‘Anchor Rainforest Killer’ Palm Kernel Protest Continues In New Plymouth

Greenpeace activists remain on the roof of an Agrifeeds palm kernel storage warehouse in Port Taranaki despite police intervention to remove other protestors inside the facility.

Two orangutans have attached a 70-metre banner reading ‘Anchor Rainforest Killer’ to the roof and have locked themselves to the building. They are now entering their tenth hour on the roof of the building.

Greenpeace is also suing Fonterra for misleading claims on Anchor Butter packaging. The packaging claims that the butter is ‘100% New Zealand grass-fed’, however, a Fonterra dairy cow’s diet can be composed of up to 20% palm kernel - a product linked to rainforest destruction in Indonesia.

From inside the Agrifeeds storage shed, Greenpeace spokesperson Sinéad Deighton-O’Flynn said, "Fonterra markets its Anchor butter as ‘grass-fed’, but this is a deception. Every year, dairy cows in New Zealand are fed almost two million tonnes of palm kernel imported from Southeast Asia.

"Rainforests are being burned, peatlands are being drained, and rows of palm trees are being planted in their place to feed Fonterra’s oversized dairy herd.

"This facility here in New Plymouth has been linked to illegal palm plantations in Indonesia, connecting Anchor butter and other Fonterra products with the destruction of lush rainforests and the wildlife that depend on them.

"As more and more evidence emerges of New Zealand’s link to destructive palm kernel, Fonterra must ban the use of this blood-soaked animal feed on all their farms across Aotearoa."

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