Despite relentless calls by the local communities urging Kuala Lumpur Kepong (KLK) to leave the shores of Collingwood Bay, Papua New Guinea, the Malaysian palm oil giant remains defiant. In the month of May this year, Friends of the Orangutans earlier reported that in the month of May this year the National Court of Papua New Guinea cancelled two land leases owned by KLK totaling 38,350 in total. The company still claims to own almost 6,000 hectares of forest which is extremely important to thousands of Collingwood Bay local communities.
On 30th October 2014, Friends of the Orangutans and Sahabat Alam Malaysia (Friends of the Earth Malaysia) organized a public protest outside the head office of Kuala Lumpur Kepong in Ipoh, Perak, to further urge the Malaysian company to leave Collingwood Bay.
Before the protest, both Friends of the Orangutans and Sahabat Alam Malaysia spoke to attending members of the media, who were present to report on the protest.
After the protest, officials from both groups met representatives from KLK to hand over our petition together with that of Rainforest Action Network, totaling over 10,000 signatures from around the world.
Both Friends of the Orangutans continue our call in demanding KLK to withdraw from Collingwood Bay. We have previously stated why KLK cannot clear forests in this province of Papua New Guinea and must quit altogether.
More photos from the protest can be found on our Flickr page.
Please sign and share the petition to ask KLK to leave Collingwood Bay.