Greenpeace activists have blocked the entrance of a refinery in southern France, where oil giant Total uses controversial palm oil to produce biofuels.

Environmentalists say palm oil is causing deforestation, with huge areas of tropical rainforest in Southeast Asia being cut down or burned in recent decades to create space for plantations.

In addition to releasing huge amounts of carbon dioxide from the greenhouse gas, it threatens the habitat of orangutans and other endangered species.

About 50 Greenpeace activists arrived at Total's biorefinery in La Mede near Marseille.

They put two large orange containers in front of the entrance and one protester chained himself to each container. The group said each container had enough supplies to allow activists to stay on site for several days.

Banners stretched by protesters read "Deforestation made in France" and French President "Emmanuel Macron complicit"

"The refinery at La Mede is a centre of deforestation imported into France, which imports 550,000 tonnes of palm oil per year, which corresponds to 64 percent of French consumption," Clement Senechal of Greenpeace France told AFP.