The Winner of the North American Forest Hero(es) of the Year is ….
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North American Forest Heroes of the Year, Rhiannon and Madison
Drumroll please……..
Madison Vorva and Rhiannon Tomtishen! The two 16-year-old Girl Scouts from Michigan.
You might be asking: Are there many forests that need protecting in Michigan? Well their concerns are about the impacts the Girl Scout cookies they sell, (YES, the clear favorites at Forest Justice are Thin Mints), have on tropical forests in Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Amazon.
OK Rewind. 1) What is the International Forest Hero of the Year Award? AND 2) What is the link between girl scout cookies and tropical deforestation?
The answer to Question 1 is shorter, so let’s start with that: The United Nations Forum on Forests Secretariat launched the first ever International Forest Heroes Programme and Awards this year to recognize people all over the world who are working in quiet and heroic ways to sustain, protect and manage our forests. For it being just the first year of the competition, there was pretty stiff competition coming from about ninety nominations from across 41 different countries. They judging panel then chose 15 finalists from across the 5 geographic regions: Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America and North America. Check out the finalists here!
Who won from North America you ask? (just making sure you’re keeping up) Girl Scouts Madison and Rhiannon, for their tireless work since of the age of 11 (YUP they are now 16, talk about commitment) to persuade the Girl Scouts to replace the palm oil in Girl Scout cookies with a sustainable alternative—such as canola, corn, rapeseed, soy or sunflower oil—OR only use palm oil from deforestation-free sources.
Question 2: So how exactly are girl scout cookies causing forests being cut down? And what are these girls doing about it?
Palm oil is used in thousands of products (foods, beverages, personal care items, household products – we could go on, but who has the time?) , including in Girl Scout cookies. Most Americans are not aware of the palm oil they consume daily, but in reality about half of all packaged foods and cosmetics contain palm oil.
Just a few, of literally THOUSANDS of products with Palm Oil in them
So it’s a popular ingredient. So what? Palm oil is the major driver of rapid clear-cutting and destruction of primary rainforests in Southeast Asia. As one of the most profitable and high-yielding crops for tropical farmers, plantations of African oil palm (a tree that produces large oil-rich seeds that can be used in cooking, cosmetics and cleaning products) are set to expand rapidly into South America, which could drive deforestation in the Amazon rainforest. When forests are cleared, there is also associated wildlife loss, affecting “high-profile species” (including orangutans and tigers) and enormous quantities of greenhouse gases are released.
Got it? So two girls, recognizing their power as Girl Scouts and consumers – stepped up to take responsibility for the products the organization they represent, sell, by insisting that they do not want to profit off of cookies which have an ingredient in it that destroys tropical forests. Forest Heroes indeed.
And they’re not stopping there: “We won’t stop until Girl Scout cookies are deforestation-free,” said Tomtishen. “We need the Girl Scouts of the USA to hear us and commit to making a better cookie.”
Want to do your part in helping them to realize these goals? Check out their online petition which calls for Girl Scouts to completely eliminate unsustainable palm oil from their cookies. Over the past two weeks, more than 57,000 people have signed a petition supporting Project ORANGS.
Are you going to be 57,001?
