The conversion of tropical forest to palm oil plantations, particularly in Southeast Asia, is placing increasing pressure on orangutan and gibbon populations that rely on these habitats to survive and thrive. In mid-June this year (2010) the European Parliament debated a new regulation on the ‘Provision of food information to consumers’ (COD/2008/0028), also known as the Sommer Report. EAZA members were asked to lobby their local MEPs in support of an amendment to the text that would require the clear labelling of the presence of palm oil in products. While EAZA and its members are engaged in significant work on both in situ and ex situ species conservation, the regulatory change that would follow the implementation of the food labelling directive, including the palm oil amendment, would have a major impact on efforts to protect important habitats.
The amendment was proposed by Irish MEP Nessa Childers, who worked closely with EAZA on this initiative. Throughout April and May, EAZA members across Europe sent letters to their local MEPs urging them to support the amendment. In June what is known as the ‘first reading’ of the document took place in the European Parliament, which represents all citizens of the European Union. Having cleared this important hurdle, the directive, which is a very long document, now moves forward to the Council of the European Union, which represents the individual member states. It is possible that the Council will propose further changes to the document in which case it would need to return to the Parliament again for a second reading, probably sometime next year. Once agreement is reached between Parliament and Council, companies would have three years in which to comply with the new regulations.
This is therefore just the first step and there is still some way to go. Nonetheless it represents an important breakthrough. In the past EAZA played an important role in putting the issue of bushmeat on the agenda in Europe, and throughout the summer the EAZA European Carnivore Campaign has engaged in a signature action that aims to target the illegal use of poison to control wildlife. We hope that the Ape Campaign can also make a difference in lobbying for legislative change that will improve the situation for apes and their habitats.
