A number of concerns ranging from weight gain to stray crumbs may flash through the mind of a seemingly innocent Oreo cookie eater, but rainforest devastation is likely not one of them.
That is partly why Ethical Expeditions is hosting a screening of the documentary film The Burning Season, which explores palm oil-fuelled deforestation in Indonesia and a young Australian's efforts to put a monetary value on living trees through the carbon trading market.
Palm oil is an inexpensive ingredient that is widely traded and found in a number of foods, cosmetics and soaps. Demand for this form of vegetable oil has encouraged people in Indonesia and Malaysia to burn rainforests in order to expand palm oil plantations.
However, stopping deforestation in the tropics would save the same amount of carbon over the next century as stopping all fossil fuel emissions for an entire decade, as rainforest destruction contributes 20 per cent of global greenhouse gases, said Ethical Expeditions CEO Brent Loken.
"We hear a lot about climate change and what we can do to stop it. Many of the things being proposed, whether it's renewable energies, windmills, solar power, are things that are going to take years to implement. Whereas, the easiest thing we can do to halt climate change is to halt rainforest destruction. It could happen today if we wanted to," he said.
The documentary screening comes as 18 Quest University students prepare for eight weeks of study on the Southeast Asian island of Borneo, which is controlled partly by Indonesia, the third largest carbon emitter in the world behind China and the United States. Indonesia's rank is not attributed to industrial emissions but rather deforestation.
Led by Loken and his wife Sheryl Gruber, the students will try to understand the forces pushing Borneo to its current state. Each student has a question he or she is seeking an answer to, as groups of four students document their findings on film. They will meet with government officials, scientists and the people of Borneo.
Student Jesse Horn is interesting in exploring Borneo's current ways of life and how its people can develop a sustainable economy without destroying the environment. And understanding takes presence, said Horn.
"We can sit here in Canada and say that cutting down the rainforest is a terrible thing and ask: how can they do that? But then you go there and see that these are just regular people who are just doing it so they can survive. I think it's important to see firsthand why they're doing it and what we can actually do to help the people so they don't have to cut down the rainforest," he said.
The expedition recently developed a partnership with the Rainforest Action Network, which will work with the students by posting blogs to help raise awareness of the world's rainforest destruction and ways the average person can help.
The Burning Season will be shown on Nov. 26 at Quest University's multi-purpose room and the entire community is welcome. The Quest students venturing to Borneo will also be introduced. The event begins at 6:30 p.m. with a suggested donation of $10. All proceeds will go toward rainforest conservation/education.
