The fallout of revelations over the effects of the palm oil industry on the environment continues as Unilver warns suppliers to stop sourcing palm oil from Duta Palma.

Unilever’s announcement comes just two months after Unilever, the world’s largest corporate palm oil buyer, dropped a $32.6 million contact with PT Smart. A subsidiary of Indonesia’s largest palm oil producer, Sinar Mas.

The accusations of poor environmental records has lead to an exodus of major Western buyers from Indonesia in recent weeks.

A recent BBC documentary linked palm oil used in the company’s products to rainforest destruction by Duta Palma and brought the issue to public attention.

Derom Bangun, vice-chairman of the Indonesian Palm Oil Board, an industry body, told Reuters that Unilever’s decision was a direct result of the documentary.

“It is Unilever’s decision,” Bangun said. “Unilever did not have a supply contract with Duta Palma to begin with. They are safeguarding their supply mechanisms by asking their traders not to buy palm oil from this company after that BBC report.”

As the world’s oil palm is the highest-yielding commercial oilseed, palm oil production offers more vegetable oil per unit of area than other widely-grown crops including soy, canola, or rapeseed. Thus oil palm expansion on abandoned agricultural lands could offer producers a more effective way to sustainably meet growing demand for vegetable oils than with other oilseeds.

The hope for progress in reducing the environmental impact on the industry comes in the form of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), a budding certification scheme that aims to encourage environmental stewardship among palm oil producers.

An RSPO official in Malaysia commented on how its efforts continue to be hampered by the government. “[it is difficult] to stay green, especially when the Indonesian government is handing out concessions to develop oil palms.”

The RSPO itself has come in for criticism from environmental groups who have accused of weak monitoring and compliance protocols. The calls for more stringent controls are set to increase after it emerged that Duta Palma is a member of the RSPO.

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