the simulation/ hyperreality in a Simulacra – Jean Baudrillard

    Image, originally tweeted by lookcaitlin (@lookcaitlin) on September 17, 2022.

    Greenwashing and denialism in the media about the environmental impact of palm oil

    A recent report by the World Health Organisation (WHO) found that the palm oil industry used the same aggressive tactics for greenwashing akin to the tobacco and alcohol industries. Read more

    https://vimeo.com/735353691

    https://vimeo.com/737272288

    Read WHO report

    Research studies of SE Asian media reporting on palm oil show a denialist and greenwashing narrative that is similar to climate change denialism i.e. climate change greenwashing.

    “We found that media reporting of the denialist narrative is more prevalent than that of the peer-reviewed science consensus-view that palm oil plantations on tropical peat could cause excessive greenhouse gas emissions and enhance the risk of fires.
    “Our article alerts to the continuation of unsustainable practices as justified by the media to the public, and that the prevalence of these denialist narratives constitute a significant obstacle in resolving pressing issues such as transboundary haze, biodiversity loss, and land-use change related greenhouse gas emissions in Southeast Asia.”

    ~ Liu, Felicia & Ganesan, Vignaa & Smith, Thomas. (2020). Contrasting communications of sustainability science in the media coverage of palm oil agriculture on tropical peatlands in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. Environmental Science & Policy. 114. 162-169. 10.1016/j.envsci.2020.07.004.

    Deforestation – Craig Jones Wildlife Photography Pictured clockwise: An orangutan grips helplessly onto a broken and destroyed tree, Craig Jones Wildlife Photography; River pollution, PxFuel; A freshly destroyed rainforest in Indonesia, Craig Jones Wildlife Photography; A vast and lifeless palm oil plantation, Greenpeace.

    Impact of the media Simulacrum on Dayak people

    Media coverage about the “goodness of palm oil” has a deep psychological impact on Dayak communities. In the news, this is where the simulation or simulacra begins to occur.

    Pictured: Dayak men in Kalimantan, Pxfuel.

    Some people cannot sort and distinguish the truth of the news content from the actual facts. Meanwhile, the village that I visited is still holding on to their traditional way of life – not to palm oil. This is the Last Village.

    Dayak people in the neighbouring village tell them how they have lost their fishing resources. That now, because of the palm oil run-off and pollution there are no more fish to catch. Their roaming area has become too narrow.

    They say: “Oh you are right! Keep on resisting the palm oil siege! For we are now labourers toiling for little money on our ancestral land.”

    Dr Setia Budhi, Barito River, 25, July 2022

    Further reading

    Liu, Felicia & Ganesan, Vignaa & Smith, Thomas. (2020). Contrasting communications of sustainability science in the media coverage of palm oil agriculture on tropical peatlands in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. Environmental Science & Policy. 114. 162-169. 10.1016/j.envsci.2020.07.004.

    Manzo, Kate & Padfield, Rory. (2016). Palm oil not polar bears: Climate change and development in Malaysian media. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers. 41. 10.1111/tran.12129.

    Morris J. Simulacra in the Age of Social Media: Baudrillard as the Prophet of Fake
    News. Journal of Communication Inquiry. 2021;45(4):319-336. doi:10.1177/0196859920977154

    Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing (1998). Under the Shadows of the Queen of Diamonds: The Process of Marginalization in Isolated Communities. Indonesian Torch Foundation, Jakarta.

    The Forest is the father, land is the mother and rivers are blood

    “That’s the spirituality of most Dayak people in Kalimantan. They understand the interdependent nature of everything in nature.”

    ~ Dr Setia Budhi : Dayak Ethnographer

    Read Dr Budhi’s story Read ‘The Orangutan with the Golden Hair’

    Pictured: Untouched rainforest, Sumatra. Craig Jones Wildlife Photography

    Here are some other ways you can help by using your wallet as a weapon and joining the #Boycott4Wildlife

    What is greenwashing?

    Read more

    Why join the #Boycott4Wildlife?

    Read more

    Greenwashing Tactic #4: Fake Labels

    Read more

    The Counterpunch: Consumer Solutions To Fight Extinction

    Read more

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    Palm Oil Detectives is 100% self-funded

    Palm Oil Detectives is completely self-funded by its creator. All hosting and website fees and investigations into brands are self-funded by the creator of this online movement. If you like what I am doing, you and would like me to help meet costs, please send Palm Oil Detectives a thanks on Ko-Fi.

    Say thanks on Ko-Fi

    Palm Oil Detectives is 100% self-funded

    Palm Oil Detectives is completely self-funded by its creator. All hosting and website fees and investigations into brands are self-funded by the creator of this online movement. If you like what I am doing, you and would like me to help meet costs, please send Palm Oil Detectives a thanks on Ko-Fi.

    Say thanks on Ko-Fi

    #Borneo #BoycottPalmOil #childLabour #childSlavery #conflictCommodity #Dayak #Dayaks #DrSetiaBudhi #fact #fiction #greenwashing #humanRights #hunger #IndigenousActivism #indigenousRights #Indonesia #landRights #landgrabbing #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #pollution #poverty #violence #waterPollution #workersRights

  3. Eyewitness Story: The Last Village by Dr Setia Budhi

    A lone Dayak village in Borneo surrounded by palm oil plantations has held out for 14 years and resisted
    corporate infiltration by global palm oil giants. My name is Dr Setia Budhi, I am a Dayak ethnographer and human rights advocate. I visited this village recently to see how they were going.

    Pictured: The Barito River, the largest river in South Kalimantan Borneo by Aditya Perdana, Getty Images

    “#Dayaks DO NOT want their lands turned to #palmoil. 1. They depend on rainforests for food/weaving. 2. They don’t want their roaming area disturbed 3. They don’t want to lose their land.” Dr Setia Budhi #Boycottpalmoil 🤬🌴🚫 https://palmoildetectives.com/2022/11/02/eyewitness-story-by-dr-setia-budhi-the-last-village/ @palmoildetect.bsky.social

    Share to BlueSky Share to Twitter

    “In #Indonesia and #Malaysia’s media, people can’t distinguish #fact from #fiction. A positive narrative about #Dayaks and #palmoil is #greenwashing. This is NOT the lived reality for #Dayak people” @Setiabudhi18 #Boycottpalmoil 🌴🩸🧐⛔️ @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2022/11/02/eyewitness-story-by-dr-setia-budhi-the-last-village/

    Share to BlueSky Share to Twitter Original tweet

    Recently, I stayed a Ngaju Dayak village for 15 days

    During my visit I wrote a lot, chatted with villagers and visited palm oil farmers.

    This remote village is 125 km from downtown Banjarmasin. It’s a distance of about two hours by motorbike to arrive in a neighboring village and from then there, three hours by boat.

    Located on the banks of the Barito river, the people who live here are the Ngaju Dayak.

    Pictured: Dayak long house in Kalimantan, PxFuel.

    The first time I visited this village was 14 years ago in 2008

    Since then, I’ve always followed its development by reading the news. Especially interesting is the development that the villagers have refused the presence of palm oil plantations. They have refused to give up their lands to global corporate palm oil companies.

    Fourteen years ago, I thought that this village would eventually be besieged by the expansion of oil palm plantations. My suspicions were based on what happened in neighbouring villages. They had given up and accepted the omnipresence of palm oil. Many residents sold their land to the plantations.

    In these other towns, some residents work with palm oil companies in a cooperative way. Their land is planted with palm oil and they, as owners, work for the company for wages. Their activities include land-clearing, planting palm oil, along with fertilising and liming the soil.

    So these people work on their own land. At that time, their daily wages are around 50,000 rupiahs ($3.30 USD) per day.

    Pictured: Klotok traditional river boat on a river in Borneo by Guenterguni Getty Images

    There are three reasons why the villagers do not want their ancestral lands to become a palm oil plantation:

    1. They depend on the rainforest and peatlands for natural resources such as fisheries, agriculture and rattan weaving.

    2. They don’t want their roaming area to be disturbed.

    3. They don’t want to lose their land.

    By roaming area‟ you probably think of a suburban area near you. For Dayaks, their roaming area is vastly different.

    Clockwise: The Barito River: The largest river in South Kalimantan Borneo by Aditya Perdana Getty Images; Wooden Dayak village – Long Iram on the riverbank Mahakam river East Kalimantan, Indonesia. Getty Images; Nature in Annah Rais Sarawak, Malaysia by Nyiragongo Getty Images; Barito River -The largest river in South Kalimantan, Indonesia by Aditya Perdana Getty Images; Borneo’s spectacular rivers and rainforests; Getty Images; A group of beautiful Dayak Fruit Bats Dyacopterus spadiceus perched inside a hut at the Way Kambas National Park in Sumatra via Getty Images Signature collection.

    The Dayak people need a roaming area for hunting, fishing and foraging for herbs, building materials and medicines

    Pictured: Dayak family, Central Kalimantan by IndoMet licensed under CC BY 2.0

    The palm oil industry is an unstoppable global corporate juggernaut that has become increasingly greedy for land in the past ten years.

    When you hear about even a tiny piece of land that is about to be sold, global palm oil companies immediately and aggressively go after the land as buyers. They bargain and negotiate, driving the price down that they pay for the land – so the traditional landowners do not get paid what the land is really worth.

