Here’s a really powerful video clip I ran across on YouTube. It talks about the connections between wild animal suffering, the illegal wildlife trade, rainforest deforestation and unsustainable palm oil harvesting in Indonesia. Keep in mind, whenever CITES is mentioned in the video, this refers to the endangered species that are supposed to be protected by an international treaty. The animals are taken from the wild to be sold as pets or used in entertainment acts, such as the circus.

Anderson Cooper also did a piece for CNN on the illegal wildlife trade in Thailand. You can get a transcript or watch the video.

Avoiding palm oil is something simple that everyone can do to help reduce demand and hopefully decrease deforestation and harm to wildlife. Palm oil is high in saturated fat, so it’s not very healthy for you anyway. It is commonly found in many processed foods as well as margarine. Palm oil also is becoming a popular ingredient in biodiesel fuel. Although this renewable fuel releases less greenhouse gas, deforestation certainly is not environmentally friendly, and destroying the habitat of wildlife is not animal friendly.

If you are concerned about not supporting unsustainable palm oil harvesting practices, just read the labels. If it includes sustainable palm oil, it is likely that the packaging would say so, since this would be a selling point. If the label doesn’t specify, it’s best to assume that the palm oil is coming from a deforested area and that wildlife is being harmed as a result.