Title: In the Land of Palm, Film Screening and Panel Discussion
Brief event description: This event is organized by Palm to Palm: a student-led, tri-campus initiative dedicated to ending the exploitation of humans and wildlife in tropical regions by forming coalitions – with educational and other institutions – to raise awareness and avoid the use of palm oil in foods and other consumer products.
Panelists:
- Emmanuela Shinta (Indonesian social activist)
- Jocelyn Zuckerman (Author, Planet Palm: How Palm Oil Ended Up in Everything―and Endangered the World)
- Dr. Anne Russon (Psychologist and primatologist)
- Dr. Andrew Marshall (Biological anthropologist, tropical ecologist, and conservation biologist)
Registration form link: https://umdearborn.
When: November 10th from 7:00 to 8:30pm, with optional reception from 8:30 to 9:00pm.
Where: Virtual, Zoom webinar
Film summary:
This film addresses the situation in Borneo, ground zero for industrial oil palm plantations. It draws attention to the use of Indonesia’s tropical peatland, which, when dried out for palm oil production, can become extremely explosive, and, once ignited by fire, will emit heavy smoke as in 2015 when Central Kalimantan was blanketed with a thick haze: thousands of orangutans died of starvation and thousands of people were hospitalized for smoke inhalation.
The film charts how Emmanuela Shinta and her team forced the Indonesian government to acknowledge the people of Central Kalimantan’s plight as they not only lose land and food security but are exposed to fires without proper protection, recompense, or healthcare. The film shows how Shinta was able to bring the attention of international media to Central Kalimantan to pressure her government, after over 500,000 people were sickened and an estimated 100,000 people died from the fires’ smog.
Additional information:
- More information about the film can be found here: https://www.
eyesoftheworldfilms.com/in- the-land-of-palm–oil.html
- More information about Palm to Palm can be found here: https://sites.google.
com/view/palmtopalm/home - To learn more about or donate to the Ranu Welum Foundation – an Indonesian nonprofit purchasing land in the Talekoi Forest of Central Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo to protect critically endangered
biodiversity such as orangutans from palm oil development – please visit: https://www. eyesoftheworldfilms.com/