ORANGUTAN EMERGENCY - HELP NEEDED ....NOW

NOTE: To enlarge the writing on the list to the right, please could you use the enlargement tool (may show as 100%) which is probably on the lower right of your screen. Thank you.

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I am wondering if you might be able to help a unique, remarkable person in Jakarta, who has dedicated decades of her life to saving orangutans?

Please take a few moments to look at what is urgently needed.

Her name is Ulrike (Ulla) Freifrau von Mengden. Her home and garden are in the grounds of Jakarta zoo.

I first visited Ulla about 15 years ago. It was following this visit that I got 'hooked' on orangutans and whatever I have done since can be directly attributed to this lady and her enthusiasm/passion, which rubbed off on me. I think I have returned to visit Ulla about six times.

Ulla has now reached an age where it is physically difficult for her to cope anymore. And financially she is broke. There is a truly desperate need for us to help Ulla's 26 orangutans

The sums of money needed to take care of these magnificent orangutans are relatively modest, but when you have nothing - it's a fortune. Up to now Ulla has largely used her savings and pension to pay all the costs, but now the money has run out. I will attach some photos I took about 18 months ago. The red ‘kongs’ you see the orangutans playing with are some I took over with me - they serve as wonderful enrichment toys for them to play with.

If you are able to donate some money as emergency relief, it would go a long way towards helping 26 orangutans in desperate need of more food, vet care, etc. Ulla’s bank account details are as follows, but please do bear in mind this is only really cost effective to you for donations of £50 (US$100) or more – I’m sorry about this, but Nature Alert currently has no facilities to administer donations. The good news is, 100% of your donation will reach Ulla and help orangutans in need of more food and veterinary care.

BANK ACCOUNT
Please contact me for details.

sw@naturealert.org

To make a transfer will probably require a visit to your bank.

Please could you let me know if you are able to donate – I will then let Ulla know whom the money has come from.

With many thanks.
Sean Whyte sw@naturealert.org
P.S. A longer-term solution to the problem is being urgently pursued.

All these orangutans have been rescued by Ulla.

Agriculture minister to go to London to meet NGOs over oil palm plantations

PLEASE NOTE: You will see below the comment by the Minister referring to their slaughter of thousands of orangutans as "..............misunderstandings." Just goes to show how out of touch with reality he is.

We can at least take heart that our postcard campaign has hit home in Indonesia. And we are not done with the palm oil indistry and Indonesian government yet, not by a long way.

If you have helped with this campaign, you can see for yourself the effect it is having. i.e. the government of Indonesia is sending a Minister here (UK) to try and dispell the truth!



09/28/07 13:27
Agriculture minister to go to London to meet NGOs over oil palm plantations

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Agriculture Minister Anton Apriyantono will leave for London, Britain, next weekend, to talk with European non-governmental organizations (NGOs) activists about their negative campaigns on Indonesia`s oil palm plantations.Several West European NGOs had blamed Indonesia`s oil palm plantations for environmental degradation, deforestation, decrease in the number of rare fauna, and largely contributing to the global warming, the minister said here on Thursday.

"Next week I will meet British and international media to present a number of views and facts on the national oil palm industry to straighten out some misunderstandings," he said in a gathering attended by members of the Indonesian Palm Oil Council (DMSI).

During his stay in London, he would also hold meetings with several British ministers, especially those in charge of agriculture and international cooperation.The agriculture minister said that the accusation of European NGOs saying that oil palm plantations in Indonesia were to blamed for the environmental degradation, was just a misunderstanding.

He admitted that there were some irregularities in the opening of oil palm plantations. However, it did not mean that the whole policies on the oil palm industry of the Indonesian government were wrong, he said.The Indonesian government has issued policies for a sustainable development of oil palm industry for the welfare of the people and without destroying the environment, he said.

