New evidence confirms that SD Guthrie continues to be implicated in deforestation in Sarawak, despite its sustainability commitments and international obligations.
BINTULU, 20th October 2025 — Three ground investigations between December 2024 and September 2025, supported by satellite analysis, local community testimony and drone imagery, documented active forest clearance within the Urun Plantations oil palm concession in Belaga. The images clearly show extensive natural forest being bulldozed. The fruit is bought only by the Glenealy/Samling Belaga mill, which in turn provides crude palm oil (CPO) to SD Guthrie. This grossly contradicts SD Guthrie’s public claims of compliance with environmental safeguards.
The Borneo Project recently wrote to SD Guthrie regarding evidence that it is sourcing crude palm oil (CPO) from the Glenealy/Samling Belaga mill. This supply chain link is also acknowledged in SD Guthrie’s own public traceability declaration documents.
In its written response, SD Guthrie confirmed that it continued to source palm oil linked to the clearing of forests despite learning about Urun Plantations’ deforestation activities in November 2024. SD Guthrie claims to have taken remedial steps with its supplier, Glenealy, and cited an “engagement outcome”, but offered no evidence of concrete action or a timeline for compliance.
“For nearly a year, SD Guthrie has knowingly sourced CPO linked to a company actively engaged in deforestation,” said Jettie Word, Executive Director of The Borneo Project. “Local communities protested the deforestation through petitions and blockades, and there were multiple public statements condemning Urun Plantations’ forest clearing activities. In spite of all of this, Urun Plantations accelerated their forest-clearing activities in 2025, and SD Guthrie continued to buy from the Gleanealy/Samling Belaga mill, the only mill in the area that would accept the tainted fruit. This makes SD Guthrie complicit in greenwashing palm oil produced from deforestation.”
The natural forest clearing by Urun Plantations is in clear breach of both Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) and Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) standards. The Sarawak Oil Palms Bhd (SOPB) Sepaku Mill stopped accepting fruit from Urun Plantations in January 2025 due to ongoing forest-clearing and the company’s failure to show any steps towards remedy or accountability.
Failure to act raises serious risks for SD Guthrie’s buyers in Europe and the United States, where palm oil linked to deforestation and Indigenous dispossession faces growing scrutiny and potential enforcement action.
To this point, Nick Rau, campaigner for Friends of the Earth, said: “SD Guthrie’s continued sourcing of palm oil linked to deforestation in Sarawak exposes the gap between corporate promise and environmental reality. Despite its claims of commitment to sustainability, the company continues to buy from suppliers responsible for clearing forests and harming communities.
“Businesses must be accountable for ensuring their products do not drive harm to people and the environment. SD Guthrie has clearly failed that responsibility. It must immediately end ties with suppliers that cause deforestation, fund the reforestation of damaged areas and compensate affected communities.”
“The evidence is clear: communities are watching their forests vanish while SD Guthrie markets its palm oil as sustainable to international buyers,” Word added.
SAVE Rivers and The Borneo Project are calling on SD Guthrie to:
- Immediately suspend sourcing from the Glenealy/Samling Belaga mill until Urun Plantations has fully remedied the damage caused, including reforestation of natural forest areas and significant compensation paid to impacted communities.
- Disclose publicly the so-called “engagement outcome” report with Glenealy in the interest of transparency.