Greenpeace Aotearoa is calling out Fonterra for ‘profiting from rainforest destruction’. The organisation says that the massive profits announced today by Fonterra come off the back of years of reliance on palm kernel expeller as a supplementary feed for Fonterra’s oversized dairy herd.

Greenpeace spokesperson Sinéad Deighton-O’Flynn says "Fonterra’s massive profits today are nothing to be proud of when they come at the immeasurable cost of rainforests in Southeast Asia.

"Fonterra has been relying on rainforest-destroying palm kernel to feed the bloated dairy herd, because there are simply too many cows, and not enough grass to feed them."

Palm kernel, or palm kernel expeller (PKE), is a product of the palm industry, and comes from the same plantations as palm oil. Globally, more than 300 football fields are cleared every hour in order to make space for palm industry expansion. Deforestation for the palm industry is the main cause of population decline of the Bornean orangutan, which has dropped by more than 50% in the last ten years.

"Fonterra should be ashamed that despite the results reported today, they continue to contribute to the deforestation, worker exploitation and the destruction of rare wildlife habitats that come at the hands of the palm industry," says Deighton-O’Flynn.

New Zealand is the biggest importer of palm kernel globally, importing almost 2 million tonnes every year. Agrifeeds, which sells its palm kernel exclusively in Fonterra’s Farm Source stores, is the country’s biggest importer, making Fonterra the biggest corporate consumer of palm kernel in New Zealand.

"Fonterra must make the switch to more plant based, ecological agricultural practices, and that includes ending their use of palm kernel and reducing the dairy herd size."

© Scoop Media