    Pictured: Plasma Poverty, a joint investigation by Gecko Project and the BBC into major supermarket brands like Mondelez and Nestle (RSPO members) who are stripping smallholder farmers of their share of profit for palm oil.

    To read the news in Indonesia and Malaysia is to read brazen lies and greenwashing about palm oil

    Reading news about palm oil is an astonishing experience that will fill you with confusion and incredulity. Your newsfeed will be brimming with stories about the greatness of oil palm and the welfare of farmers.

    Palm oil is considered “good” in a neoliberal sense of the financial and economic growth that it brings here as a country. Also palm oil is considered “good” as an environmentally-friendly and healthy ingredient for all to buy and consume.

    There is a flood of greenwashing news across all media channels: TV, online media, and social media channels celebrating the virtues of this enormously destructive ingredient. This false narrative emphasises palm oil as a method of “care for the environment‟.

    For this reason, nowadays I choose to distance myself from social media, as this content is dishonest about what palm oil is in reality.

    Fake news and greenwashing example: Dayak indigenous palm oil smallholders

    “Many of us grow rice, fruits and vegetables on our indigenous lands for survival and depend on the cash sales from oil palm fruits to buy what we cannot grow. Our oil palm trees empower us as indigenous peoples.”

    ‘Discrimination against palm oil is an injustice against indigenous people’, Borneo Today, 2018.

    The reality of palm oil is vastly different for Dayak peoples

    Reports carried out by news media in Borneo simulate the facts about the real events and the detrimental impact of palm oil on Dayak communities.

    We as the audience must remain constantly vigilant and aware that this is bad news.

    “An assistant manager came to my home. On that day my oldest son had fever. He said to my husband, “Your five hectares of land here is gone and two hectares here is gone. Go to the company and get your money.” My husband told them he doesn’t want to sell. Months later, while I was at my mother’s new house [in the plantation] and my husband was away in Malaysia, we heard a loud noise and could see smoke. I went to see, and it was crazy. My house was already burned. Everything was in there, my son’s bicycle, clothes, and all the wood we planned to build a house, all was gone.”

    ~ Francesca, a 28-year-old Iban Dayak mother of two, told Human Rights Watch about how she and her husband refused relocation. She said that company representatives torched her home, rendering them homeless. Story via Human Rights Watch

    Pictured: Rainforest on fire, Getty Images

    Pollution run-off in an RSPO member palm oil plantation in Sumatra. Craig Jones Wildlife PhotographyDeforestation for palm oil at ground level – Getty Images videoDeforestation for palm oil waste reservoirs- Getty Images

    The difficulty of addressing and resolving oil palm conflicts is due not only to the inadequacies of Indonesia’s legal framework regarding land and plantations but also to the way in which Indonesia’s informalized state institutions foster collusion between local power holders and palm oil companies. This collusion enables companies to evade regulation, suppress community protests and avoid engaging in constructive efforts to resolve conflicts. Furthermore, this collusion has made the available conflict resolution mechanisms largely ineffective.

    Anti-Corporate Activism and Collusion: The Contentious Politics of Palm Oil Expansion in Indonesia, (2022). Ward Berenschot, et. al., Geoforum, Volume 131, 2022, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2022.03.002

    With the palm oil narrative in Indonesia – many people can no longer distinguish the real from the fake, the fact from the simulation

    The media presents a seemingly diverse chorus of voices that all seem to be singing from the same songbook – all of them praising palm oil.

    Interviews with field officers, researchers, seminar recordings, podcasts, PR and advertising campaigns are backed financially by the palm oil industry to glaze over and greenwash the immense environmental and social impact of palm oil.

    Instead we are presented with a positive narrative about palm oil that offers improved living conditions for farmers. This is not the lived reality for Dayak people. We are told that palm oil is a lucrative crop that benefits the farmers. This is not the lived reality for Dayak people.

    Pictured: A Dayak woman weaves pandan in a traditional longhouse, PxFuel

    The greenwashing of palm oil deforestation intensifies as time goes on

    News articles and reports talk about how this country is preparing to deal with climate change, so as not to damage forests and also to save forests from deforestation.

    The news about child labour, child slavery and women working on oil palm plantations in horrific conditions gets little attention in media.

    News about customary Dayak lands that are seized for palm oil illegally or by force is online only momentarily and quickly disappears. These violations human rights are rendered invisible by the media in here.

    In our news hungry and busy world, most people don’t read beyond the headlines. The messy, corrupt and invisible world of massive land-clearing for palm oil goes on without the world knowing about it through the media. In the meantime, tropical rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia are silently disappearing.

    Deforestation by Sean Weston https://seanweston.co.uk

    The current era of fake news was predicted by Jean Baudrillard several decades ago

    When we can no longer distinguish the truth, the facts and the real from a news. This is Hyperreality.

    “The real has died and been replaced by Simulation”

    ~ Jean Baudrillard.

    This is what Jean Baudrillard called the era of Simulacra, Simulation, and Hyperreality. When the news plays with symbols, and the public who consume or read the news only see and know about the simulation, we are existing in Hyperreality, in a Simulacra.

    People who consume the news only know the simulation/ hyperreality in a Simulacra – Jean Baudrillard

    A Simulacra is a combination of values, facts, signs, images and codes. In this reality we no longer find references or representations except the simulacra itself.

    People who consume the news only know the simulation/ hyperreality in a Simulacra – Jean Baudrillard

    Image, originally tweeted by lookcaitlin (@lookcaitlin) on September 17, 2022.

    Greenwashing and denialism in the media about the environmental impact of palm oil

    A recent report by the World Health Organisation (WHO) found that the palm oil industry used the same aggressive tactics for greenwashing akin to the tobacco and alcohol industries. Read more

    https://vimeo.com/735353691

    https://vimeo.com/737272288

    Read WHO report

    Research studies of SE Asian media reporting on palm oil show a denialist and greenwashing narrative that is similar to climate change denialism i.e. climate change greenwashing.

    “We found that media reporting of the denialist narrative is more prevalent than that of the peer-reviewed science consensus-view that palm oil plantations on tropical peat could cause excessive greenhouse gas emissions and enhance the risk of fires.
    “Our article alerts to the continuation of unsustainable practices as justified by the media to the public, and that the prevalence of these denialist narratives constitute a significant obstacle in resolving pressing issues such as transboundary haze, biodiversity loss, and land-use change related greenhouse gas emissions in Southeast Asia.”

    ~ Liu, Felicia & Ganesan, Vignaa & Smith, Thomas. (2020). Contrasting communications of sustainability science in the media coverage of palm oil agriculture on tropical peatlands in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. Environmental Science & Policy. 114. 162-169. 10.1016/j.envsci.2020.07.004.

    Deforestation – Craig Jones Wildlife Photography Pictured clockwise: An orangutan grips helplessly onto a broken and destroyed tree, Craig Jones Wildlife Photography; River pollution, PxFuel; A freshly destroyed rainforest in Indonesia, Craig Jones Wildlife Photography; A vast and lifeless palm oil plantation, Greenpeace.

    Impact of the media Simulacrum on Dayak people

    Media coverage about the “goodness of palm oil” has a deep psychological impact on Dayak communities. In the news, this is where the simulation or simulacra begins to occur.

    Pictured: Dayak men in Kalimantan, Pxfuel.

    Some people cannot sort and distinguish the truth of the news content from the actual facts. Meanwhile, the village that I visited is still holding on to their traditional way of life – not to palm oil. This is the Last Village.

    Dayak people in the neighbouring village tell them how they have lost their fishing resources. That now, because of the palm oil run-off and pollution there are no more fish to catch. Their roaming area has become too narrow.

    They say: “Oh you are right! Keep on resisting the palm oil siege! For we are now labourers toiling for little money on our ancestral land.”

    Dr Setia Budhi, Barito River, 25, July 2022

    Further reading

    Liu, Felicia & Ganesan, Vignaa & Smith, Thomas. (2020). Contrasting communications of sustainability science in the media coverage of palm oil agriculture on tropical peatlands in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. Environmental Science & Policy. 114. 162-169. 10.1016/j.envsci.2020.07.004.

    Manzo, Kate & Padfield, Rory. (2016). Palm oil not polar bears: Climate change and development in Malaysian media. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers. 41. 10.1111/tran.12129.

    Morris J. Simulacra in the Age of Social Media: Baudrillard as the Prophet of Fake
    News. Journal of Communication Inquiry. 2021;45(4):319-336. doi:10.1177/0196859920977154

    Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing (1998). Under the Shadows of the Queen of Diamonds: The Process of Marginalization in Isolated Communities. Indonesian Torch Foundation, Jakarta.

    The Forest is the father, land is the mother and rivers are blood

    “That’s the spirituality of most Dayak people in Kalimantan. They understand the interdependent nature of everything in nature.”

    ~ Dr Setia Budhi : Dayak Ethnographer

    Read Dr Budhi’s story Read ‘The Orangutan with the Golden Hair’

    Pictured: Untouched rainforest, Sumatra. Craig Jones Wildlife Photography

    Here are some other ways you can help by using your wallet as a weapon and joining the #Boycott4Wildlife

    What is greenwashing?

    Read more

    Why join the #Boycott4Wildlife?

    Read more

    Greenwashing Tactic #4: Fake Labels

    Read more

    The Counterpunch: Consumer Solutions To Fight Extinction

    Read more

    Contribute to my Ko-Fi

    Did you enjoy visiting this website?

