This picture, for me, is one of the most poignant and hard-hitting photographs featured in this years wildlife photographer of the year exhibition. Bornean elephants searching for their home that no longer exists due to rainforest clearance for palm oil plantations. This photo resonates - even to someone who doesn't have a blog on tropical rainforests. The success? Just by looking at this photo, anybody can see and start to understand the devastating effects that humans are having on nature - it's tragic (in the real sense of the word).
You're right... this is tragic. Clearly palm oil plantations are a key driver of rainforest and subsequently biodiversity loss. I know that palm oil is a widespread ingredient in a range of consumer products, from food to cosmetics. Do you think we should be trying to encourage consumers to entirely give up palm oil? And if so, how do you think it would be best to do this? And what are the more sustainable alternatives that could be used to replace it?
ReplyDeleteHi Becca, thank you for your comment! To be honest I don't think we should be encouraging consumers to entirely give up palm oil - I just think there needs to be a huge push towards a 100% sustainable palm oil industry. I think educating people on how their consumer actions can impact people and environments on the other side of the world is so important - if I knew more about what is in my products and how they were sourced earlier, then my consumer habits would have changed a long time ago!
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