The government was committed to the implementation of sustainable development through the Round Table Sustainable Palm Oil Program (RSPO), reduction of CO2 gas emissions, good agriculture practices, and tropical rain forest protection, the minister said.The minister would also inform European NGOs about the corporate social responsibility program carried out by the country`s oil palm plantations which empowered small-and-medium scale industries surrounding the oil palm plantations.Minister Apriyantono said that Indonesia in cooperation with Malaysia, another major oil palm producer, would launch a long-term `Sustainable Palm Oil` campaign.The government has allocated a fund amounting to 500,000 Euros for the campaign. (*)

Copyright © 2007 ANTARA

Jane Goodhall Says Biofuel Crops Hurt Rainforests

Jane Goodall Says Biofuel Crops Hurt Rain Forests
US: September 28, 2007

NEW YORK - Primate scientist Jane Goodall said on Wednesday the race to grow crops for vehicle fuels is damaging rain forests in Asia, Africa and South America and adding to the emissions blamed for global warming.

"We're cutting down forests now to grow sugarcane and palm oil for biofuels and our forests are being hacked into by so many interests that it makes them more and more important to save now," Goodall said on the sidelines of the Clinton Global Initiative, former US President Bill Clinton's annual philanthropic meeting.

As new oil supplies become harder to find, many countries such as Brazil and Indonesia are racing to grow domestic sources of vehicle fuels, such as ethanol from sugarcane and biodiesel from palm nuts.

The United Nations' climate program considers the fuels to be low in carbon because growing the crops takes in heat-trapping gas carbon dioxide.

But critics say demand for the fuels has led companies to cut down and burn forests in order to grow the crops, adding to heat-trapping emissions and leading to erosion and stress on ecosystems.

"Biofuel isn't the answer to everything; it depends where it comes from," she said. "All of this means better education on where fuels are coming from are needed."

Goodall said the problem is especially bad in the Indonesian rain forest where large amounts of palm nut oil is being made. Growers in Uganda -- where her nonprofit group works to conserve Great Apes -- are also looking to buy large parcels of rain forest and cut them down to grow sugar cane, while in Brazil, forest is cleared to grow sugar cane.

The Goodall Institute is working with a recently formed group of eight rain forest nations called the Forest Eight, or F8, led by Indonesia. The group wants to create a system where rich countries would pay them not to chop down rain forests and hopes to unveil the plan at climate talks in Bali in December.

Scientists from the forested countries are trying to nail down exactly how much carbon dioxide the ecosystems store, but the amount has been estimated to be about double that which is already in the atmosphere, Goodall said.

(Reporting by Timothy Gardner)
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE

Orangutans go to Indonesia

None of these orangutans or, those who were returned earlier, would have gone back to Indonesia without the massive international campaign by Nature Alert. We still believe the Malaysian authorities are witholding illegally held oranguatns in zoos and Safari Parks. Until the contents of a DNA report are made public, we will never know for certain.

A BIG THANKS to all of you who have helped with our campaign.



Nation (Malaysia)Friday September 28, 2007

Orang utans to go to Indonesia
By JASON LIOH

MALACCA: Four orang utans that were found not to be of a species found in Malaysia have been returned to Indonesia. Malacca Zoo director Mohd Nawayai Yasak said the four were from the pongo pygmaeus wurmbii species normally found in the forests of Borneo.
Photo went here

Last moments: Caretaker Mohd Shamsudin Ghazali carrying Dodi and Linda in Malacca yesterday. Mohd Shamsudin had taken care of the two orang utans for the past seven years, but Dodi and Linda, along with two other orang utans, were scheduled to fly to Jakarta today.

He said the origins of the four, named Mamat, Minah, Dodi and Linda, was discovered after the Wildlife Protection and National Parks Department carried out DNA tests on all 60 orang utans in the country, including in zoos and theme parks. “It was found that these four orang utans were different from the other species. There were no details of how they were acquired,” Nawayai said.

He said Dodi and Linda have been in the Malacca Zoo for the past five years while Mamat and Minah were seized from a theme park for not having the necessary permits 10 days ago.



Malaysia is a member of the Convention of International Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna (CITES).

CITES requires an animal to be sent back to its country of origin if it does not have proper import certification and cannot be established how it was brought into the country. Nawayai said the orang utans would be handed over to the Indonesian Forestry Department. They are scheduled to fly to Jakarta from KL International Airport today and would go through a rehabilitation programme before being sent to Kalimantan.