    Palm Oil Detectives is 100% self-funded

    Palm Oil Detectives is completely self-funded by its creator. All hosting and website fees and investigations into brands are self-funded by the creator of this online movement. If you like what I am doing, you and would like me to help meet costs, please send Palm Oil Detectives a thanks on Ko-Fi.

    Say thanks on Ko-Fi

    Palm Oil Detectives is 100% self-funded

    Palm Oil Detectives is completely self-funded by its creator. All hosting and website fees and investigations into brands are self-funded by the creator of this online movement. If you like what I am doing, you and would like me to help meet costs, please send Palm Oil Detectives a thanks on Ko-Fi.

    Say thanks on Ko-Fi

    #Borneo #BoycottPalmOil #childLabour #childSlavery #conflictCommodity #Dayak #Dayaks #DrSetiaBudhi #fact #fiction #greenwashing #humanRights #hunger #IndigenousActivism #indigenousRights #Indonesia #landRights #landgrabbing #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #pollution #poverty #violence #waterPollution #workersRights

  4. Eyewitness Story: The Last Village by Dr Setia Budhi

    A lone Dayak village in Borneo surrounded by palm oil plantations has held out for 14 years and resisted
    corporate infiltration by global palm oil giants. My name is Dr Setia Budhi, I am a Dayak ethnographer and human rights advocate. I visited this village recently to see how they were going.

    Pictured: The Barito River, the largest river in South Kalimantan Borneo by Aditya Perdana, Getty Images

    “#Dayaks DO NOT want their lands turned to #palmoil. 1. They depend on rainforests for food/weaving. 2. They don’t want their roaming area disturbed 3. They don’t want to lose their land.” Dr Setia Budhi #Boycottpalmoil 🤬🌴🚫 https://palmoildetectives.com/2022/11/02/eyewitness-story-by-dr-setia-budhi-the-last-village/ @palmoildetect.bsky.social

    Share to BlueSky Share to Twitter

    “In #Indonesia and #Malaysia’s media, people can’t distinguish #fact from #fiction. A positive narrative about #Dayaks and #palmoil is #greenwashing. This is NOT the lived reality for #Dayak people” @Setiabudhi18 #Boycottpalmoil 🌴🩸🧐⛔️ @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2022/11/02/eyewitness-story-by-dr-setia-budhi-the-last-village/

    Share to BlueSky Share to Twitter Original tweet

    Recently, I stayed a Ngaju Dayak village for 15 days

    During my visit I wrote a lot, chatted with villagers and visited palm oil farmers.

    This remote village is 125 km from downtown Banjarmasin. It’s a distance of about two hours by motorbike to arrive in a neighboring village and from then there, three hours by boat.

    Located on the banks of the Barito river, the people who live here are the Ngaju Dayak.

    Pictured: Dayak long house in Kalimantan, PxFuel.

    The first time I visited this village was 14 years ago in 2008

    Since then, I’ve always followed its development by reading the news. Especially interesting is the development that the villagers have refused the presence of palm oil plantations. They have refused to give up their lands to global corporate palm oil companies.

    Fourteen years ago, I thought that this village would eventually be besieged by the expansion of oil palm plantations. My suspicions were based on what happened in neighbouring villages. They had given up and accepted the omnipresence of palm oil. Many residents sold their land to the plantations.

    In these other towns, some residents work with palm oil companies in a cooperative way. Their land is planted with palm oil and they, as owners, work for the company for wages. Their activities include land-clearing, planting palm oil, along with fertilising and liming the soil.

    So these people work on their own land. At that time, their daily wages are around 50,000 rupiahs ($3.30 USD) per day.

    Pictured: Klotok traditional river boat on a river in Borneo by Guenterguni Getty Images

    There are three reasons why the villagers do not want their ancestral lands to become a palm oil plantation:

    1. They depend on the rainforest and peatlands for natural resources such as fisheries, agriculture and rattan weaving.

    2. They don’t want their roaming area to be disturbed.

    3. They don’t want to lose their land.

    By roaming area‟ you probably think of a suburban area near you. For Dayaks, their roaming area is vastly different.

    Clockwise: The Barito River: The largest river in South Kalimantan Borneo by Aditya Perdana Getty Images; Wooden Dayak village – Long Iram on the riverbank Mahakam river East Kalimantan, Indonesia. Getty Images; Nature in Annah Rais Sarawak, Malaysia by Nyiragongo Getty Images; Barito River -The largest river in South Kalimantan, Indonesia by Aditya Perdana Getty Images; Borneo’s spectacular rivers and rainforests; Getty Images; A group of beautiful Dayak Fruit Bats Dyacopterus spadiceus perched inside a hut at the Way Kambas National Park in Sumatra via Getty Images Signature collection.

    The Dayak people need a roaming area for hunting, fishing and foraging for herbs, building materials and medicines

    Pictured: Dayak family, Central Kalimantan by IndoMet licensed under CC BY 2.0

    The palm oil industry is an unstoppable global corporate juggernaut that has become increasingly greedy for land in the past ten years.

    When you hear about even a tiny piece of land that is about to be sold, global palm oil companies immediately and aggressively go after the land as buyers. They bargain and negotiate, driving the price down that they pay for the land – so the traditional landowners do not get paid what the land is really worth.

    Pictured: Plasma Poverty, a joint investigation by Gecko Project and the BBC into major supermarket brands like Mondelez and Nestle (RSPO members) who are stripping smallholder farmers of their share of profit for palm oil.

    To read the news in Indonesia and Malaysia is to read brazen lies and greenwashing about palm oil

    Reading news about palm oil is an astonishing experience that will fill you with confusion and incredulity. Your newsfeed will be brimming with stories about the greatness of oil palm and the welfare of farmers.

    Palm oil is considered “good” in a neoliberal sense of the financial and economic growth that it brings here as a country. Also palm oil is considered “good” as an environmentally-friendly and healthy ingredient for all to buy and consume.

    There is a flood of greenwashing news across all media channels: TV, online media, and social media channels celebrating the virtues of this enormously destructive ingredient. This false narrative emphasises palm oil as a method of “care for the environment‟.

    For this reason, nowadays I choose to distance myself from social media, as this content is dishonest about what palm oil is in reality.

    Fake news and greenwashing example: Dayak indigenous palm oil smallholders

    “Many of us grow rice, fruits and vegetables on our indigenous lands for survival and depend on the cash sales from oil palm fruits to buy what we cannot grow. Our oil palm trees empower us as indigenous peoples.”

    ‘Discrimination against palm oil is an injustice against indigenous people’, Borneo Today, 2018.

    The reality of palm oil is vastly different for Dayak peoples

    Reports carried out by news media in Borneo simulate the facts about the real events and the detrimental impact of palm oil on Dayak communities.

    We as the audience must remain constantly vigilant and aware that this is bad news.

    “An assistant manager came to my home. On that day my oldest son had fever. He said to my husband, “Your five hectares of land here is gone and two hectares here is gone. Go to the company and get your money.” My husband told them he doesn’t want to sell. Months later, while I was at my mother’s new house [in the plantation] and my husband was away in Malaysia, we heard a loud noise and could see smoke. I went to see, and it was crazy. My house was already burned. Everything was in there, my son’s bicycle, clothes, and all the wood we planned to build a house, all was gone.”

    ~ Francesca, a 28-year-old Iban Dayak mother of two, told Human Rights Watch about how she and her husband refused relocation. She said that company representatives torched her home, rendering them homeless. Story via Human Rights Watch

    Pictured: Rainforest on fire, Getty Images

    Pollution run-off in an RSPO member palm oil plantation in Sumatra. Craig Jones Wildlife PhotographyDeforestation for palm oil at ground level – Getty Images videoDeforestation for palm oil waste reservoirs- Getty Images

    The difficulty of addressing and resolving oil palm conflicts is due not only to the inadequacies of Indonesia’s legal framework regarding land and plantations but also to the way in which Indonesia’s informalized state institutions foster collusion between local power holders and palm oil companies. This collusion enables companies to evade regulation, suppress community protests and avoid engaging in constructive efforts to resolve conflicts. Furthermore, this collusion has made the available conflict resolution mechanisms largely ineffective.

    Anti-Corporate Activism and Collusion: The Contentious Politics of Palm Oil Expansion in Indonesia, (2022). Ward Berenschot, et. al., Geoforum, Volume 131, 2022, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2022.03.002

    With the palm oil narrative in Indonesia – many people can no longer distinguish the real from the fake, the fact from the simulation

    The media presents a seemingly diverse chorus of voices that all seem to be singing from the same songbook – all of them praising palm oil.

    Interviews with field officers, researchers, seminar recordings, podcasts, PR and advertising campaigns are backed financially by the palm oil industry to glaze over and greenwash the immense environmental and social impact of palm oil.

    Instead we are presented with a positive narrative about palm oil that offers improved living conditions for farmers. This is not the lived reality for Dayak people. We are told that palm oil is a lucrative crop that benefits the farmers. This is not the lived reality for Dayak people.

    Pictured: A Dayak woman weaves pandan in a traditional longhouse, PxFuel

    The greenwashing of palm oil deforestation intensifies as time goes on

    News articles and reports talk about how this country is preparing to deal with climate change, so as not to damage forests and also to save forests from deforestation.

