Join Us 
Business: Consumer brands such as Nestle and Procter & Gamble have said they conducted their investigations following accusations by an environmental group that palm oil sourced from the illegally cleared Indonesian wildlife reserve may have entered supply chains.
The Rainforest Action Network of the United States declared the last eight years saw the rainforests in the legally protected wildlife reserve cleared to make way for palm oil plantations since satellite images reveal deforestation in the area.
A group shared photos it said showed stretches of cleared brown land cut into the lush green expanse of Indonesia’s Rawa Singkil Wildlife Reserve, with rows of young palm trees now planted along its borders.
Some images, which RAN said were taken during a field investigation in February 2024, showed that oil palm seedlings were planted on burnt ground surrounded by fallen trees inside the reserve, according to the report published on Monday.
RAN said that since 2016, 2,609 hectares (6,447 acres) of forest in the Aceh province wildlife reserve were lost to palm trees that now grow on 645 hectares of the cleared area.
Reuters was unable to independently verify those claims.
Indonesia’s forestry ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
PT Global Sawit Semesta (GSS) and PT Aceh Trumon Anugerah Kita (ATAK) are some of the mills where fresh fruit bunches from illegal plantations made their way to, RAN said in the report conducted in September and October.
GSS and ATAK, based in remote locations, could not be reached by Reuters for comments.
Most companies source their palm oil from Indonesian mills via middlemen, meaning that the exact mill origin can’t be traced by customers or consumers.
A spokesperson for Nestle said it acted quickly and responded to its immediate supplier about GSS after it was alerted on RAN’s audit findings. By year end of 2023, the company said 96 percent of its palm oil supply was “deforestation-free.”
Should remedies be sought, the company will act upon them, the spokesperson added.
Procter & Gamble responded to Reuters that it has looked into the allegations raised by RAN and ceased supply from both GSS and ATAK immediately.
Other than Simec International, Singapore-based Royal Golden Eagle Group (RGE), Musim Mas, and Indonesian firm Permata Hijau all sourced palm oil from GSS, RAN said.
An RGE subsidiary, Apical, and Musim Mas said that it is investigating RAN’s findings. Permata Hijau, Mondelez, and Pepsi did not respond to multiple emailed requests for comment.
