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The creation of oil palm plantations involves clear felling and burning the forest, which means destroying indigenous peoples' livelihood, homes, ancestral graves, and sacred sites in the process. Currently 5 million hectares of new oil palm plantations are planned or West Papua by 2012. The palm oil industry has already set up 6.5 million hectares of oil palm plantations across Sumatra and Borneo, but it is estimated that it is probably responsible for the destruction of 10 million hectares of rainforest.

this is from the indigenous blogGreen business is a bit of an oxymoron but three cheers for lush who have boycotted palm oil.

this is from Kiss and Make-up blogspot
Palm oil is very, very bad, says Lush

lush%20greenwash.jpgOur eco-sister-blog Hippyshopper reports on Lush trying their utmost to remove palm oil from their products...

Following a lot of head-scratching and talk about orangutans, Lush has closed the door on the debate over whether palm oil can ever be sustainable. The answer is a resounding 'no', and the chain is now working to remove it from its products.

Since the cosmetics industry only accounts for 7% of the palm oil used worldwide, it's great that Lush is making the relatively expensive and inconvenient decision to find other oils to use in its products. At the moment, the oil (which, incidentally is the least healthy plant oil on the planet) crops up mainly in snack foods, including chocolate, bread and crisps as well as detergents and lipsticks...

Lush spent months working to develop a soap base without palm oil as a key ingredient, and in conjunction with the UK's oldest soap manufacturer, Kays Limited, finally developed a soap flake using a blend of sunflower, rapeseed and coconut oils. The first soap to be made using the new base was called Greenwash, and is available in Lush stores around the world now.

To mark the long-awaited decision, it has launched a new palm oil-free soap that has been named Greenwash to poke fun of 'all those who think planting a tree will actually offset the emissions from their weekend away flying to Sicilly, or to our government, who’s nearly drowning in a sea of oil and nuclear lobby, chained to the iron ball of economic growth." Wow. Well, I'm told it smells lovely...