Peace 4 Animals Fights to End Destruction of Palm Oil Industry

Peace 4 Animals, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization that helps companion and farm animals as well as wildlife, has been working to fight against the palm oil industry for some time - and this week it paid off. AB 572 (The California Deforestation-Free Procurement Act), co -sponsored by the organization, advanced to the State Senate Appropriations Committee. The move follows last week’s vote in its favor by the Committee on Governmental Organization.

AB 572 is a critical bill designed to combat threats, such as climate change and the palm oil industry. This important legislation requires California contractors selling tropical forest-risk commodities (such as palm oil or rubber) to develop and comply with a “No Deforestation, No Peat, No Exploitation” (NDPE) policy, ultimately saving rainforests and endangered species.

“I have long advocated for change in the palm oil industry, having experienced first-hand the devastation it continues to cause to the rainforests and endangered species such as orangutans, tigers, rhinos, and elephants that call these rainforests their home,”states Katie Cleary, founder of Peace 4 Animals.

While filming her new documentary "We Are One" in Indonesia last year, Cleary and her team, along with The Orangutan Information Center, rescued a pregnant orangutan from a palm oil and rubber plantation that was about to be bulldozed to the ground. "Sadly, there is little primary rainforest left in Indonesia for orangutans, due to deforestation caused by palm oil companies," continues Cleary.

Six years ago Peace 4 Animals created the “Palms Off Palm Oil” campaign to educate the public about the ramifications of buying products containing unsustainable palm oil. The campaign also encourages local grocery stores to stop selling products containing palm oil made with conventional production methods. Cleary's message - look at the ingredients on the back of products and be knowledgeable about what you're buying.