and now the palm oil plantations are moving up and up the slopes, to here, leuser rainforest. we've gotta go. >> leuser isn't the only place experiencing deforestation. since 1985, more than 50% of the forests in sumatra have been cleared, not just for palm oil plantations, but also for paper, wood, mines, and road infrastructure. what took thousands of years to grow is coming down at an alarming rate. >> look at that. we traveled for over an hour, deep into this palm oil plantation, till we've got here, the front line of the expansion. this expansion here is illegal under indonesian law, and it's all happening for palm oil. this timber will be shipped off to market, and in its place, in a matter of days, young palm oil seedlings will be planted. >> palm oil is one of the most widespread vegetable oils throughout the world. within indonesia itself and also china and india, the 3 of them account for far more than half of the, uh, the world's consumption of palm oil. but the u.s. and european union are also major players and can really, you know, set the standard for others to fo