    The news about child labour, child slavery and women working on oil palm plantations in horrific conditions gets little attention in media.

    News about customary Dayak lands that are seized for palm oil illegally or by force is online only momentarily and quickly disappears. These violations human rights are rendered invisible by the media in here.

    In our news hungry and busy world, most people don’t read beyond the headlines. The messy, corrupt and invisible world of massive land-clearing for palm oil goes on without the world knowing about it through the media. In the meantime, tropical rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia are silently disappearing.

    Deforestation by Sean Weston https://seanweston.co.uk

    The current era of fake news was predicted by Jean Baudrillard several decades ago

    When we can no longer distinguish the truth, the facts and the real from a news. This is Hyperreality.

    “The real has died and been replaced by Simulation”

    ~ Jean Baudrillard.

    This is what Jean Baudrillard called the era of Simulacra, Simulation, and Hyperreality. When the news plays with symbols, and the public who consume or read the news only see and know about the simulation, we are existing in Hyperreality, in a Simulacra.

    People who consume the news only know the simulation/ hyperreality in a Simulacra – Jean Baudrillard

    A Simulacra is a combination of values, facts, signs, images and codes. In this reality we no longer find references or representations except the simulacra itself.

    People who consume the news only know the simulation/ hyperreality in a Simulacra – Jean Baudrillard

    Image, originally tweeted by lookcaitlin (@lookcaitlin) on September 17, 2022.

    Greenwashing and denialism in the media about the environmental impact of palm oil

    A recent report by the World Health Organisation (WHO) found that the palm oil industry used the same aggressive tactics for greenwashing akin to the tobacco and alcohol industries. Read more

    https://vimeo.com/735353691

    https://vimeo.com/737272288

    Read WHO report

    Research studies of SE Asian media reporting on palm oil show a denialist and greenwashing narrative that is similar to climate change denialism i.e. climate change greenwashing.

    “We found that media reporting of the denialist narrative is more prevalent than that of the peer-reviewed science consensus-view that palm oil plantations on tropical peat could cause excessive greenhouse gas emissions and enhance the risk of fires.
    “Our article alerts to the continuation of unsustainable practices as justified by the media to the public, and that the prevalence of these denialist narratives constitute a significant obstacle in resolving pressing issues such as transboundary haze, biodiversity loss, and land-use change related greenhouse gas emissions in Southeast Asia.”

    ~ Liu, Felicia & Ganesan, Vignaa & Smith, Thomas. (2020). Contrasting communications of sustainability science in the media coverage of palm oil agriculture on tropical peatlands in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. Environmental Science & Policy. 114. 162-169. 10.1016/j.envsci.2020.07.004.

    Deforestation – Craig Jones Wildlife Photography Pictured clockwise: An orangutan grips helplessly onto a broken and destroyed tree, Craig Jones Wildlife Photography; River pollution, PxFuel; A freshly destroyed rainforest in Indonesia, Craig Jones Wildlife Photography; A vast and lifeless palm oil plantation, Greenpeace.

    Impact of the media Simulacrum on Dayak people

    Media coverage about the “goodness of palm oil” has a deep psychological impact on Dayak communities. In the news, this is where the simulation or simulacra begins to occur.

    Pictured: Dayak men in Kalimantan, Pxfuel.

    Some people cannot sort and distinguish the truth of the news content from the actual facts. Meanwhile, the village that I visited is still holding on to their traditional way of life – not to palm oil. This is the Last Village.

    Dayak people in the neighbouring village tell them how they have lost their fishing resources. That now, because of the palm oil run-off and pollution there are no more fish to catch. Their roaming area has become too narrow.

    They say: “Oh you are right! Keep on resisting the palm oil siege! For we are now labourers toiling for little money on our ancestral land.”

    Dr Setia Budhi, Barito River, 25, July 2022

    Further reading

    Liu, Felicia & Ganesan, Vignaa & Smith, Thomas. (2020). Contrasting communications of sustainability science in the media coverage of palm oil agriculture on tropical peatlands in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. Environmental Science & Policy. 114. 162-169. 10.1016/j.envsci.2020.07.004.

    Manzo, Kate & Padfield, Rory. (2016). Palm oil not polar bears: Climate change and development in Malaysian media. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers. 41. 10.1111/tran.12129.

    Morris J. Simulacra in the Age of Social Media: Baudrillard as the Prophet of Fake
    News. Journal of Communication Inquiry. 2021;45(4):319-336. doi:10.1177/0196859920977154

    Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing (1998). Under the Shadows of the Queen of Diamonds: The Process of Marginalization in Isolated Communities. Indonesian Torch Foundation, Jakarta.

    The Forest is the father, land is the mother and rivers are blood

    “That’s the spirituality of most Dayak people in Kalimantan. They understand the interdependent nature of everything in nature.”

    ~ Dr Setia Budhi : Dayak Ethnographer

    Read Dr Budhi’s story Read ‘The Orangutan with the Golden Hair’

    Pictured: Untouched rainforest, Sumatra. Craig Jones Wildlife Photography

    Here are some other ways you can help by using your wallet as a weapon and joining the #Boycott4Wildlife

    What is greenwashing?

    Read more

    Why join the #Boycott4Wildlife?

    Read more

    Greenwashing Tactic #4: Fake Labels

    Read more

    The Counterpunch: Consumer Solutions To Fight Extinction

    Read more

    Contribute to my Ko-Fi

    Did you enjoy visiting this website?

    Palm Oil Detectives is 100% self-funded

    Palm Oil Detectives is completely self-funded by its creator. All hosting and website fees and investigations into brands are self-funded by the creator of this online movement. If you like what I am doing, you and would like me to help meet costs, please send Palm Oil Detectives a thanks on Ko-Fi.

    Say thanks on Ko-Fi

    Palm Oil Detectives is 100% self-funded

    Palm Oil Detectives is completely self-funded by its creator. All hosting and website fees and investigations into brands are self-funded by the creator of this online movement. If you like what I am doing, you and would like me to help meet costs, please send Palm Oil Detectives a thanks on Ko-Fi.

    Say thanks on Ko-Fi

    #Borneo #BoycottPalmOil #childLabour #childSlavery #conflictCommodity #Dayak #Dayaks #DrSetiaBudhi #fact #fiction #greenwashing #humanRights #hunger #IndigenousActivism #indigenousRights #Indonesia #landRights #landgrabbing #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #pollution #poverty #violence #waterPollution #workersRights

  5. Eyewitness Story: The Last Village by Dr Setia Budhi

    A lone Dayak village in Borneo surrounded by palm oil plantations has held out for 14 years and resisted
    corporate infiltration by global palm oil giants. My name is Dr Setia Budhi, I am a Dayak ethnographer and human rights advocate. I visited this village recently to see how they were going.

    Pictured: The Barito River, the largest river in South Kalimantan Borneo by Aditya Perdana, Getty Images

    “#Dayaks DO NOT want their lands turned to #palmoil. 1. They depend on rainforests for food/weaving. 2. They don’t want their roaming area disturbed 3. They don’t want to lose their land.” Dr Setia Budhi #Boycottpalmoil 🤬🌴🚫 https://palmoildetectives.com/2022/11/02/eyewitness-story-by-dr-setia-budhi-the-last-village/ @palmoildetect.bsky.social

    Share to BlueSky Share to Twitter

    “In #Indonesia and #Malaysia’s media, people can’t distinguish #fact from #fiction. A positive narrative about #Dayaks and #palmoil is #greenwashing. This is NOT the lived reality for #Dayak people” @Setiabudhi18 #Boycottpalmoil 🌴🩸🧐⛔️ @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2022/11/02/eyewitness-story-by-dr-setia-budhi-the-last-village/

    Share to BlueSky Share to Twitter Original tweet

    Recently, I stayed a Ngaju Dayak village for 15 days

    During my visit I wrote a lot, chatted with villagers and visited palm oil farmers.

    This remote village is 125 km from downtown Banjarmasin. It’s a distance of about two hours by motorbike to arrive in a neighboring village and from then there, three hours by boat.

    Located on the banks of the Barito river, the people who live here are the Ngaju Dayak.

    Pictured: Dayak long house in Kalimantan, PxFuel.

    The first time I visited this village was 14 years ago in 2008

    Since then, I’ve always followed its development by reading the news. Especially interesting is the development that the villagers have refused the presence of palm oil plantations. They have refused to give up their lands to global corporate palm oil companies.

    Fourteen years ago, I thought that this village would eventually be besieged by the expansion of oil palm plantations. My suspicions were based on what happened in neighbouring villages. They had given up and accepted the omnipresence of palm oil. Many residents sold their land to the plantations.

    In these other towns, some residents work with palm oil companies in a cooperative way. Their land is planted with palm oil and they, as owners, work for the company for wages. Their activities include land-clearing, planting palm oil, along with fertilising and liming the soil.

    So these people work on their own land. At that time, their daily wages are around 50,000 rupiahs ($3.30 USD) per day.

    Pictured: Klotok traditional river boat on a river in Borneo by Guenterguni Getty Images

    There are three reasons why the villagers do not want their ancestral lands to become a palm oil plantation:

    1. They depend on the rainforest and peatlands for natural resources such as fisheries, agriculture and rattan weaving.

    2. They don’t want their roaming area to be disturbed.

    3. They don’t want to lose their land.

    By roaming area‟ you probably think of a suburban area near you. For Dayaks, their roaming area is vastly different.

