Great Ape Diaries

Posted by admin on Apr 17, 2014

Diary #104 – Palm Oil, Orangutans and You – What’s The Problem?

Portland, OR. - Reflecting on a couple recent conversations it reminded me just how confusing, mysterious, off -the-radar, is this whole palm oil issue for many folks. Hopefully the following will help – if I find any additional materials I’ll update this post. In short palm oil is a vegetable oil derived from the fruit of the oil palm. The oil palm tree originates in West Africa and has...

Posted by admin on Apr 3, 2014

Diary #103 – The Journey IS the Journey

Richmond, VA – A few hours ago I spoke at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia, not exactly where one imagines the birth of a great ape conservation effort taking root. And had it not been on the urging of friend Joe Baust who runs the Environmental Education Center it’s unlikely my path would have ever wandered through this antique furniture village in the rolling countryside west of Richmond....

Posted by admin on Feb 24, 2014

Diary #102 – Can $250 Billion Twist Even Tony the Tiger’s Arm?

Portland, OR - Kellogg’s emergence from the dark world of rainforest destruction denial last week was applauded in the environmental community and noted by the business and general media as well. More over it’s pressuring of Wilmar, controller of 45% of the world’s palm oil production-distribution chain, was celebrated. Kellogg’s PR machine was quick to act, “As a socially...

Posted by admin on Feb 19, 2014

Diary #101 – Climate Chaos Compromise

Portland, OR - Every morning I wake, wash my eyes, walk into my office and press the space bar on my computer and wake a slumbering digital dragon, one that has spent the night culling and collecting the flotsam of the cyberspace according to my curiosity. While it does, I fix a cuppa Earl Grey tea, listen to the Varied Thrushes clearing their winter throats and tuning up for spring, then return to my...

Posted by admin on Jan 27, 2014

Diary #100 – “How Fragile We Are”

Portland, OR - Editing through piles of images and video documenting deforestation in the tropical homes where gorillas, bonobos, chimps, orangutans and we live, when an email arrived reminding me of these lyrics by Sting – felt like a sound-track to my day. “Fragile” If blood will flow when flesh and steel are one Drying in the colour of the evening sun Tomorrow’s rain will wash...

Posted by admin on Jan 23, 2014

Diary #99 – Divestitures and the lessons of Apartheid – Have the dominos begun to fall?

Portland, OR - I read this morning a report regarding the Norwegian pension fund and insurance firm Storebrand which plucked my ‘hope-strings.’ According to a Bloomberg report Storebrand plans to divest itself from 11 palm oil companies over concerns of deforestation and over-arching unsustainability issues. This puts palm oil plantations on the company’s same investment blacklist as...

Posted by admin on Jan 17, 2014

Diary #98 – Where are your ethical and moral extremes?

Portland, OR - On the flight back from my last trip to Africa I finished a re-read of Tropic of Chaos, a multi-issue perspective on climate change by author Christian Parenti. Key focus of his argument in the Tropic is security—food, water, safety—not always an issue front and center in the Western climate change argument, one which often become abstracted in economic impact predictions, religion, and...