Palm Oil in the Land of Orangutans

Dan Säll / Denmark / 2024 / World Premiere / 72 min

Can cobra snakes, leopards and scent traps replace pesticides? The Copenhagen Zoo, with the team leader of their international programme, is ready to give it a try at a partially Danish-owned palm oil plantation in Borneo, where brothers Carl and Martin Bek-Nielsen have established a biodiversity department together with the Zoo. The collaboration has resulted in the plantation restoring previously deforested areas and connecting protected rainforest areas through so-called plant corridors, benefiting orangutans and other wildlife in Borneo. But Copenhagen Zoo is also facing resistance from within their own circles in their pragmatic desire to actually make a difference before it’s too late. There is palm oil in an incredible number of products, and the impact of their ecological project is real and far-reaching. Director Dan Säll has followed the process for eight years. Initially sceptical, he is now convinced that industrial agriculture can coexist productively and peacefully with nature if the will is there.