    Clockwise: The Barito River: The largest river in South Kalimantan Borneo by Aditya Perdana Getty Images; Wooden Dayak village – Long Iram on the riverbank Mahakam river East Kalimantan, Indonesia. Getty Images; Nature in Annah Rais Sarawak, Malaysia by Nyiragongo Getty Images; Barito River -The largest river in South Kalimantan, Indonesia by Aditya Perdana Getty Images; Borneo’s spectacular rivers and rainforests; Getty Images; A group of beautiful Dayak Fruit Bats Dyacopterus spadiceus perched inside a hut at the Way Kambas National Park in Sumatra via Getty Images Signature collection.

    The Dayak people need a roaming area for hunting, fishing and foraging for herbs, building materials and medicines

    Pictured: Dayak family, Central Kalimantan by IndoMet licensed under CC BY 2.0

    The palm oil industry is an unstoppable global corporate juggernaut that has become increasingly greedy for land in the past ten years.

    When you hear about even a tiny piece of land that is about to be sold, global palm oil companies immediately and aggressively go after the land as buyers. They bargain and negotiate, driving the price down that they pay for the land – so the traditional landowners do not get paid what the land is really worth.

    Pictured: Plasma Poverty, a joint investigation by Gecko Project and the BBC into major supermarket brands like Mondelez and Nestle (RSPO members) who are stripping smallholder farmers of their share of profit for palm oil.

    To read the news in Indonesia and Malaysia is to read brazen lies and greenwashing about palm oil

    Reading news about palm oil is an astonishing experience that will fill you with confusion and incredulity. Your newsfeed will be brimming with stories about the greatness of oil palm and the welfare of farmers.

    Palm oil is considered “good” in a neoliberal sense of the financial and economic growth that it brings here as a country. Also palm oil is considered “good” as an environmentally-friendly and healthy ingredient for all to buy and consume.

    There is a flood of greenwashing news across all media channels: TV, online media, and social media channels celebrating the virtues of this enormously destructive ingredient. This false narrative emphasises palm oil as a method of “care for the environment‟.

    For this reason, nowadays I choose to distance myself from social media, as this content is dishonest about what palm oil is in reality.

    Fake news and greenwashing example: Dayak indigenous palm oil smallholders

    “Many of us grow rice, fruits and vegetables on our indigenous lands for survival and depend on the cash sales from oil palm fruits to buy what we cannot grow. Our oil palm trees empower us as indigenous peoples.”

    ‘Discrimination against palm oil is an injustice against indigenous people’, Borneo Today, 2018.

    The reality of palm oil is vastly different for Dayak peoples

    Reports carried out by news media in Borneo simulate the facts about the real events and the detrimental impact of palm oil on Dayak communities.

    We as the audience must remain constantly vigilant and aware that this is bad news.

    “An assistant manager came to my home. On that day my oldest son had fever. He said to my husband, “Your five hectares of land here is gone and two hectares here is gone. Go to the company and get your money.” My husband told them he doesn’t want to sell. Months later, while I was at my mother’s new house [in the plantation] and my husband was away in Malaysia, we heard a loud noise and could see smoke. I went to see, and it was crazy. My house was already burned. Everything was in there, my son’s bicycle, clothes, and all the wood we planned to build a house, all was gone.”

    ~ Francesca, a 28-year-old Iban Dayak mother of two, told Human Rights Watch about how she and her husband refused relocation. She said that company representatives torched her home, rendering them homeless. Story via Human Rights Watch

    Pictured: Rainforest on fire, Getty Images

    Pollution run-off in an RSPO member palm oil plantation in Sumatra. Craig Jones Wildlife PhotographyDeforestation for palm oil at ground level – Getty Images videoDeforestation for palm oil waste reservoirs- Getty Images

    The difficulty of addressing and resolving oil palm conflicts is due not only to the inadequacies of Indonesia’s legal framework regarding land and plantations but also to the way in which Indonesia’s informalized state institutions foster collusion between local power holders and palm oil companies. This collusion enables companies to evade regulation, suppress community protests and avoid engaging in constructive efforts to resolve conflicts. Furthermore, this collusion has made the available conflict resolution mechanisms largely ineffective.

    Anti-Corporate Activism and Collusion: The Contentious Politics of Palm Oil Expansion in Indonesia, (2022). Ward Berenschot, et. al., Geoforum, Volume 131, 2022, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2022.03.002

    With the palm oil narrative in Indonesia – many people can no longer distinguish the real from the fake, the fact from the simulation

    The media presents a seemingly diverse chorus of voices that all seem to be singing from the same songbook – all of them praising palm oil.

    Interviews with field officers, researchers, seminar recordings, podcasts, PR and advertising campaigns are backed financially by the palm oil industry to glaze over and greenwash the immense environmental and social impact of palm oil.

    Instead we are presented with a positive narrative about palm oil that offers improved living conditions for farmers. This is not the lived reality for Dayak people. We are told that palm oil is a lucrative crop that benefits the farmers. This is not the lived reality for Dayak people.

    Pictured: A Dayak woman weaves pandan in a traditional longhouse, PxFuel

    The greenwashing of palm oil deforestation intensifies as time goes on

    News articles and reports talk about how this country is preparing to deal with climate change, so as not to damage forests and also to save forests from deforestation.

    The news about child labour, child slavery and women working on oil palm plantations in horrific conditions gets little attention in media.

    News about customary Dayak lands that are seized for palm oil illegally or by force is online only momentarily and quickly disappears. These violations human rights are rendered invisible by the media in here.

    In our news hungry and busy world, most people don’t read beyond the headlines. The messy, corrupt and invisible world of massive land-clearing for palm oil goes on without the world knowing about it through the media. In the meantime, tropical rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia are silently disappearing.

    Deforestation by Sean Weston https://seanweston.co.uk

    The current era of fake news was predicted by Jean Baudrillard several decades ago

    When we can no longer distinguish the truth, the facts and the real from a news. This is Hyperreality.

    “The real has died and been replaced by Simulation”

    ~ Jean Baudrillard.

    This is what Jean Baudrillard called the era of Simulacra, Simulation, and Hyperreality. When the news plays with symbols, and the public who consume or read the news only see and know about the simulation, we are existing in Hyperreality, in a Simulacra.

    People who consume the news only know the simulation/ hyperreality in a Simulacra – Jean Baudrillard

    A Simulacra is a combination of values, facts, signs, images and codes. In this reality we no longer find references or representations except the simulacra itself.

    People who consume the news only know the simulation/ hyperreality in a Simulacra – Jean Baudrillard

    Image, originally tweeted by lookcaitlin (@lookcaitlin) on September 17, 2022.

    Greenwashing and denialism in the media about the environmental impact of palm oil

    A recent report by the World Health Organisation (WHO) found that the palm oil industry used the same aggressive tactics for greenwashing akin to the tobacco and alcohol industries. Read more

    https://vimeo.com/735353691

    https://vimeo.com/737272288

    Read WHO report

    Research studies of SE Asian media reporting on palm oil show a denialist and greenwashing narrative that is similar to climate change denialism i.e. climate change greenwashing.

    “We found that media reporting of the denialist narrative is more prevalent than that of the peer-reviewed science consensus-view that palm oil plantations on tropical peat could cause excessive greenhouse gas emissions and enhance the risk of fires.
    “Our article alerts to the continuation of unsustainable practices as justified by the media to the public, and that the prevalence of these denialist narratives constitute a significant obstacle in resolving pressing issues such as transboundary haze, biodiversity loss, and land-use change related greenhouse gas emissions in Southeast Asia.”

    ~ Liu, Felicia & Ganesan, Vignaa & Smith, Thomas. (2020). Contrasting communications of sustainability science in the media coverage of palm oil agriculture on tropical peatlands in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. Environmental Science & Policy. 114. 162-169. 10.1016/j.envsci.2020.07.004.

    Deforestation – Craig Jones Wildlife Photography Pictured clockwise: An orangutan grips helplessly onto a broken and destroyed tree, Craig Jones Wildlife Photography; River pollution, PxFuel; A freshly destroyed rainforest in Indonesia, Craig Jones Wildlife Photography; A vast and lifeless palm oil plantation, Greenpeace.

    Impact of the media Simulacrum on Dayak people

    Media coverage about the “goodness of palm oil” has a deep psychological impact on Dayak communities. In the news, this is where the simulation or simulacra begins to occur.

    Pictured: Dayak men in Kalimantan, Pxfuel.

    Some people cannot sort and distinguish the truth of the news content from the actual facts. Meanwhile, the village that I visited is still holding on to their traditional way of life – not to palm oil. This is the Last Village.

    Dayak people in the neighbouring village tell them how they have lost their fishing resources. That now, because of the palm oil run-off and pollution there are no more fish to catch. Their roaming area has become too narrow.

    They say: “Oh you are right! Keep on resisting the palm oil siege! For we are now labourers toiling for little money on our ancestral land.”

    Dr Setia Budhi, Barito River, 25, July 2022

    Further reading

    Liu, Felicia & Ganesan, Vignaa & Smith, Thomas. (2020). Contrasting communications of sustainability science in the media coverage of palm oil agriculture on tropical peatlands in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. Environmental Science & Policy. 114. 162-169. 10.1016/j.envsci.2020.07.004.

