Hollywood stars including Joaquin Phoenix, Kellan Lutz, and Gillian Anderson have joined a campaign launched by Greenpeace.
Phoenix said, "I have recently learned about the mass destruction of Indonesia's rainforests for the production of palm oil and paper. It not only negatively affects millions of Indonesians whose livelihoods depend on the forest, but also has been the direct cause of pushing the Sumatran tiger to the edge of extinction.”
Sumatran tigers in Indonesia are in numbers as few as 400. Palm oil is the largest driver of deforestation. Greenpeace’s Tiger Manifesto brings together people who want to Sumatran tigers and eliminate dirty palm oil.
Gillian Anderson and Kellan Lutz are some of the celebrities have joined in the preservation effort. Lutz said, “I spent three months shooting the movie Java Heat in Indonesia, and absolutely fell in love with the people, the culture, and their wildlife. Indonesia’s Sumatran tigers could disappear if we don’t stop forest destruction for palm oil."
Global pressure from Greenpeace and other NGOs has already pushed Wilmar International, the world’s biggest palm oil trader to commit to forest protection. L’Oréal, Unilever, Ferrero, and Nestlé have also made pledges.
For information on The Tiger Manifesto, please contact www.protectparadise.org.
Image: Imagenet