Taranaki, New Zealand – Greenpeace Aotearoa activists have stopped an Indonesian ship offloading 30 thousand tonnes of palm kernel expeller (PKE), destined for use as animal feed by the country’s biggest environmental polluter, dairy giant Fonterra.

Activists have shut down the storage shed of Fonterra’s primary palm kernel supplier, Agrifeeds, due to proven connections between Fonterra’s palm kernel supply and illegal operations and deforestation in critical Indonesian rainforest areas, including orangutan habitat.

Inside the facility, two activists locked themselves to pillars, preventing trucks of feed from unloading palm kernel. Meanwhile, a team on the roof unfurled a 70m banner labelling the Fonterra’s butter brand Anchor as a ‘rainforest killer’ for its misleading grass-fed branding. Currently, Greenpeace Aotearoa has an ongoing lawsuit against Fonterra over this branding. 

Sinéad Deighton-O’Flynn, Agriculture Activist, Greenpeace Aotearoa said: “The intensive meat and dairy industry all around the world is destroying the climate and rainforests, but Big Agri-business doesn’t want you to know about it. That’s why we’re taking action in New Zealand to show the whole world the extent of their environmental crimes.”

“The New Zealand dairy industry, led by Fonterra, is one of the world’s worst climate polluters. Not only do they have too many cows polluting the planet with superheating methane gas, but at the same time, they’re complicit in chopping down the last paradise rainforests of Indonesia in order to feed their oversized dairy herd.

“While Fonterra boasts that its dairy product – specifically Anchor – is superior because it’s ‘grass-fed’, unfortunately, that’s far from the truth. There are so many cows on New Zealand dairy farms that there isn’t enough grass to feed them. As much as 20% of what Fonterra cows eat is this gravelly brown powder called palm kernel expeller – which often comes from illegally operating palm plantations in Southeast Asia.”

Danika Plowman, Volunteer Activist, Greenpeace Aotearoa said: “Rainforests and the wildlife that inhabit them should not be destroyed to feed to dairy cows here in New Zealand.  We’re here to tell Fonterra to end the use of palm kernel and cut its ties to deforestation now.”

Deighton-O’Flynn adds, “Rainforests like those in Southeast Asia are critical biodiversity hotspots, and they are also the lungs of the world, countering the pollution being emitted by big Agri-businesses like Fonterra.

“But you wouldn’t know any of this based on the agri-industry’s marketing. Big Ag corporations like Fonterra pump millions of dollars into environmental marketing and PR, misleading their customers while they wreck the world’s precious rainforests and produce huge amounts of superheating methane emissions that are cooking the climate faster than CO₂.

“What’s worse is that Fonterra isn’t the only company doing this – from Arla in Europe, to JBS in the Amazon, the destruction is systemic, and so are the lies. It’s time to break down the livestock industry’s greenwash and bring the dirty truth about intensive cattle farming into the light.”

ENDS

For more information contact:

Rhiannon Mackie, Greenpeace Aotearoa communications, +64-27-244-6729, [email protected] 

Greenpeace International Press Desk: +31 (0) 20 718 2470 (available 24 hours), [email protected]

Images will be available in the Greenpeace Media Library.