    Manzo, Kate & Padfield, Rory. (2016). Palm oil not polar bears: Climate change and development in Malaysian media. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers. 41. 10.1111/tran.12129.

    Morris J. Simulacra in the Age of Social Media: Baudrillard as the Prophet of Fake
    News. Journal of Communication Inquiry. 2021;45(4):319-336. doi:10.1177/0196859920977154

    Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing (1998). Under the Shadows of the Queen of Diamonds: The Process of Marginalization in Isolated Communities. Indonesian Torch Foundation, Jakarta.

    The Forest is the father, land is the mother and rivers are blood

    “That’s the spirituality of most Dayak people in Kalimantan. They understand the interdependent nature of everything in nature.”

    ~ Dr Setia Budhi : Dayak Ethnographer

    Read Dr Budhi’s story Read ‘The Orangutan with the Golden Hair’

    Pictured: Untouched rainforest, Sumatra. Craig Jones Wildlife Photography

    Here are some other ways you can help by using your wallet as a weapon and joining the #Boycott4Wildlife

    What is greenwashing?

    Read more

    Why join the #Boycott4Wildlife?

    Read more

    Greenwashing Tactic #4: Fake Labels

    Read more

    The Counterpunch: Consumer Solutions To Fight Extinction

    Read more

    Contribute to my Ko-Fi

    Did you enjoy visiting this website?

    Palm Oil Detectives is 100% self-funded

    Palm Oil Detectives is completely self-funded by its creator. All hosting and website fees and investigations into brands are self-funded by the creator of this online movement. If you like what I am doing, you and would like me to help meet costs, please send Palm Oil Detectives a thanks on Ko-Fi.

    Say thanks on Ko-Fi

    Palm Oil Detectives is 100% self-funded

    Palm Oil Detectives is completely self-funded by its creator. All hosting and website fees and investigations into brands are self-funded by the creator of this online movement. If you like what I am doing, you and would like me to help meet costs, please send Palm Oil Detectives a thanks on Ko-Fi.

    Say thanks on Ko-Fi

    #Borneo #BoycottPalmOil #childLabour #childSlavery #conflictCommodity #Dayak #Dayaks #DrSetiaBudhi #fact #fiction #greenwashing #humanRights #hunger #IndigenousActivism #indigenousRights #Indonesia #landRights #landgrabbing #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #pollution #poverty #violence #waterPollution #workersRights

  6. Eyewitness Story: The Last Village by Dr Setia Budhi

    A lone Dayak village in Borneo surrounded by palm oil plantations has held out for 14 years and resisted
    corporate infiltration by global palm oil giants. My name is Dr Setia Budhi, I am a Dayak ethnographer and human rights advocate. I visited this village recently to see how they were going.

    Pictured: The Barito River, the largest river in South Kalimantan Borneo by Aditya Perdana, Getty Images

    “#Dayaks DO NOT want their lands turned to #palmoil. 1. They depend on rainforests for food/weaving. 2. They don’t want their roaming area disturbed 3. They don’t want to lose their land.” Dr Setia Budhi #Boycottpalmoil 🤬🌴🚫 https://palmoildetectives.com/2022/11/02/eyewitness-story-by-dr-setia-budhi-the-last-village/ @palmoildetect.bsky.social

    Share to BlueSky Share to Twitter

    “In #Indonesia and #Malaysia’s media, people can’t distinguish #fact from #fiction. A positive narrative about #Dayaks and #palmoil is #greenwashing. This is NOT the lived reality for #Dayak people” @Setiabudhi18 #Boycottpalmoil 🌴🩸🧐⛔️ @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2022/11/02/eyewitness-story-by-dr-setia-budhi-the-last-village/

    Share to BlueSky Share to Twitter Original tweet

    Recently, I stayed a Ngaju Dayak village for 15 days

    During my visit I wrote a lot, chatted with villagers and visited palm oil farmers.

    This remote village is 125 km from downtown Banjarmasin. It’s a distance of about two hours by motorbike to arrive in a neighboring village and from then there, three hours by boat.

    Located on the banks of the Barito river, the people who live here are the Ngaju Dayak.

    Pictured: Dayak long house in Kalimantan, PxFuel.

    The first time I visited this village was 14 years ago in 2008

    Since then, I’ve always followed its development by reading the news. Especially interesting is the development that the villagers have refused the presence of palm oil plantations. They have refused to give up their lands to global corporate palm oil companies.

    Fourteen years ago, I thought that this village would eventually be besieged by the expansion of oil palm plantations. My suspicions were based on what happened in neighbouring villages. They had given up and accepted the omnipresence of palm oil. Many residents sold their land to the plantations.

    In these other towns, some residents work with palm oil companies in a cooperative way. Their land is planted with palm oil and they, as owners, work for the company for wages. Their activities include land-clearing, planting palm oil, along with fertilising and liming the soil.

    So these people work on their own land. At that time, their daily wages are around 50,000 rupiahs ($3.30 USD) per day.

    Pictured: Klotok traditional river boat on a river in Borneo by Guenterguni Getty Images

    There are three reasons why the villagers do not want their ancestral lands to become a palm oil plantation:

    1. They depend on the rainforest and peatlands for natural resources such as fisheries, agriculture and rattan weaving.

    2. They don’t want their roaming area to be disturbed.

    3. They don’t want to lose their land.

    By roaming area‟ you probably think of a suburban area near you. For Dayaks, their roaming area is vastly different.

    Clockwise: The Barito River: The largest river in South Kalimantan Borneo by Aditya Perdana Getty Images; Wooden Dayak village – Long Iram on the riverbank Mahakam river East Kalimantan, Indonesia. Getty Images; Nature in Annah Rais Sarawak, Malaysia by Nyiragongo Getty Images; Barito River -The largest river in South Kalimantan, Indonesia by Aditya Perdana Getty Images; Borneo’s spectacular rivers and rainforests; Getty Images; A group of beautiful Dayak Fruit Bats Dyacopterus spadiceus perched inside a hut at the Way Kambas National Park in Sumatra via Getty Images Signature collection.

    The Dayak people need a roaming area for hunting, fishing and foraging for herbs, building materials and medicines

    Pictured: Dayak family, Central Kalimantan by IndoMet licensed under CC BY 2.0

    The palm oil industry is an unstoppable global corporate juggernaut that has become increasingly greedy for land in the past ten years.

    When you hear about even a tiny piece of land that is about to be sold, global palm oil companies immediately and aggressively go after the land as buyers. They bargain and negotiate, driving the price down that they pay for the land – so the traditional landowners do not get paid what the land is really worth.

    Pictured: Plasma Poverty, a joint investigation by Gecko Project and the BBC into major supermarket brands like Mondelez and Nestle (RSPO members) who are stripping smallholder farmers of their share of profit for palm oil.

    To read the news in Indonesia and Malaysia is to read brazen lies and greenwashing about palm oil

    Reading news about palm oil is an astonishing experience that will fill you with confusion and incredulity. Your newsfeed will be brimming with stories about the greatness of oil palm and the welfare of farmers.

    Palm oil is considered “good” in a neoliberal sense of the financial and economic growth that it brings here as a country. Also palm oil is considered “good” as an environmentally-friendly and healthy ingredient for all to buy and consume.

    There is a flood of greenwashing news across all media channels: TV, online media, and social media channels celebrating the virtues of this enormously destructive ingredient. This false narrative emphasises palm oil as a method of “care for the environment‟.

    For this reason, nowadays I choose to distance myself from social media, as this content is dishonest about what palm oil is in reality.

    Fake news and greenwashing example: Dayak indigenous palm oil smallholders

    “Many of us grow rice, fruits and vegetables on our indigenous lands for survival and depend on the cash sales from oil palm fruits to buy what we cannot grow. Our oil palm trees empower us as indigenous peoples.”

    ‘Discrimination against palm oil is an injustice against indigenous people’, Borneo Today, 2018.

    The reality of palm oil is vastly different for Dayak peoples

    Reports carried out by news media in Borneo simulate the facts about the real events and the detrimental impact of palm oil on Dayak communities.

    We as the audience must remain constantly vigilant and aware that this is bad news.

    “An assistant manager came to my home. On that day my oldest son had fever. He said to my husband, “Your five hectares of land here is gone and two hectares here is gone. Go to the company and get your money.” My husband told them he doesn’t want to sell. Months later, while I was at my mother’s new house [in the plantation] and my husband was away in Malaysia, we heard a loud noise and could see smoke. I went to see, and it was crazy. My house was already burned. Everything was in there, my son’s bicycle, clothes, and all the wood we planned to build a house, all was gone.”

    ~ Francesca, a 28-year-old Iban Dayak mother of two, told Human Rights Watch about how she and her husband refused relocation. She said that company representatives torched her home, rendering them homeless. Story via Human Rights Watch

    Pictured: Rainforest on fire, Getty Images

    Pollution run-off in an RSPO member palm oil plantation in Sumatra. Craig Jones Wildlife PhotographyDeforestation for palm oil at ground level – Getty Images videoDeforestation for palm oil waste reservoirs- Getty Images

    The difficulty of addressing and resolving oil palm conflicts is due not only to the inadequacies of Indonesia’s legal framework regarding land and plantations but also to the way in which Indonesia’s informalized state institutions foster collusion between local power holders and palm oil companies. This collusion enables companies to evade regulation, suppress community protests and avoid engaging in constructive efforts to resolve conflicts. Furthermore, this collusion has made the available conflict resolution mechanisms largely ineffective.

