Orangutans continue to haunt Nestle’s every move. The latest encounter comes at Nestle’s shareholders meeting in Lauzane, Switzerland with the simian-dressed Greenpeace activists abseiling down from the roof to continue to highlight the company’s use of palm oil.

The invasion of the meeting in Lauzane is the latest high-profile stunt by Greenpeace as part of their ‘Give the orangutans a break’ that hopes to halt the deforestation of the animal’s habitat in Indonesia, a large part of which is believed to be being caused by the use of unsustainable palm oil.

A rampant viral internet campaign has been the driving force behind Greenpeace’s attempts to challenge the confectionery giant’s practices. Central to the campaign was the Sinar Mas Group, who had been shown by numerous investigations to be engaging in wholly unsustainable use of land in Indonesia that was causing significant harm to wildlife there.

While the Anglo-Dutch multinational Unilever, quickly severed ties once the damming report of the palm oil supplier surfaced, Nestle continued to use them.

After suffering a strong public backlash, further data produced by Greenpeace provided more corroboration about Sinar Mas’ forest destruction, Nestle finally dropped the company from its supply line.

However, it has refused to stop purchasing palm oil from Cargill, which also supplies from Sinar Mas. Greenpeace is demanding that Nestle cut all ties with Sinar Mas, whether directly or through another supplier.

At the meeting, Nestlé Chairman Peter Brabeck-Letmathe said that the source of deforestation “is not with Nestle”, adding that the company was working to lower the amount of palm oil it purchases. Brabeck-Letmathe blamed deforestation in Indonesia not on Nestle’s actions, but on political decisions made in Europe regarding biofuel requirements.

At the meeting Brabeck-Lemathe did call for a full moratorium on deforestation of the world’s tropical forests. A position that was brought up in a letter to Greenpeace earlier this week where Nestle proposes “the creation of a global coalition to stop the destruction of rainforests, that includes not only palm oil growers and buyers, but all major interests that impact deforestation, including lumber, paper, biofuel, animal production, and financial interests as well as governments”.

Nestle has pledged that it will source only sustainable palm oil by 2015, but the damage done by the industry is already being felt, and its effects could be long-lasting at best and possibly even irreversible if the situation is not remedied quickly.

Deforestation in Indonesia has led to the nation becoming the world’s third highest emitter of greenhouse gases, while habitat loss has placed many of Indonesia iconic species, including orangutans, clouded leopards, tigers, and rhinos, on the endangered species list.