Inspiring New Children’s Book Celebrates Wildlife and Champions Sustainable Palm Oil

Birth of the Rimba

Sometime during 2019, I was listening to the radio. I have no idea what the program was or who the speakers were, but there was a feature about deforestation and the Dr Seuss book, The Lorax, was referenced.

I had never read it, but it prompted me to buy a copy.

As I read it, I realised that its strong message also resonated with the destruction of rainforests because of palm oil. Of course, rainforests are destroyed for other things as well, but it was palm oil I was focussing on, in helping Newquay Zoo to become a Sustainable Palm Oil Community; following in the footsteps of Chester Zoo.

The easy rhymes of The Lorax and its lyrical timbre lend itself well to children as well as adults and it gave me food for thought.

Using it as my inspiration, I wove a story around an elderly female orangutan becoming the spiritual guardian of the rainforest – a mystical protective being that teaches, advises and cares.

Michelle Desilets of Orangutan Land Trust was also a source of inspiration, helping to not only name The Rimba, but also advising on content , as well as helping with the editing and Mark Harrison from Borneo Nature Foundation told me about a wonderful artist and orangutan researcher,  Emma Lokuciejewski. After a couple of phone calls, she was in and the beautiful artwork of The Rimba was created.

Neither of us wanted any profits from the book, determined that any proceeds should go to orangutan conservation, however getting it published proved difficult and for a long while the Rimba stayed on the back burner.

Fast forward to 2025 and a determined Emma decided that we were going to self publish. Thanks to her, we now have ‘The Rimba’ published. Sir David Attenborough has a copy and the book is already beginning to raise funds for orangutans.

Several people have said they want to use it to teach their children more – so the message about sustainable palm oil is spreading. Barnaby Patchett – One Nine Nine – kindly reviewed the book and wrote: “ The very existence of the book, reflects the changing nature of the palm oil conversation – I simply can’t imagine something like this being released 5 years ago”.

He’s right.  In 2018 when Greenpeace showed their Ran Tan advert, it was all about the devastation palm oil caused; the retail store, Iceland, vowed to remove all palm oil from its products and, as a consumer, it made me want to avoid it all together too.  Iceland was unable to keep its pledge and after a lot of research I realised that a boycott was not only a knee-jerk reaction, it was a damaging one too.  Palm oil is not a bad oil, but the way it is grown and produced can be.  It is a high yielding oil, far better than many other oils that if grown as an alternative, would cause more deforestation, not less.

Consumers play an important part in helping to drive change; and this is the underlying message of ‘The Rimba.”  By choosing sustainable palm oil and making informed choices, we are showing that the solution is not to boycott, but simply to use wisely, ask questions and choose better.  It is the most effective way of protecting rainforests, wildlife and livelihoods.

Find out more about The Rimba, download free educational materials and purchase the book HERE.

100% of profits support orangutan conservation.