    Anti-Corporate Activism and Collusion: The Contentious Politics of Palm Oil Expansion in Indonesia, (2022). Ward Berenschot, et. al., Geoforum, Volume 131, 2022, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2022.03.002

    With the palm oil narrative in Indonesia – many people can no longer distinguish the real from the fake, the fact from the simulation

    The media presents a seemingly diverse chorus of voices that all seem to be singing from the same songbook – all of them praising palm oil.

    Interviews with field officers, researchers, seminar recordings, podcasts, PR and advertising campaigns are backed financially by the palm oil industry to glaze over and greenwash the immense environmental and social impact of palm oil.

    Instead we are presented with a positive narrative about palm oil that offers improved living conditions for farmers. This is not the lived reality for Dayak people. We are told that palm oil is a lucrative crop that benefits the farmers. This is not the lived reality for Dayak people.

    Pictured: A Dayak woman weaves pandan in a traditional longhouse, PxFuel

    The greenwashing of palm oil deforestation intensifies as time goes on

    News articles and reports talk about how this country is preparing to deal with climate change, so as not to damage forests and also to save forests from deforestation.

    The news about child labour, child slavery and women working on oil palm plantations in horrific conditions gets little attention in media.

    News about customary Dayak lands that are seized for palm oil illegally or by force is online only momentarily and quickly disappears. These violations human rights are rendered invisible by the media in here.

    In our news hungry and busy world, most people don’t read beyond the headlines. The messy, corrupt and invisible world of massive land-clearing for palm oil goes on without the world knowing about it through the media. In the meantime, tropical rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia are silently disappearing.

    Deforestation by Sean Weston https://seanweston.co.uk

    The current era of fake news was predicted by Jean Baudrillard several decades ago

    When we can no longer distinguish the truth, the facts and the real from a news. This is Hyperreality.

    “The real has died and been replaced by Simulation”

    ~ Jean Baudrillard.

    This is what Jean Baudrillard called the era of Simulacra, Simulation, and Hyperreality. When the news plays with symbols, and the public who consume or read the news only see and know about the simulation, we are existing in Hyperreality, in a Simulacra.

    People who consume the news only know the simulation/ hyperreality in a Simulacra – Jean Baudrillard

    A Simulacra is a combination of values, facts, signs, images and codes. In this reality we no longer find references or representations except the simulacra itself.

    People who consume the news only know the simulation/ hyperreality in a Simulacra – Jean Baudrillard

    Image, originally tweeted by lookcaitlin (@lookcaitlin) on September 17, 2022.

    Greenwashing and denialism in the media about the environmental impact of palm oil

    A recent report by the World Health Organisation (WHO) found that the palm oil industry used the same aggressive tactics for greenwashing akin to the tobacco and alcohol industries. Read more

    https://vimeo.com/735353691

    https://vimeo.com/737272288

    Read WHO report

    Research studies of SE Asian media reporting on palm oil show a denialist and greenwashing narrative that is similar to climate change denialism i.e. climate change greenwashing.

    “We found that media reporting of the denialist narrative is more prevalent than that of the peer-reviewed science consensus-view that palm oil plantations on tropical peat could cause excessive greenhouse gas emissions and enhance the risk of fires.
    “Our article alerts to the continuation of unsustainable practices as justified by the media to the public, and that the prevalence of these denialist narratives constitute a significant obstacle in resolving pressing issues such as transboundary haze, biodiversity loss, and land-use change related greenhouse gas emissions in Southeast Asia.”

    ~ Liu, Felicia & Ganesan, Vignaa & Smith, Thomas. (2020). Contrasting communications of sustainability science in the media coverage of palm oil agriculture on tropical peatlands in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. Environmental Science & Policy. 114. 162-169. 10.1016/j.envsci.2020.07.004.

    Deforestation – Craig Jones Wildlife Photography Pictured clockwise: An orangutan grips helplessly onto a broken and destroyed tree, Craig Jones Wildlife Photography; River pollution, PxFuel; A freshly destroyed rainforest in Indonesia, Craig Jones Wildlife Photography; A vast and lifeless palm oil plantation, Greenpeace.

    Impact of the media Simulacrum on Dayak people

    Media coverage about the “goodness of palm oil” has a deep psychological impact on Dayak communities. In the news, this is where the simulation or simulacra begins to occur.

    Pictured: Dayak men in Kalimantan, Pxfuel.

    Some people cannot sort and distinguish the truth of the news content from the actual facts. Meanwhile, the village that I visited is still holding on to their traditional way of life – not to palm oil. This is the Last Village.

    Dayak people in the neighbouring village tell them how they have lost their fishing resources. That now, because of the palm oil run-off and pollution there are no more fish to catch. Their roaming area has become too narrow.

    They say: “Oh you are right! Keep on resisting the palm oil siege! For we are now labourers toiling for little money on our ancestral land.”

    Dr Setia Budhi, Barito River, 25, July 2022

    Further reading

    Liu, Felicia & Ganesan, Vignaa & Smith, Thomas. (2020). Contrasting communications of sustainability science in the media coverage of palm oil agriculture on tropical peatlands in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. Environmental Science & Policy. 114. 162-169. 10.1016/j.envsci.2020.07.004.

    Manzo, Kate & Padfield, Rory. (2016). Palm oil not polar bears: Climate change and development in Malaysian media. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers. 41. 10.1111/tran.12129.

    Morris J. Simulacra in the Age of Social Media: Baudrillard as the Prophet of Fake
    News. Journal of Communication Inquiry. 2021;45(4):319-336. doi:10.1177/0196859920977154

    Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing (1998). Under the Shadows of the Queen of Diamonds: The Process of Marginalization in Isolated Communities. Indonesian Torch Foundation, Jakarta.

    The Forest is the father, land is the mother and rivers are blood

    “That’s the spirituality of most Dayak people in Kalimantan. They understand the interdependent nature of everything in nature.”

    ~ Dr Setia Budhi : Dayak Ethnographer

    Read Dr Budhi’s story Read ‘The Orangutan with the Golden Hair’

    Pictured: Untouched rainforest, Sumatra. Craig Jones Wildlife Photography

    Here are some other ways you can help by using your wallet as a weapon and joining the #Boycott4Wildlife

    What is greenwashing?

    Read more

    Why join the #Boycott4Wildlife?

    Read more

    Greenwashing Tactic #4: Fake Labels

    Read more

    The Counterpunch: Consumer Solutions To Fight Extinction

    Read more

    Contribute to my Ko-Fi

    Did you enjoy visiting this website?

    Palm Oil Detectives is 100% self-funded

    Palm Oil Detectives is completely self-funded by its creator. All hosting and website fees and investigations into brands are self-funded by the creator of this online movement. If you like what I am doing, you and would like me to help meet costs, please send Palm Oil Detectives a thanks on Ko-Fi.

    Say thanks on Ko-Fi

    Palm Oil Detectives is 100% self-funded

    Palm Oil Detectives is completely self-funded by its creator. All hosting and website fees and investigations into brands are self-funded by the creator of this online movement. If you like what I am doing, you and would like me to help meet costs, please send Palm Oil Detectives a thanks on Ko-Fi.

    Say thanks on Ko-Fi

    #Borneo #BoycottPalmOil #childLabour #childSlavery #conflictCommodity #Dayak #Dayaks #DrSetiaBudhi #fact #fiction #greenwashing #humanRights #hunger #IndigenousActivism #indigenousRights #Indonesia #landRights #landgrabbing #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #pollution #poverty #violence #waterPollution #workersRights

  7. Bulletin #7151, Landscaping for #Butterflies in #Maine (PDF)

    This fact sheet was developed by: Nancy Coverstone, Extension educator, Jim Dill, Extension pest management specialist, and Lois Berg Stack, Extension ornamental horticulture specialist.

    Table of Contents:

    - The Life Cycle of Butterflies
    - Common Maine Butterflies
    - How to Create Habitat that Entices Butterflies
    - “Wild” Places Attract Butterflies
    - #NativePlants Support Butterflies
    - Design Tips for a Successful #ButterflyGarden
    - Nectar Sources for Butterflies and Moths
    - Larval Food Sources
    - Further Readings

    "Butterflies are beautiful insects, and they are also an important part of the ecosystem. In their search for nectar, they spread pollen from one flower to another and help ensure seed for new generations of plants. They also recycle nutrients and are prey for many species of birds, spiders and small mammals. Gardening and landscaping can create or enhance habitats for butterflies so they may survive and thrive. Whether your yard is in a city, suburb or rural community, you can make it a haven for butterflies.

    Butterflies belong to the insect order Lepidoptera, along with moths and skippers. All species of butterflies in Maine, of which there are more than one hundred, have four wings covered with small scales. The butterfly families in Maine are #swallowtails (Papilionidae), whites and sulphurs (Pieridae), gossamer-wings (Lycaenidae), brush-footed butterflies (Nymphalidae), #monarchs (Danaidae), and arctics and satyrs (Satyridae), which includes the endangered #KatahdinArctic. Skippers (#Hesperiidae) have characteristics of both butterflies and moths.

