Plan to make Dorset a 'sustainable palm oil community'

A campaign aims to enlist restaurants, schools, businesses and attractions and encourage them to switch to sustainable palm oil, putting pressure on major suppliers to follow suit.

Campaigners say unsustainable production of palm oil is wiping out huge areas of rain forest to provide the ingredient for food and household products.

Efeca, a Bournemouth-based organisation advising businesses on sustainable and legal sourcing of natural resources, is leading the move locally.

Emily Fripp, director at Efeca, said: “Having worked with multinationals and governments on sustainable palm oil for many years, everyone at Efeca wanted to give something back to our local community. We worked alongside Chester Zoo and Chester as they achieved their Sustainable Palm Oil City status, so we now want to help Dorset become the world’s first Sustainable Palm Oil County. We already have some champions on board and know that our community here on the sunny south coast will continue to grow over the next year.”

The Jane Goodall Institute, WWF, Conservation International and Save the Rhino are all advocating the use of sustainable palm oil, along with non-governmental organisations working in South East Asia where the issue is acute.