#landgrabbing — Public Fediverse posts

Colgate Palmolive @CP_News makers of #toothpaste 🦷🪥use so-called “sustainable” #palmoil , yet continue #deforestation and #landgrabbing causing the death of children for palm oil. #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife 💀🌴🦧🔥🙊⛔️ @palmoildetectives https://palmoildetectives.com/2021/02/09/colgate-palmolive/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=Palm+Oil+Detectives&utm_campaign=publer

Some guy broke into my house … / Caitlin Johnstone. 2026
Some guy broke into my house and set up residence in the study room. He says his great-grandparents used to live in this house and now he won’t leave.
My family and I tried to kick him out but he
https://differx.noblogs.org/2026/06/22/some-guy-broke-into-my-house-caitlin-johnstone-2026/
#Palestina #racconto #Resistenza #ricostruzioni #burglars #CaitlinJohnstone #Gaza #Israhell #LandGrabbing #Palestine #settlers #ViolentSettlers

Dwindling tropical rainforests mean lost medicines yet to be discovered in their plants

About 80% of the world population relies on compounds derived from plants for medicines to treat various ailments, such as malaria and cancer, and to suppress pain. Our future medicines are likely to come from plants, but how effectively are we protecting these plants from extinction? We aren’t doing enough and we must do more!

#Medicine 💊 humans need for our future survival will likely come from #rainforests 🍃🌳 Yet we aren’t stopping #deforestation! Help forests and forest animals! Be #vegan 🥦🍆🥑 and #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife 🌴🪔☠️🔥🧐⛔️ @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2023/04/23/dwindling-tropical-rainforests-mean-lost-medicines-yet-to-be-discovered-in-their-plants/

80% of the world’s population relies on #medicines 💊from #rainforests. As greedy companies destroy #Borneo, the #Congo and the #Amazon, the world edges ever closer to losing medicines forever! #Boycottpalmoil 🌴💀🚫 #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2023/04/23/dwindling-tropical-rainforests-mean-lost-medicines-yet-to-be-discovered-in-their-plants/

Written by Walter Suza, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Agronomy, Iowa State University. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Walter Suza, Iowa State University

As fires continue to burn in the Amazon and land is cleared for agriculture, most of the concerns have focused on the drop in global oxygen production if swaths of the forests disappear. But I’m also worried about the loss of potential medicines that are plentiful in forests and have not yet been discovered. Plants and humans also share many genes, so it may be possible to test various medicines in plants, providing a new strategy for drug testing.

As a plant physiologist, I am interested in plant biodiversity because of the potential to develop more resilient and nutritious crops. I am also interested in plant biodiversity because of its contribution to human health. About 80% of the world population relies on compounds derived from plants for medicines to treat various ailments, such as malaria and cancer, and to suppress pain.

Future medicines may come from plants

One of the greatest challenges in fighting diseases is the emergence of drug resistance that renders treatment ineffective. Physicians have observed drug resistance in the fight against malaria, cancer, tuberculosis and fungal infections. It is likely that drug resistance will emerge with other diseases, forcing researchers to find new medicines.

Plants are a rich source of new and diverse compounds that may prove to have medicinal properties or serve as building blocks for new drugs. And, as tropical rainforests are the largest reservoir of diverse species of plants, preserving biodiversity in tropical forests is important to ensure the supply of medicines of the future.

Plants and new cholesterol-lowering medicines

The goal of my own research is to understand how plants control the production of biochemical compounds called sterols. Humans produce one sterol, called cholesterol, which has functions including formation of testosterone and progesterone – hormones essential for normal body function. By contrast, plants produce a diverse array of sterols, including sitosterol, stigmasterol, campesterol, and cholesterol. These sterols are used for plant growth and defense against stress but also serve as precursors to medicinal compounds such as those found in the Indian Ayurvedic medicinal plant, ashwagandha.

Humans produce cholesterol through a string of genes, and some of these genes produce proteins that are the target of medicines for treating high cholesterol. Plants also use this collection of genes to make their sterols. In fact, the sterol production systems in plants and humans are so similar that medicines used to treat high cholesterol in people also block sterol production in plant cells.

I am fascinated by the similarities between how humans and plants manufacture sterols, because identifying new medicines that block sterol production in plants might lead to medicines to treat high cholesterol in humans.

New medicines for chronic and pandemic diseases

An example of a gene with medical implications that is present in both plants and humans is NPC1, which controls the transport of cholesterol. However, the protein made by the NPC1 gene is also the doorway through which the Ebola virus infects cells. Since plants contain NPC1 genes, they represent potential systems for developing and testing new medicines to block Ebola.

This will involve identifying new chemical compounds that interfere with plant NPC1. This can be done by extracting chemical compounds from plants and testing whether they can effectively prevent the Ebola virus from infecting cells.

There are many conditions that might benefit from plant research, including high cholesterol, cancer and even infectious diseases such as Ebola, all of which have significant global impact. To treat high cholesterol, medicines called statins are used. Statins may also help to fight cancer. However, not all patients tolerate statins, which means that alternative therapies must be developed.

