'Forest Heroes' Come To The Rescue Of The Rain Forest And Sumatran Tiger

By Greg Bowman

DETROIT (WWJ) - Tony The Tiger would say it's GRRRREAT!

That's the word from the Forest Heroes of Michigan, which has been pushing a major palm oil supplier for Michigan-based Kellogg for a change in its policies to preserve the rain forest and save the Sumatran Tiger.

Katie Minnema of the Forest Heroes in Ann Arbor says their campaign has scored a big win in its campaign.

"Kellogg's partner Wilmar International, which is responsible for about 45 percent of the world's palm oil supply, recently announced that it is going deforestation-free and exploration-free," said Minnema. "So we are really excited that this huge change in the palm oil industry is being enacted. And we hope that Kellogg's will follow Wilmar's example in adopting a deforestation-free policy."

Minnema believes that action by the Forest Heroes and other environmental groups help to bring about this policy change. "We delivered petitions from Michiganders, over five thousand of them, asking them to go deforestation-free," said Minnema.

"And we heard that Kellogg's actually talked to Wilmar after that meeting and asked them to go deforestation-free and talked to them about that. So we think we're definitely having a global effect from what we're doing in our communities here in Michigan," she said.

But despite the announcement, Minnema says the fight isn't over yet.  She says this is only part one of the campaign.

The group is calling on Kellogg to  soon announce its own corporate policies eliminating deforestation and exploitation from its own supply chain. And Minnema adds that  Wilmar gives them a good model to follow.