Photo and article credit/thanks Nation newspaper, Malaysia

Orangutan Fights Tourist for Bag

Orangutan Fights French Tourist for Bag

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — An orangutan at a wildlife sanctuary fought with a French tourist for her backpack, leaving her bruised and scratched, an official said Tuesday.

Odile Nordon, 24, was taking photographs of Delima, a female orangutan roaming free in Malaysia's Semenggoh Wildlife Center on Borneo island on Sunday, when the animal grabbed at the backpack.

They fought briefly over the bag, with Delima ripping Nordon's pants.
"She had scratches and bruise marks on her knees and thighs," Wilfred Landong, the chief park warden of Malaysia's Sarawak state, told The Associated Press.

Nordon, who managed to keep her backpack, told the New Straits Times newspaper that she thought orangutans were "friendly, cuddly creatures."

"It's a painful lesson to find out the truth," the newspaper quoted Nordon as saying.
Landong said the park considered what happened to be "an accident."

"We are not faulting anyone," he said. "But we remind tourists that they should not go too near the orangutans."

Orangutans are native to the forests of Malaysia and Indonesia. They have a shaggy, reddish-brown coat, long arms and no tail. The wildlife center has several signs warning visitors to walk away if orangutans approach them because the animals tend to grab at humans and objects, Landong said. AP 25th September 2007

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED READING

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED READING

Full-colour 80-page book, co-authored by Lone Droscher Nielsen. Captivating photos help to tell the story of how the Nyaru Menteng project in central Kalimantan (central Borneo) helps orphaned orangutans on their journey back to freedom.
Price £16.99 including shipping and handling. Call to order on 08456 521528 or +44 1296 425087 from outside the UK.

Orangutan Diary

This DVD is one I am happy to highly recommend. The series (5 programmes) was featured on the BBC during February/March 2007. Wonderful pictures of orangutans. Terribly sad photos also. Shocking film of the destruction of rainforests being waged by many palm oil companies.

Available on www.amazon.co.uk

Anyone with even the slightest interest in orangutans should see this series of films (about 150 minutes in total) at least once, but preferably more often and until you are provoked into taking more action.

Malaysia to step up laws on illegal logging

Malaysia to step up laws on illegal logging

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) — Malaysia, a major timber exporter, said Tuesday that it would beef up its laws to fight a serious illegal logging problem that could harm the country's reputation.

Deputy prime minister Najib Razak, who also heads the National Forestry Council, said companies involved in logging would now be responsible for providing evidence that they had not cut down trees illegally.

"The council agreed to review and amend the National Forestry Act to incorporate the principle that the burden of proof was transferred to the party that is found to be in possession of timber," he said.

"This means those found in possession of timber must furnish proof from where the trees were cut. If they cannot show proof, it means they have committed an offence," he was quoted as saying by the official Bernama news agency.

Najib's remarks come after Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi pledged last month not to indiscriminately approve logging licences, amid mounting concern that clearances are threatening endangered species and tribal communities.

Najib warned that illegal logging could compromise Malaysia's policy on sustainable management of its environment.

"It can jeopardise our efforts to preserve biodiversity, flora and fauna and have an impact on global warming. At the international level, illegal logging portrays a negative image of our country," he said.

"It can harm our national economy as the timber industry produces 23 billion ringgit (6.8 billion dollars) worth of wood-based products a year," he added.

Najib said that if developed countries in Europe and the United States were to take action, it could "adversely affect" Malaysia's economy.

This article was originally illustrated with a photo of the rope bridge.



2007/09/16-New Straits Times, Malaysia

Bridging a mate for orang utans
By : Jaswinder Kaur

Pigtail macaques crossing the Sungai Menanggul with the help of a double-rope bridge. — Picture by Edmund Samunting

KOTA KINABALU: It’s a low-tech solution, but it could be just what is needed to prevent inbreeding in the orang utan population.
A conservation group has been stringing rope bridges across rivers to replace the trees they used previously.

The first bridge was built across Sungai Resang more than two years ago, and since then Kampung Sukau villagers attached to the Kinabatangan Orang Utan Conservation Project (KOCP) have built another three links.

