Otago mine to supply fertiliser for palm oil production

While everyone's attention is diverted by John Key's disgusting behaviour in parliament and by a mass walkout by woman MP's this appeared in the news.

For a couple of hours it had its place in the headlines of Radio NZ's website but has been relegated to a place where I had to ring them to find it again.

Here we are - the green light has been given to a Malaysian company to use fertilser from Otago to produce palm oil which is the worst ecological disaster which has correctly been described as a crime against humanity.

Nowhere is it said in all the coverage that the fires that have resulted are creating as much carbon as the world's worst emitter, the United States. This is as if another major emitter of greenhouse gasses just appeared from left field.

Indeed, helping the destroy life on Earth - just for an export deal.

New Zealand’s Fonterra deeply implicated in Indonesian forest fires

Destroying the planet

- all for an export deal

The world's largest palm oil producer plans to use fertiliser mined in Otago on its plantations.

An Indonesian girl working at a palm oil plantation in Indonesia.     Photo: AFP

Radio NZ,

12 November, 2015

Malaysian company Felda Global Ventures, majority owned by the Malaysian Government, is the largest crude palm oil producer and third largest oil palm plantation operator in the world.

Felda manages more than 450,000 hectares of oil palm estate across Malaysia and Kalimantan, Indonesia.

Kalimantan is one of the islands worst hit by the blazes that have engulfed south-east Asia, the blazes the result of fires deliberately lit to clear land for among other things, palm oil plantations.

The fires are being described as the worst environmental disaster since the Gulf of Mexico oil spill in 2010, and a crime against humanity.

According to the World Resources Institute, the daily estimated greenhouse gas emissions from the fires surpassed the average daily emissions from the whole of the US economy.

One of Felda's subsidiaries is the major shareholder in Plaman Resources which earlier this year purchased the permits to mine in Middlemarch, Otago for diatomite, a fertiliser, with the aim of using it on Felda's palm oil plantations.

Plaman Resources is a joint venture registered in New Zealand, its major shareholder is the Malaysian technology and agricultural company Iris Corporation.

Felda in turn is Iris's largest shareholder (according to Iris's 2015 annual report, Felda holds 25 percent) and Iris is also listed on the Malaysian stock exchange.

In March this year, Iris announced to the market that it had completed its purchase of the assets of Featherston Resources - a troubled company which was mining diatomite in East Otago, for $AU4.8 million.

In its announcement, it said the purchase of the assets - mainly two mining permits - would allow Plaman Resources to promptly start the mining operations again.

Iris planned to put another $AU8.2m into the company for further drilling and exploration activities at the Otago mine site, and the related marketing and operation costs for Plaman.

Last year, Iris announced to its shareholders its intention to buy Featherston Resources, saying Iris hoped to "sell the diatomite to Felda's related companies engaged in oil palm plantations.

"Further, Iris has international operations in more than 20 countries throughout Asia and Africa. It can facilitate access to the fertilizer market in these countries."

Iris noted that the main application for the diatomite in Malaysia would be in oil palm plantations, and that it improved oil palm's resistance to Ganoderma, a fungus-related diseчase.

It would also be used for rice and sugar cultivation.

Earlier this year the Crown department charged with looking after the country's resources - New Zealand Petroleum and Minerals - transferred a mining and exploration permit to Plaman Resources from Featherston and extended the permit times.

The mining permit is on an area with reserves of 6 million tonnes, while the exploration permit has probable reserves of 50 million tonnes.

Otago Regional Council and Dunedin City Council have confirmed to RNZ that the resource consents related to the mining operation were transferred to Plaman Resources.

Last year, the Overseas Investment Office also approved Plaman Resources' purchase of 42 hectares of land in Middlemarch for $NZ615,000 where the diatomite open pit mine is located.

Plaman Resources director Geordie Manolas told RNZ it was not in a position to comment about the operations.

Felda's operations in Indonesia are mainly in Kalimantan through a company called PT Citra Niaga Perkasa which owns 14,385 hectares of and.

Felda also has two subsidiaries - PT Temila Agro Abadi and PT Landak Bhakti Palma - through which it owns another 21,037 hectares in West Kalimantan.

In Malaysia, Felda's largest plantations are located in Pahang and Sabah, it owns Pontian United Plantations Berhad which operates 15,161 hectares of oil palm plantation in Sabah.

Its website states that it embarks on continuous expansion initiatives to secure crude palm oil and feedstock supplies.

In July this year a Wall Street Journal article suggested Felda was complicit in the abuse of migrant workers who it hired through contractors to work on its Malaysian plantations.

According to Felda's latest quarterly report, it is set to invest in PT Eagle High Plantations, a company which has been linked to deforestation in West Papua.

A good headline

NZ involvement in palm oil industry set to grow

New Zealand's connection with the controversial palm oil industry is set to deepen with the world's largest producer set to use fertiliser mined in Otago on its plantations.

Greenpeace tackle Fonterra on palm kernal expeller use

Greenpeace is calling on Fonterra to prove the New Zealand dairy industry's use of palm kernel expeller (PKE) is not fueling rainforest fires in Indonesia.

Radio NZ,

12 November, 2015

The substance is a by-product of the palm oil industry and is used as a supplementary animal feed, primarily by the dairy industry.

New Zealand imported a record 1.95 million tonnes of PKE in the year to June.

Greenpeace wants the dairy giant to disclose exactly where it's PKE is coming from.

Fonterra urgently needs to provide credible evidence that its use of PKE is not contributing to the fires, which are caused by the clearing of rain forests for palm plantations, Greenpeace executive director Russel Norman said.

In a letter to Dr Norman, Fonterra's director of social responsibility, Carolyn Mortland, said the co-operative was concerned about the fires in Indonesia and that it was a member of the Round Table for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).

It sources PKE through an Asian agri-business group, Wilmar International, which had a "No Deforestation, No Exploitation" policy, Ms Mortland said.

But, Dr Norman said that was not good enough.

"The RSPO say that they're supplying about 18 percent of global supply from palm products - more generally is RSPO is certified? New Zealand is getting 30 percent of the global supply of palm kernel so there's obviously a big gap there.

"The thing about RSPO is you can get a RSPO certificate even if you're clearing forest and draining peatland, which of course is a key driver of the fires."

Greenpeace will continue to request a meeting with Fonterra head Theo Speirings Russel Norman said.

Fonterra provided Ms Mortland's letter to RNZ but declined interview requests.

Just to remind you of New Zealand and Fonterra's role in rain forest destruction in SE Asia