Tropical rainforests are medicine reservoirs

The need for new medicines to combat heart disease and cancer is dire. A rich and diverse source of chemicals can be found in natural plant products. With knowledge of genes and enzymes that make medicinal compounds in native plant species, scientists can apply genetic engineering approaches to increase their production in a sustainable manner.

Tropical rainforests house vast biodiversity of plants, but this diversity faces significant threat from human activity.

To help students in my genetics and biotechnology class appreciate the value of plants in medical research, I refer to findings from my research on plant sterols. My goal is to help them recognize that many cellular processes are similar between plants and humans. My hope is that, by learning that plants and animals share similar genes and metabolic pathways with health implications, my students will value plants as a source of medicines and become advocates for preservation of plant biodiversity.

Walter Suza, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Agronomy, Iowa State University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Written by Walter Suza, Adjunct Assistant Professor of Agronomy, Iowa State University. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

ENDS

Read more about RSPO greenwashing

Big brands using “sustainable” RSPO palm oil yet still causing deforestation (there are many others)

Nestlé

Nestlé is destroying rainforests, releasing mega-tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere, and killing hundreds of endangered species. Once these animals are gone – they are gone for good. See Nestlé’s full list of…

Colgate-Palmolive

Despite global retail giant Colgate-Palmolive forming a coalition with other brands in 2020, virtue-signalling that they will stop all deforestation, they continue to do this – destroying rainforest and releasing mega-tonnes of carbon…

Mondelēz

Mondelez destroys rainforests, sending animals extinct and release mega-tonnes of carbon into air for so-called “sustainable” palm oil. Boycott them!

Unilever

In 2020, global retail giant Unilever unveiled a deforestation-free supply chain promise. By 2023 they would be deforestation free. This has been and gone and they are still causing deforestation. This brand has…

Danone

Savvy consumers have been pressuring French Dairy multinational Danone for decades to cease using deforestation palm oil. Yet they actually haven’t stopped this. From their website: ‘Danone is committed to eliminating deforestation from…

PepsiCo

Despite decades of promises to end deforestation for palm oil PepsiCo (owner of crisp brands Frito-Lay, Cheetos and Doritos along with hundreds of other snack food brands) have continued sourcing palm oil that…

Procter & Gamble

Despite decades of promises to end deforestation for palm oil Procter & Gamble or (P&G as they are also known) have continued sourcing palm oil that causes ecocide, indigenous landgrabbing, and the habitat…

Kelloggs/Kellanova

In late 2023, Kelloggs became Kellanova for their US arm. Savvy consumers have been pressuring Kelloggs for decades to cease using deforestation palm oil. Yet they actually haven’t stopped this. From their website:…

Johnson & Johnson

Global mega-brand Johnson & Johnson have issued a position statement on palm oil in 2020. ‘At Johnson & Johnson, we are committed to doing our part to address the unsustainable rate of global…

PZ Cussons

PZ Cussons is a British-owned global retail giant. They own well-known supermarket brands in personal care, cleaning, household goods and toiletries categories, such as Imperial Leather, Morning Fresh, Carex, Radiant laundry powder and…

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2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.

Wildlife Artist Juanchi Pérez

Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings

Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao

Health Physician Dr Evan Allen

The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert

How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy

3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.

https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20

https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20

https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20

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Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao

Dr Sophie Chao: In Her Own Words

Anthropologist, Scholar, Writer, Indigenous & Multispecies Rights Advocate

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Bio: Dr Sophie Chao

Dr Sophie Chao is an environmental anthropologist and environmental humanities scholar interested in the intersections of capitalism, ecology, Indigeneity, health, and justice in the Pacific.

Her theoretical thinking is inspired by interdisciplinary currents including Science and Technology Studies, political ecology, and Indigenous, Postcolonial, and Critical Race Studies.

Dr Chao is currently a Discovery Early Career Research Award (DECRA) Fellow and Lecturer in Anthropology at the University of Sydney. Prior to her academic career, she worked for the international Indigenous rights organisation Forest Peoples Programme in the United Kingdom and Indonesia.

She has also undertaken consultancies for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation and the United Nations Working Group on the Issue of Human Rights and Transnational Corporations. She is currently Secretary on the Executive Committee of the Australian Anthropological Society (AAS) and Co-Convenor of the Australian Food, Society, and Culture Network (AFSCN).

In 2022, Dr Chao released her much anticipated book In the Shadow of the Palms: More-Than-Human Becomings in West Papua, which examines the multispecies entanglements of oil palm plantations in West Papua, showing how Indigenous Marind communities understand and navigate the social, political, and environmental demands of palm oil. Her book won the inaugural Duke University Press Scholars of Colour First Book Award.

Dr Chao is keen to forge meaningful collaborations and conversations with Indigenous and decolonial academics, artists, and activists in Australia and beyond, and to move towards a better understanding of morethanhuman worlds. 

