This story came across
US Person's desk in May, but he was on safari for part of the time and the press of depressing information from the Gulf oil spill caused him to neglect an important victory for conservationists. Greenpeace announced on May 17th that
Nestlé, the giant food products company, decided to change policy and stop using palm oil from companies that cause deforestation like Sinar Mas,
notorious for its rainforest destruction in Indonesia. The expansion of palm oil plantations poses a serious threat to the remaining rainforest
{20.6.07}. Sinar Mas controls 406,000 hectares of palm oil plantations and plans to develop another 1.3 million hectares for plantations on Papua New Guinea and Kalimantan Borneo. Greenpeace exposed the use of palm oil in Nestle's popular "Kit Kat" chocolate wafer bar. The commercial uses of palm oil are numerous. Besides food, cooking and fuel, it is an ingredient in toothpaste and cosmetics.
[image: www.kidsagainstpalmoil.com]