    When developing a landscape for butterflies, first consider butterfly species present in your area and their preferred habitats. Then consider plants suited to your climate and your backyard habitat. Assess what your landscape already provides, and add to that. Each butterfly species has a preference or need for a particular habitat type, such as meadow, woods, woodland edges or marshes. Also, some species are specialists, while others are generalists regarding food sources. The habitat preference as well as plants you provide will determine your success in attracting a particular butterfly species. An identification field guide will prove helpful."

    Learn more:
    extension.umaine.edu/publicati

    #SolarPunkSunday #ButterflyHabitat #BackyardHabitats #GardeningForPollinators #UMaineExtension #UMaineCooperativeExtension

  8. DATE: May 14, 2026 at 12:00PM
    SOURCE: PSYPOST.ORG

    ** Research quality varies widely from fantastic to small exploratory studies. Please check research methods when conclusions are very important to you. **
    -------------------------------------------------

    TITLE: Brain cells store competing memories that drive or suppress alcohol relapse

    URL: psypost.org/brain-cells-store-

    A new study published in the journal Neuron provides evidence that the brain stores competing memories of alcohol use and the recovery from it within distinct networks of the same type of brain cell. The research suggests that the memory driving a return to drinking and the memory suppressing it exist side by side, competing for control over a person’s behavior. These findings offer a nuanced understanding of how addiction persists and point toward potential new ways to improve treatments for alcohol use disorder.

    Addiction occurs when addictive substances hijack normal learning processes, leading to the formation of powerful memories that link certain actions and environments with the drug. Behavioral therapies, such as extinction training, attempt to reduce the urge to seek alcohol by repeatedly exposing individuals to drug-related cues without providing the alcohol reward. However, the clinical impact of these therapies tends to be limited because scientists do not fully understand the physical cellular structures that hold these opposing memories.

    “Relapse is one of the most difficult challenges in alcohol use disorder, even after long periods of abstinence or treatment,” said Jun Wang, a professor in the Department of Neuroscience and Experimental Therapeutics at the Texas AM University Health Science Center’s College of Medicine. “Alcohol-associated cues and contexts can trigger powerful memories that drive renewed alcohol seeking. We wanted to understand where relapse-related memories are stored in the brain, and how extinction training reduces alcohol-seeking behavior by erasing the original alcohol memory or by creating a competing memory that suppresses relapse.”

    Memories are thought to be physically stored in the brain through specific groups of cells called engrams. An engram is a physical change in the brain that represents a memory. It consists of a specific network of brain cells that activate together when an experience happens, and when the brain recalls that memory, the same group of cells fires again. Past research on engrams has mostly focused on fear learning in other parts of the brain, meaning less is known about the engrams that store habits and voluntary actions related to addictive substances.

    The researchers designed the study to test whether the memories for alcohol use and the memories for extinction are stored in separate areas or within the same cell populations. They focused on a brain region called the dorsomedial striatum, which helps control goal-directed behaviors. Within this region, they examined a specific type of cell known as direct-pathway medium spiny neurons.

    “We were surprised to find that these opposing memories were encoded within the same genetically defined cell type, direct-pathway medium spiny neurons, rather than being separated simply by different neuron types,” Wang said. “Traditionally, many models emphasize broad distinctions between direct- and indirect-pathway neurons, but our findings show that even within one cell type, distinct neuronal ensembles can have very different, even opposite, behavioral functions.”

    The scientists conducted a series of experiments using genetically modified mice. They placed the mice in specialized testing boxes equipped with levers and lights. The mice learned that pressing an active lever three times would deliver a small amount of a twenty percent alcohol solution, which was accompanied by a specific tone and a yellow light. After several weeks of this training, the mice underwent nine days of extinction training, where pressing the lever no longer provided the alcohol or the cues.

    To track the memory cells, the researchers used a specialized genetic tagging technique. They injected a drug that allowed them to permanently label the specific brain cells that were active either during the initial alcohol learning or during the later extinction training. Following the training phases, the researchers tested groups of four to seven mice to see which memory cells were reactivated during a simulated relapse event.

    They found that the brain cells tagged during the initial alcohol learning were highly reactivated when the mice experienced the cues associated with alcohol. The cells tagged during extinction training were not reactivated during this simulated relapse, which provides evidence that alcohol use and extinction training recruit different sets of the same type of brain cell.

    The researchers then looked at where these specific cell groups were located within the dorsomedial striatum. This brain region is divided into two distinct areas: the matrix, which generally promotes action, and the striosome, which generally discourages action. By analyzing brain tissue samples, the scientists found that the cells linked to extinction memories were heavily clustered in the striosome areas. These extinction-related cells strongly inhibited dopamine-producing neurons, which helps suppress the urge to seek alcohol. In contrast, the cells linked to alcohol use were spread broadly across the matrix and promoted reward-seeking behavior.

    To test whether these distinct groups of cells actively control behavior, the researchers used a technique that allows them to turn specific neurons on or off using custom-made chemicals. They injected viral vectors into the brains of the mice, which safely delivered genetic instructions causing the tagged memory cells to produce specialized receptors. The researchers then injected a chemical that binds to these receptors to either turn the cells on or off.

    In tests involving groups of seven to sixteen mice, the authors found that turning off the alcohol-learning cells successfully suppressed the simulated relapse. Activating the extinction-learning cells also reduced the animals’ attempts to seek alcohol. The scientists repeated these tests using sucrose instead of alcohol and found no effect. This suggests these particular memory cells are specific to alcohol and do not generalize to natural rewards.

    The authors also wanted to understand exactly how the brain physicalizes the memory of alcohol use. Learning changes the brain by strengthening the synapses, which are the connections between different brain cells. The researchers focused on the connections coming from the medial prefrontal cortex, a brain area involved in complex decision-making. By taking electrical recordings from dozens of individual neurons across multiple mice, they found that alcohol use caused a long-lasting strengthening of the synapses connecting the medial prefrontal cortex to the specific cells involved in alcohol learning.

    To see if this strengthened connection was the actual memory, the scientists used a technique that controls brain cells with light. They introduced light-sensitive proteins into the brain cells of a new group of mice, numbering seven to eleven per group, that had never consumed alcohol. By shining a specific wavelength of light into the brain through tiny optical fibers, the scientists forced the neurons to fire and strengthened their connections artificially.

    This artificial stimulation was paired with specific lights and sounds in the testing chamber. Later, when the researchers played the lights and sounds again, the mice began pressing the lever as if they were seeking alcohol. This suggests that the researchers successfully created an artificial memory of alcohol relapse simply by strengthening a specific brain connection. The authors also replicated these behavioral findings in a small group of rats to ensure the results were not unique to mice.

    “One important aspect of the study is that we were able to identify not only the neurons associated with alcohol relapse and extinction, but also a synaptic mechanism that helps store relapse-related memory,” Wang said. “Specifically, we found that communication from the medial prefrontal cortex to striatal neurons was strengthened after alcohol self-administration, and experimentally mimicking this strengthening was sufficient to drive relapse-like behavior. This provides evidence that alcohol-related memories can be physically embedded in specific brain connections.”

    “The main takeaway is that relapse and recovery-related learning are not only abstract psychological processes; they are represented by specific groups of neurons in the brain,” Wang explained. “We found that two opposing alcohol-related memories, one that promotes relapse and one that suppresses alcohol seeking after extinction, can be encoded within the same broad type of striatal neuron. This suggests that recovery may depend not only on weakening relapse-driving circuits, but also on strengthening the brain circuits that support extinction and behavioral control.”

    While the study provides a detailed look at how the brain stores alcohol-related memories, there are some limitations to consider. The timeline of alcohol exposure in the study was relatively short compared to human addiction, which tends to develop over years. It is possible that the physical nature of these memories changes over longer periods of chronic alcohol use.

    “An important caveat is that this study was conducted in mouse models of alcohol self-administration, extinction, and relapse-like behavior,” Wang noted. “These models capture important aspects of alcohol seeking and relapse, but they do not fully reproduce the complexity of human alcohol use disorder. We also do not want readers to interpret the findings as meaning that relapse is controlled by a single brain region or a simple ‘on/off switch.’ Rather, our study identifies one specific circuit and cellular mechanism that contributes to alcohol-related memory and relapse-like behavior.”

    Current medical treatments cannot selectively erase or enhance specific memory cells in human patients. However, understanding that recovery involves strengthening a competing extinction memory gives researchers a new conceptual target. Future therapeutic strategies might focus on finding medications or brain stimulation techniques that specifically boost the extinction memory network to help prevent relapse.

    “Our long-term goal is to understand how maladaptive alcohol memories are formed, stored, retrieved, and suppressed at the level of specific brain circuits,” Wang said. “We are particularly interested in identifying mechanisms that could selectively weaken relapse-promoting memory circuits or strengthen extinction-related circuits. In the long run, this type of work may help guide new strategies to improve the durability of behavioral therapies and reduce relapse risk.”

    The study, “Dual-engram architecture within a single striatal cell type distinctly controls alcohol relapse and extinction,” was authored by Xueyi Xie, Yufei Huang, Ruifeng Chen, Zhenbo Huang, Himanshu Gangal, Ziyi Li, Jiayi Lu, Adelis M. Cruz, Anita Chaiprasert, Emily Yu, Nicholas Hernandez, Valerie Vierkant, Runmin Wang, Xuehua Wang, Rachel J. Smith, and Jun Wang.

    URL: psypost.org/brain-cells-store-

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