Palm Oil Detectives is honoured to interview to Dr Sophie Chao about her research into the impacts of palm oil on the daily lives of Marind people and other sentient beings in West Papua.

https://youtu.be/zy2CV-0bbP4

“I want the world to understand how #deforestation and industrial #palmoil expansion undermine #Indigenous ways of being in #WestPapua” ~ Dr Sophie Chao #PapuanLivesMatter #Together4Forests #Boycott4Wildlife 

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“#Indigenous #Marind of #WestPapua consider plants and animals NOT as passive objects of exploitation, but as other-than-human relatives. Subjects of #interspecies #justice in their own right” ~ Dr Sophie Chao #Boycott4Wildlife 

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“I want to see the #palmoil industry/governments try to understand the desires of #Papuan people THEMSELVES instead of pre-conceived notions of what counts as progress” ~ Dr Sophie Chao #PapuanLivesMatter #Together4Forests 

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“#Governments/ #corporates must accept that some #Indigenous communities may decide to withhold consent to #palmoil projects. Their right to say NO MUST be respected” ~ Dr Sophie Chao   #PapuanLivesMatter #Boycott4Wildlife 

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​Little previous research had been done into how indigenous peoples themselves experience, interpret, and contest oil palm developments.

In particular, there is not much research done into how indigenous peoples relate to vulnerable, non-human beings such as native plants, animals, and elements, with whom many indigenous peoples entertain intimate and ancestral relations of kinship and care.

“Many people know that oil palm is devastating on tropical ecosystems and biodiversity. Much less is known about the impacts of this proliferating cash crop on the peoples who are being displaced, dispossessed, and disempowered in its wake.”

Pictured: A group of Marind women preparing sago starch that has been freshly rasped from the sago grove. Photo: Dr Sophie Chao

​I wrote this book because I wanted the world to understand how deforestation and industrial oil palm expansion are undermining Indigenous ways of being in West Papua.

​My book seeks to bring to life the worlds of people who live in the teeth of settler-colonial capitalism

[Pictured] Dr Sophie Chao

​Living with Marind transformed how I think about what it means to be “human”

And also what it means to coexist in mutually beneficial ways with other-than-human beings.

​The Marind think of plants and animals as not simply passive objects of human exploitation

Instead, these other-than-human beings are considered to be agents, persons, relatives, and subjects of justice in their own right.

This was a completely different way of thinking to the anthropocentric and individualistic logic of the Westernised parts of the world where I had lived, studied, and worked.

https://youtu.be/U0n1dbxUa1k

​Indigenous Marind enriched my world by inviting me to think beyond nature-culture divides

Humans share the planet with a whole array of different creatures. These creatures matter in the making of more sustainable, collective futures.

​“More-than-human becomings” is in the subtitle of the book because it is an invitation to think beyond the human and also beyond categories. Instead, the reader is invited to think about non-human beings and transforming worlds.

Marind are “More-than-human” because they consider themselves as beings within a lively and diverse ecology of life

This includes native plants and animals like cassowaries, birds of paradise, and sago palms, but also introduced – and sometimes dangerous – organisms like industrial oil palm.

“Becomings” was a way of getting readers to think about life beyond the static notion of “being.” To “become” is a constant transformation, unfolding differently across bodies, places, and time. Becoming, in some ways, never really ends.

​The ‘good life’, according to Marind, stems from the willingness of humans to consider non-human beings as subjects of dignity and justice

This good life is best achieved by immersing oneself in the more-than-human environment. Non-human beings are considered to be participants in the making of shared worlds, and also as subjects of harm and violence.

The “good life” is deeply intergenerational for Marind. They often talked about nurturing the forest, as a way of becoming good ancestors and how they can transmit traditional ecological knowledge to future Marind generations

​Time for Marind is not linear, it is spiralic

What you do now matters in terms of how you will be remembered. What you do now matters in terms of what you will be able to pass on to human and other-than-human beings to come.

There is a wisdom and responsibility that comes with this sense of time that I think is critical to heed in this age of planetary destruction.

Many of my Marind companions talk about conservation and capitalism as being “two sides of the same coin”

This is because they now find themselves excluded from both industrial oil palm plantations and from the conservation areas that are intended to off-set deforestation.

Images: Palm oil plantations and environmental destruction, Getty Images.

Both of these activities entrench a nature-culture divide that is alien to many Marind. Both undervalue the fact that Marind have always coexisted harmoniously with their environments.

These new “conservation zones” are the very same places where Marind fish, forage, and hunt. It is where they go to visit ancestral graveyards and sacred sites. It is where they walk with their families and friends to encounter their kindred sago palms, wild boards, possums, and gaharu trees.

For Marind, conservation and capitalism violate their territorial sovereignty and access to food and resources. Both types of activity are imposed by outside actors through top-down decision-making process that they are not party to.

​Human rights and environmental abuses in West Papua are made invisible in Australia, their closest neighbour, mainly for geopolitical reasons

Racism may have something to do with it – but I think geopolitical interests are a big part of the story

West Papua is incredibly rich in natural resources – from gold, copper, and coal, to timber and oil palm. Economic and political interests tend to trump human and environmental rights, in West Papua and elsewhere.

There are pockets of activism and advocacy in Australia, including by West Papuan diaspora and political exiles – but the movement hasn’t caught the public’s attention in the way other political causes have.

