Six Greenpeace activists are occupying part of Taranaki port to protest against the use of Palmeira’s kernel by Fonterra.
Photo: Supplied / Greenpeace
Four people were arrested in Port Taranaki, where Greenpeace is protesting against the use of the Palmeiras kernel.
Six activists have occupied part of the port since this morning.
Greenpeace wants Fonterra to cut its ties with the Palmeira kernel supplier, Agrifeeds, because of what they say are ties to the destruction of forests and habitats in Southeast Asia.
Police say several people have been invaded by Porto management and four people will face accusations.
Port Taranaki Executive Director Simon Craddock says he will conduct an investigation into the robbery.
The group prevented an Indonesia ship with 30,000 tons of discharge palm cart exolitors. Currently, they are in the agrarifeed storage installation, which is the largest fonterra palm kernel supplier.
Two activists were locked in pillars, while two others revealed an anchor of the Banner Rotinging Fonterra Butter brand as a “tropical forest killer.”
Agriculture activist Sinéad Deighton-O’Flynn said he was protesting against the use of the Palmeira nucleus as a cow ration, due to his ties with deforestation in Southeast Asia.
“Every year, New Zealand’s dairy cows are eating almost two million tons of palm kernel coming from southeastern Asia, and [it] It is contributing to the destruction of tropical forests and the threat of the rare wildlife in Southeast Asia, “she said.
“We are here asking Fonterra to eliminate the use of the palm nucleus and reduce its ties with deforestation.”
Deighton-O’Flynn also said the palm industry was leading to rare wildlife like the oranguto Sumatra for extinction.
Port Taranaki General Manager Operations, Alex Park, said the safety of their customers, employees and protesters was critical.
“Porto’s operational area is out of public limits because it is a dangerous environment and there are strict health and safety considerations,” he said.
“We understand and accept the public’s right to protest peacefully and safely, but it does not tolerate actions that violate Porto’s limit and put the good -of the Porto team, clients and protesters at risk.”
Fonterra sustainability director Charlotte Rutherford said Fonterra respects the right to protest peacefully without compromising security or violating private property.
“Fonterra is committed to the sustainable supply of palm products and is working with others to improve practices throughout the supply chain.
“As mentioned earlier, as long as the learning of allegations about sustainable supply, we have discussed with the aggregates our request for evidence that PKE supply meets its ‘without deforestation, without peat, without exploration’.”
Port Taranaki Executive Director Simon Craddock said a violation investigation will occur when the protest is over.
“Port Taranaki is a big site and we make every effort to ensure it is safe. However, it is a challenge when there are public members who are determined to gain illegally access.
“Fuckers and security systems are in force not only to protect our customers’ assets and operations, but also protect the public because the operations area is a dangerous place with heavy machinery and trucks that operate 24 hours a day,” Craddock said.
RNZ also sought AGLEDS to comment.
