Auckland Zoo’s deputy curator of mammals, Amy Robbins, has helped develop the PalmOil Scan app which allows consumers to scan barcodes with their phone to see if products use palm oil or not.
Video / Dean Purcell
Auckland Zoo has launched a new app that allows consumers to check the palm oil content and sustainability of groceries and household items.
Coinciding with Orangutan Caring Week (November 12-18), PalmOil Scan aims to raise awareness for Certified Sustainable Palm Oil products and encourage suppliers to switch to sustainable farming.
Auckland Zoo deputy curator of mammals Amy Robbins has spent the past 18 months adding palm oil products to the app’s database in partnership with the World Association of Zoos and Aquaria (WAZA).
“Palm oil is found in more than half the products you find in the supermarket,” Robbins said.
“Anything from chips, crackers, soap, shampoo, detergents, even things like toilet paper and bioplastics, so it’s really important that consumers are able to support companies committed to sourcing certified sustainable palm oil and suppliers are encouraged to work towards sustainability.”
Amy Robbins helped develop the PalmOil Scan app, which allows consumers to scan barcodes with their phone to see if products use palm oil or not. Photo / Dean Purcell
PalmOil Scan launched last year in zoos across the UK, US and Canada. Auckland Zoo is in charge of the app’s launch in New Zealand.
Kiwis can search for products or scan their barcodes for information on their palm oil content and certified sustainability rating. Robbins said that more products will be added as more people use the app and scan more products.
While originating in West Africa, more than 85 per cent of the world’s palm oil is grown in Indonesia and Malaysia. The traditional farming method requires converting biodiverse rainforests into palm oil plantations.
This displaces orangutans like Auckland Zoo’s Charlie, Melur and baby Bahmia from their natural habitat, as well as forcing indigenous tribes in Indonesia and Malaysia to relocate.
“What we ultimately want to do is to transform the palm oil industry from the traditional methods of unsustainable to a more sustainable industry where forests aren’t cleared, wildlife isn’t harmed, people’s lives aren’t negatively impacted and that’s what this app will allow us as consumers to do.”
Robbins said the survival of these rainforests had global consequences.
“It can seem like a problem that’s so far away in these jungles of Indonesia and Malaysia but we all need trees, we all need to breathe.
“These trees are helping to regulate global climate and so by using the app we’re going to have a direct impact on wildlife and the environment.”
Orangutans are vital to the region’s ecosystem. They act as the rainforest’s gardener, dispersing seeds across the forest floor from their high-volume diet of fruit and nuts.
As part of Orangutan Caring Week, Auckland Zoo will also provide daily orangutan talks and have staff on site to help users set up the app.