Accessing West Papua is difficult for non-Indonesian individuals and organisations. There is heightened militarisation of the region. This contributes to an ongoing invisibilisation of what is happening at the ground level, among Papuan people and across Papuan ecosystems.

​The demilitarisation of West Papua is absolutely vital if Papuans are to feel that they have a free voice in matters affecting them and their lands – including oil palm developments

Image: Andrew Gal for Getty Images

​Indigenous ways of being and thinking (although radically different from neoliberal capitalist and colonialist logics), should be central to decision-making

I would like to see the palm oil industry, together with the Indonesian government, try to understand the views, aspirations, desires, beliefs, and hopes of Papuan peoples themselves instead of entering with pre-conceived notions of what counts as progress, the good life, and wellbeing.

Government and corporate actors should engaging with Indigenous Papuans through a transparent, iterative, and trust-based process of consent-seeking, before any oil palm projects are designed or implemented.

This consent should be sought freely, well ahead of time, and only when communities have been given access to comprehensive and impartial information on the benefits and risks of oil palm developments.

Pictured: Marind man and child in Merauke by Nanang Sujana

Most importantly, government and corporate actors need to accept that some communities may, following lengthy consultations, still decide to withhold their consent to oil palm projects. This right to say NO to oil palm must imperatively be respected.

​Violence as a multispecies act: Marind describe oil palm as a colonising, killing and occupying plant beings

Oil palm, they often told me, does not want to share time and space with native plants, people, and animals.

It spreads uniformly across vast swaths of land, yet grows alone in monocrop form

This plant’s introduction has been accompanied by intensified military and corporate surveillance, community harassment and intimidation and exploitative labour conditions.

To think about violence in multispecies terms, brings us to consider situations where humans are not the only culprits, and non-humans not the only victims.

Oil palm’s acts of violence invite us to think about non-human beings as drivers and perpetrators of harm – even as they themselves are also subject to human and technological manipulations and exploitation.

Paraquat, a deadly herbicide, trickled down from rusty canisters strapped to the women’s backs, the blue-green venom seeping into their exposed skin.

Banned in many countries because of its toxic effects, no antidote exists for this lethal chemical. I thought of babies never to come. The faces of my friends, huddled in the bed of the truck, were caked in dust and watched the landscape unfurl, weeping.

Infants retched from the stench of mill effluents as we jolted down dirt roads without stopping so as to avoid attracting the attention of military men employed by the companies to guard their plantations. Bunches of oil palm fruit lay strewn along roadsides, piles of moldering blood-red and coal-black, shot through with razor-sharp thorns.

Bulldozers and chainsaws ripped through isolated patches of the remaining vegetation. Silhouetted against the bleary sun, pesticide-spraying helicopters zigzagged back and forth above us, spreading a milky veil of hazy toxins.

~ Dr Sophie Chao, excerpt from the prologue of ‘In the Shadow of the Palms.’

The day that MIFEE came

On August 11th 2010, a delegation of government representatives from Jakarta, led by the then minister of agriculture Ir. H Suswono launched the Merauke Integrated Food and Energy Estate (MIFEE). A $5 billion USD agribusiness scheme to promote the country’s self-sufficiency in basic foodstuffs and to make Indonesia a net food-exporting nation. Papuans from across the region were invited to the event including Marind community members from the upper Bian river. Paulus Mahuze, Marind clan leader recalls the arrival of MIFEE and how everything changed dramatically afterwards for his people. 

~ Dr Sophie Chao, excerpt from her book ‘In the Shadow of the Palms.’

“It was a hot day. There was dust (abu) everywhere, raised by the government convoys and military trucks. The dust stung our eyes and made our children cry. The government brought oil palm (sawit) company bosses with them from pusat (‘the centre,’ or Jakarta). They gave us instant noodles, pens, bottles of water. They also gave us cigarettes – the expensive kind. They talked a lot about MIFEE. MIFEE this, MIFEE that…but we didn’t understand what MIFEE was. We did not know what palm oil was because oil palm does not live in our forests. Then, the government officials and the oil palm bosses left. They never returned to the village. 
They promised us money and jobs. They said MIFEE would provide us with food. I thought that they would plant yams, vegetables and fruit trees. Instead they planted oil palm. They planted oil palm everywhere they could. They turned the whole forest into oil palm. They cut down all the sago to plant oil palm. This is what happened. Since then, everything is abu-abu (‘grey’ or ‘uncertain’).  

~ Paulus Mahuze, marind clan leader (as told to dr sophie chao in her book: In the shadow of the palms).

​Abu-abu means both “grey” and “uncertain”. For Marind, the future, hope and multispecies relations were all abu-abu and under siege

Pictured: Oil palm plantations in Merauke have contributed to unprecedented levels of deforestation, and water/soil contamination. Photo credit: Dr Sophie Chao.

The concept of abu-abu is one that many of my Marind friends would use to describe the worlds that they inhabit

Abu-abu communicates the sense of ambiguity, opacity, and strangeness that life on the palm oil frontier entails. Greyness manifests in the polluted waters of local rivers, and in the smoke-filled skies following forest burning.

Greyness also manifests in the dull and irritated skin of malnourished infants, poisoned fish, and pesticide-wielding workers

To live in a world of murk and uncertainty is violent and unsettling – but it is also a way of rejecting the possibility of any kind of radical divide between oneself and that murk. That’s why I approach abu-abu not just as a condition of suffering, but also as a stance of refusal.

What would or might come next for Marind and their other-than-human kin was unknown – and often feared.

This sense of greyness, or uncertainty is also metaphorical. For Marind the world is grey in that the future, hope, social and multispecies relations are all under siege.

Pictured: Dead fish, creative commons image, Pxfuel.

At the same time, abu-abu was a form of resistance in the way it refused fixed classifications, categories, or boundaries between things, ideas, and actions

​Whether “sustainable” palm oil can be achieved in practice demands a radical rethinking of the capitalist logic – the logic of endless growth

Careless profit-making, and externally imposed “development” and “progress” rhetorics. And that is a huge task. These kinds of rhetorics are deeply entrenched. Their origins are often unquestioned. Their impacts are often silenced.

​At the end of the day, I think the most important thing to ask ourselves about “sustainability” is – sustainability for whom?

Who gets to have a say over what happens to lands and forests? Who gets to be involved in decision-making processes surrounding oil palm projects? Is there scope to reconsider the scale at which these projects are being developed?

These are questions that have to be crafted and considered together with the Indigenous peoples most directly and indirectly affected by agribusiness expansion.

That, for me, is the beginning of any kind of conversation around sustainability – sustainability for people, plants, animals, and for all the other beings implicated in one way or another in the palm oil nexus.

The rationale for additional Food Estates in Papua and Indonesia is scrutinised in this 2022 report

“The rationale behind Food Estates, that they are an effective way to rapidly increase national food production, does not stand up to scrutiny.

“Over the years, previous attempts to launch Food Estates have failed, with little if any extra food produced. The various iterations of the Merauke Food Estate (MIFEE) are a good example of this.

“For these reasons, it is legitimate to call into question the real motivation behind the plans. With corruption still rampant in Indonesia, there is a significant risk that Food Estates will present new opportunities for profit by those in government and their associates.”

Quote from: Pandemic Power Grabs: Who benefits from Food Estates in West Papua, a report by AwasMIFEE and TAPOL (2022).

Upcoming online events and publications

Event: Eating and Becoming Eaten More-than-human metabolisms on the West Papuan Agribusiness Frontier

https://twitter.com/SSNDeakin/status/1556487944516825089?s=20&t=6XYWl5_WwEiVBCRnuOODag

The Promise of Multispecies Justice

Edited by Dr Sophie Chao, Karin Bolender, Eben Kirksey.

What are the possibilities for multispecies justice? How do social justice struggles intersect with the lives of animals, plants, and other creatures? Leading thinkers in anthropology, geography, philosophy, speculative fiction, poetry, and contemporary art answer these questions from diverse grounded locations.

You can find and follow me on Twitter if you wish @Sophie_MH_Chao

Pictured: Dr Sophie Chao researched the life of the Marind-Anim tribe in Merauke for three years. Her doctoral dissertation on the impact of oil palm plantations on the lives of the tribe won the 2019 best thesis award in Australia in the field of Asian Studies. Photo: ABC News Indonesia

https://twitter.com/Sophie_MH_Chao/status/1554625068906336256?s=20&t=KQOGXlMflLDymRCC19ppTw

https://twitter.com/DukePress/status/1553002952293584898?s=20&t=8y_Ry_oAL7Ef8cdQv5KBQA

https://twitter.com/eben_kirksey/status/1554656376982364160?s=20&t=8y_Ry_oAL7Ef8cdQv5KBQA

Images: Getty Images, Dr Sophie Chao, Nanang Sujana, Craig Jones Wildlife Photography, ABC News Indonesia.

Words: Dr Sophie Chao

Further Reading

‘In West Papua, oil palm expansion undermines the relations of indigenous Marind people to forest plants and animals’ by Dr Sophie Chao for The Conversation.

After 75 years of independence, Indigenous Peoples in Indonesia still struggling for equality by Dr Sophie Chao for The Conversation.

‘Kelapa Sawit Membunuh Sagu’: Sophie Chao Meraih Tesis Terbaik di Australia Setelah Meneliti Suku di Papua by Farid M. Ibrahim for ABC Indonesia.

In the plantations there is hunger and loneliness: The cultural dimensions of food insecurity in Papua (commentary)’ by Dr Sophie Chao for Mongabay.

The sky has no corners: My journey to a new understanding of nature, an essay by Dr Sophie Chao for Five Media.

Read and watch more stories about indigenous justice, land-grabbing and deforestation on Palm Oil Detectives

Mama Malind su Hilang (Our Land is Gone) by filmmaker Nanang Sujana

Image: Marind children in Merauke West Papua by Nanang Sujana

Mama Malind su Hilang (Our Land Has Gone) is a powerful documentary by celebrated and renowned filmmaker and photographer Nanang Sujana. His images and film tells the story of the Malind Anim tribe living in Zanegi village. They were dispossessed from their land which was given over to global palm oil corporations, in its place was Merauke Integrated Food and Energy Estate (MIFEE).

https://youtu.be/RqYoRh1aApg

“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

Image: Rainforest in Sumatra by Craig Jones Wildlife Photography

The people versus Feronia: Fighting palm oil agrocolonialism in the Congo

Read more

Organised Crime: A Top Driver of Global Deforestation

Read more

Promise, Divide, Intimidate and Coerce: 12 tactics used by palm oil companies intent on land-grabbing

Read more

Palm Oil Lobbyists Getting Caught Lying Orangutan Land Trust and Agropalma

Read more

13 Reasons To Boycott Gold for Yanomami

Read more

Treespiracy: Forests are being destroyed against a background of corruption, illegality and apathy

Read more

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.

#animalExtinction #animalRights #animals #Anthropology #Boycott4wildlife #conservation #corporates #CreativesForCoolCreatures #deforestation #indigenous #IndigenousActivism #indigenousRights #interspecies #justice #landRights #landgrabbing #Malind #Marind #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #PapuaNewGuinea #Papuan #PapuanLivesMatter #rainforestConservation #research #Together4Forests #WestPapua #WestPapua

Wildlife Vet Dr Richard K Ssuna

Dr Richard K Ssuna: In His Own Words

Wildlife and Domestic Animal Vet, Conservationist, Animal Advocate

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Bio: Dr Richard K. Ssuna

Dr Richard K. Ssuna has been caring for (wild and domesticated) animals as a Veterinarian for over 20 years. In the past he’s worked for the Uganda Society for the Protection and Care of Animals (USPCA), the Jane Goodall Institute and Chimpanzee Sanctuary, Wildlife Conservation Trust on Ngamba Island Chimpanzee Sanctuary and the Lilongwe Wildlife Centre. Dr Ssuna also established the Lilongwe Society and Protection of Animals (LSPCA) and also worked as the technical advisor for the Second Chance Chimpanzee Refuge in Liberia. He is currently the Founder of All Creatures Animal Welfare Trust in Malawi, Lesotho and Uganda.

Over the years, Dr Ssuna has received many awards for animal welfare, and veterinary practice including:

• The William Wilberforce Award in 2012.
• The Africa Animal Advocate Award by Humane Society International (HSI) in 2014.
• Special Recognition for Outstanding Leadership for Ngamba Island in 2018.
• World Animal Day Ambassador for Malawi.

Along with a veterinary degree, Dr Ssuna holds a Masters of Science in Wild Animal Health (Royal Veterinary College, University of London) and a Masters of International Animal Welfare Ethics & Law (Royal School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh).

Dr Ssuna is an absolute inspiration to animal lovers and conservationists all over the world. It is an honour to showcase his work and stories on Palm Oil Detectives.

Respected #wildlife and #pet #vet @RichardSsuna talks about @africacreatures saving #animals in #Uganda #Lesotho #Malawi and also #palmoil #landgrabbing #animalrights and the #Boycott4Wildlife #Africa

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Respected #wildlife and #pet #vet @RichardSsuna talks about @africacreatures saving #animals in #Uganda #Lesotho #Malawi and also #palmoil #landgrabbing #animalrights and the #Boycott4Wildlife #Africa

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‘Foreign #palmoil companies (RSPO members) have claimed the Kalangala Islands, Uganda for #palmoil. The locals have lost their food sources. I support the #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife’ #Wildlife and #Pet Vet @RichardSsuna

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“In my view product certifications like @RSPOtweets when their operations adversely affect people, they are designed to cover-up an already messed-up industry.” #Wildlife #vet @RichardSsuna #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife

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The public has been hoodwinked into believing that @RSPOtweets #palmoil #certification equates to a sustainable product and as result, companies fetch even more cash for it” #Wildlife #vet @RichardSsuna #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife

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‘Please support All Creatures Animal Welfare Trust so we can help domestic and wild animals’ #wildlife and #pet #vet @RichardSsuna of @africacreatures #Boycott4Wildlife

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Chimps are very curious and they pay attention to detail

This is how it all started many years ago! Here I am examining one of the baby chimps at a sanctuary. Did you know that chimps appreciate veterinary care? Via Dr Richard Ssuna on Twitter

The beauty with being a wildlife-vet, is that you get to treat all sorts of animals

This leopard developed arthritis from a previous injury. This was her annual general health check. #Wildlife #Animals #AnimalWelfare #Africa @TheWildlifeHost @bigcatscom @Lupita_Nyongo

Originally tweeted by Richard Ssuna (@RichardSsuna) on August 16, 2021.

I used to be the Field Programs Officer and Veterinarian for the Jane Goodall Institute

This project was located in the richly forested areas of Bushenyi (Kalinzu) Hoima (Bulindi, Kitooba, Kaisotonya), Masindi and Kibaale (Kanyanchu).

dr richard ssuna

My organisation All Creatures Animal Welfare helps to keep animals and communities safe…

All Creatures was initially set up in Lilongwe in Malawi in 2016, we now have new sites in Lesotho and Uganda

We specialise in:

• Mass rabies vaccinations: Rabies is a critical public health concern in Africa and has severe animal welfare and human health consequences.
• Animal kindness education: We teach in schools and communities about the connection between animal welfare, environmental protection and human wellbeing.
• Community Veterinary Services: Our free vet services including spaying and neutering, surgery and wildlife interventions.
• Saving animals from disasters: Animals are often forgotten in natural disasters and pandemics and we are well equipped to save distressed and abandoned animals.
• Animal Rescue Centre: We have a shelter in Lilongwe and care for abandoned and neglected dogs and other animals.

“We have successfully vaccinated 75% of all dogs against rabies in Mzuzu, and vaccinated and sterilised more than 80% dogs in Chintenche, Northern Malawi.”

When Malawi was hit with floods in 2019, we rescued, treated and vaccinated many animals

Photo: The Conversation Arjan van de Merwe/UNDP/Flickr

“We have rescued and treated many different species wildlife, for example: Vervet Monkeys, Bush Babies, Common Duikers and Olive Baboons.”

All Creatures Animal Welfare Trust was set up to care not only for domestic pets, but wildlife too…

This has unfortunately been difficult to implement due to funding and the insurmountable challenges of animal welfare issues for domestic animals. You can help us to help more animals by donating…

Photo by Dalida Innes Wildlife Photography

I helped to rescue baby chimps who have lost their mothers to traps laid by cocoa farmers in Kitooba

I’ve seen first-hand the poaching of baby chimps and the destruction of chimp habitat for cocoa while I was working at The Jane Goodall Institute

~ Dr Richard Ssuna

Indiscriminate traps were usually intended for bush pigs and yellow baboons and laid by local farmers. They are a common affliction to wild chimp populations in West Uganda. The chimps use private forest patches as movement corridors to access their natural habitats. This below was Masindi, 20 years ago!

Originally tweeted by Richard Ssuna (@RichardSsuna) on August 12, 2021.

The other culprit was British American Tobacco

They invested heavily in communities and tobacco farmers planted on deforested forest patches! Both activities adversely affected chimps, as their travel routes through community forests were cut off and some small unviable groups were isolated in small forest fragments.

Globally, deforestation of equatorial forests for palm oil has affected carbon sinks and has resulted in more global warming

~ Dr Richard Ssuna

Kalangala Islands, Uganda

“Foreign companies and RSPO members have claimed the land for palm oil. The local inhabitants of the island suffered from the brute destruction of the island’s forests and their loss of livelihood and food sources.

“This can easily be extrapolated to inform similar misdeeds elsewhere on the African continent. This also affected peoples livelihoods and many of these people became landless.”

The Kalangala Islands are a renowned birders destination. Now, with forest destruction, this pristine bird-haven has been adversely affected and destabilised. All in the interest of a few greedy businessmen!

~ Dr Richard Ssuna

The global impact of palm oil on various facets of our lives is immoral

Palm oil is driven primarily by greed and profit at the expense of both mankind, the animal kingdom and our planet.

https://twitter.com/RichardSsuna/status/1427171099595390978?s=20

https://twitter.com/RichardSsuna/status/1426669428977160195?s=20

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https://twitter.com/RichardSsuna/status/1424973222454382592?s=20

https://twitter.com/RichardSsuna/status/1385716733340758020?s=20

Excerpt, The Guardian UK: Ugandan farmers take on palm oil giant Wilmar over land grab claims

Before the bulldozers came, Magdalena Nakamya harvested coffee, cassava, avocado and jackfruit on her three-hectare (seven-acre) plot on Kalangala, an island in Lake Victoria.

But on a July morning in 2011, Nakamya, 64, awoke to find yellow machines churning up her land and razing the crops she had grown in a bid to make way for palm oil plantations.

“No one came to talk to me before they destroyed my crops,” says Nakamya. “I heard that some people were given money, but I didn’t receive anything.”

Read more: The Guardian UK

https://twitter.com/nbstv/status/1523006629280874496?s=20&t=Q5GqJQOdD1hOEnS_0rNR2g

https://twitter.com/DvOijen/status/1513496609514045448?s=20&t=bqpCdBf0IQ6JeOo3MBnfIw

Landgrabbing for palm oil in Uganda by ‘If Not Us Then Who?’

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wm3FW1nTRMs

In my view all or most product certifications especially whose operations adversely affect people, are designed to cover-up an already messed-up palm oil industry.

Dr Richard Ssuna

“In my view product certifications like @RSPOtweets when their operations adversely affect people, they are designed to cover-up an already messed-up industry.” #Wildlife #vet @RichardSsuna #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife

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https://youtu.be/17QxF61PVC4

Read more: Friends of the Earth and ‘If Not Us, Then Who?’

I think the real hope sits with governments

The political will of governments – provided they are not compromised by kickbacks or other financial interests from global brands, provides the best opportunity to address this problem of deforestation for food, at least on a national level.

“In a real sense, the public has been hoodwinked into believing that a palm oil certification equates to a more sustainable product and as result, companies fetch even more cash for it”

~ Dr Richard Ssuna

The public has been hoodwinked into believing that @RSPOtweets #palmoil #certification equates to a sustainable product and as result, companies fetch even more cash for it” #Wildlife #vet @RichardSsuna #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife

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In ten years there will be no more African animals. All gone. Extinct. The window for transformation of our food system is closing rapidly!

Four things consumers can do to stop deforestation for food ingredients…

1. Raise awareness of brands that are using greenwashing to sell products and are destroying the environment and causing tropical deforestation or emptying our oceans.

2. Consume alternative products, made locally and not coming from deforestation.

3. Publicly condemn these brands causing deforestation, whenever and wherever there is a platform, with family and friends and even on social media.

4. Make reference to this issue and to the #Boycott4Wildlife movement, whenever any adverse climatic changes are suffered as a result of deforestation for food.

Please support All Creatures Animal Welfare Trust so we can help domestic and wild animals

We have faced insurmountable challenges in recent years. Your donation will support us to help more animals

Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on supermarket brands causing palm oil deforestation

Kelloggs/Kellanova

In late 2023, Kelloggs became Kellanova for their US arm. Savvy consumers have been pressuring Kelloggs for decades to cease using deforestation palm oil. Yet they actually haven’t stopped this. From their website:

‘All of the palm oil that is used in our products is sourced from a combination of the Roundtable of Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) Certified Segregated supply chain, RSPO Mass Balance mixed-source supply and the purchase of Green Palm certificates.’

Read more: Kelloggs website

This phrasing above means absolutely nothing. In reality, Kelloggs’ supply chain continues to slash and burn thousands of hectares of forests and release mega-tonnes of carbon into the atmosphere. Kellogg’s is therefore involved in the killing thousands of endangered species. Once these animals are gone – they are gone for good. See research on Kelloggs’s palm oil sources including a PDF of their palm oil mills.

View Kelloggs/Kellanova’s recent palm oil deforestation

Data courtesy of Palm Watch, a multidisciplinary research initiative by the University of Chicago.

#Kelloggs/Kellanova uses so-called “sustainable” #palmoil yet still causes #deforestation and child slavery for #palmoil in their child-friendly #cereal 🥣 Fight back when you #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect 🌴⛔️🧐🔥https://palmoildetectives.com/2021/02/09/kelloggs/

#Palmoil used by #Kelloggs’s brands is so-called “sustainable” yet it still causes #deforestation #ecocide #extinction and #indigenous landgrabbing. Fight back against the greenwash ☠️🧐🌴🤮⛔️ and #BoycottPalmOIl #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2021/02/09/kelloggs/

Global Witness October 2021 Report: Violence and death for palm oil connected to household supermarket brands (RSPO members)

“One palm oil firm, Rimbunan Hijau, [Papua New Guinea] negligently ignored repeated and avoidable worker deaths and injuries on palm oil plantations, with at least 11 workers and the child of one worker losing their lives over an eight-year period.

“Tainted palm oil from Papua New Guinea plantations was sold to household name brands, all of them RSPO members including Kellogg’s, Nestlé, Colgate, Danone, Hershey’s and PZ Cussons and Reckitt Benckiser”

The true price of palm oil: How global finance funds deforestation, violence and human rights abuses in Papua New Guinea – Global Witness, 2021

Kelloggs makes claims of sustainability for palm oil on their website. However these claims do not match what is happening on the ground. This is pure greenwashing.
The brand has a high ranking on the WWF Scorecard and has an RSPO certification. However this high ranking is greenwashing and this mega-brand is purchasing huge amounts of palm oil from four mills that are responsible for 44% of all deforestation: Jhonlin, Mulia Sawit, Tunas Baru Lampung and Peputra Group

Source: chain reaction research

Palm Oil Detectives thinks it is wise to boycott all Kelloggs sub-brands until it has been independently verified that they have stopped 100% of their deforestation activities throughout the world.

Sign a petition telling Kelloggs to stop deforestation!

Kelloggs own a vast global empire of cereal and food brands…

The most updated list of their stable of brands from their website includes:

All-Bran®
Apple Jacks®
Austin®
Bear Naked®
Carr’s®
Cheez-It®
Club®
Corn Pops®
Cracklin’ Oat Bran®
Crispix®
Eggo®
Froot Loops®
Frosted Mini-Wheats®
Gardenburger®
Honey Smacks®
Incogmeato™

Joybol
Jumbo Snax
Kashi®
Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes®
Kellogg’s Limited Edition
Kellogg’s Corn Flakes®
Kellogg’s Raisin Bran®
Krave®
MorningStar Farms®
Mueslix®
Nutri-Grain®
Pop-Tarts®
Pringles®
Pure Organic
Rice Krispies®
Smart Start®
Special K®
Toasteds®
Town House®
Zesta®

More Information

The Chain: Repeat Offenders Continue to Clear Forests for Oil Palm in Southeast Asia

Wikipedia

Kelloggs

Research: Palm Oil deforestation and its connection to retail brands