One is at Sungai Menanggul, a popular spot for viewing wildlife as visitors travel along Sabah’s longest river, the Kinabatangan.

KOCP co-director Dr Isabelle Lackman-Ancrenaz said the main idea of getting orang utans to cross from one forested area to another was to reduce the risk of inbreeding now that the primate has been separated into small sub-populations as a result of forest degradation.

"It is a cheap and simple way of reducing the possibility of inbreeding among orang utans that live in degraded places. Translocating is another method but it has its problems.

"Orang utans may look like solitary animals, but they are part of a well-organised society. Physically moving them to another area may lead to conflicts," she said.

Single rope bridges cost RM3,000, while double rope ones cost RM6,000, with an average length of 60 metres.

KOCP’s bridges are made of chains wrapped with a hose made of a special fabric as regular ropes rot quickly in the humidity, risking the lives of animals.

The rope bridges were also benefiting other animals, she said.

Proboscis monkeys and pigtail macaques, and even reptiles, use the links.

The KOCP was building two more rope bridges in the area, she added.

Surveys show there are about 11,000 orang utan in Sabah and about 60 per cent live outside protected areas.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ASEAN-WEN Support Program, China hosts ASEAN to close net on wildlife crime

Please see attached a Press release on “China-ASEAN Wildlife Law Enforcement Cooperation” exchange in Guangzhou and Shenzhen that just finished on 14 Sept 2007. This cooperation was aimed to strengthen regional cooperation in the fight against wildlife crime. Altogether, eight officials representing police, Customs and environmental agencies from Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines joined their Chinese counterparts to address the issue of cross border illegal wildlife trade.




ASEAN-WEN Support Program
China hosts ASEAN to close net on wildlife crime

Press Release

September 14, 2007 (Guanzhou) – China has wrapped up an historic five-day exchange with law enforcement officers from five ASEAN countries to jointly address one of the region’s major crime issues. The “China-ASEAN Wildlife Law Enforcement Cooperation” exchange in Guangzhou and Shenzhen aimed to strengthen regional
cooperation in the fight against wildlife crime. Altogether, eight officials representing police, Customs and environmental agencies from Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines joined their Chinese counterparts to address the issue of cross border illegal wildlife trade.

China is a major consumer of Southeast Asia’s wild animals and plants and has vowed to cooperate with its ASEAN neighbors to help reduce the illegal trade, which has global connections to other major consumer markets in the EU and North America. The exchange is the first time ASEAN officials have been invited to China to directly engage with their Chinese counterparts to discuss strategies for addressing what has become one of the world’s most profitable forms of black market trade.

ASEAN officials representing the ASEAN Wildlife Enforcement Network (ASEANWEN)
traveled to Guangdong Province on September 10th and met with Chinese officers from the Forestry Police, Customs and the State Forestry Administration over 4 days, while also paying visits to major Chinese air and sea customs points in Shenzhen and Huangpu.

In Huangpu, China opened up its highly secure confiscations warehouse to the visiting officials, displaying wildlife seizures that included several tons of ivory, snake skins and many other wildlife parts. ASEAN representatives were also taken to a market in Shenzhen, where Chinese officials are monitoring possible sales in protected wildlife.

“We want to be open and honest about what’s going on here,” said Wan Ziming, Director of the Enforcement and Training Division of China’s State Forestry
Administration. “Everyone is blaming China for consuming Southeast Asia’s wildlife
and wants China to solve the problem. The fact is, we are trying but we can’t do this
alone. We need to work together with other countries, with ASEAN-WEN, to stop the
illegal trade.”

China’s desire for further engagement with ASEAN-WEN in order to protect biodiversity was welcomed by international conservationists. “China’s openness gives us hope that more meaningful cross border enforcement cooperation in Asia may be on the horizon,” said Steven Galster, Director of Operations for Wildlife Alliance in Thailand.

ASEAN-WEN Support Program
The exchange was supported by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), through the ASEAN-WEN Support Program. Like China, the United States is a major consumer of wildlife and has vowed to support global efforts to reduce the
illegal wildlife trade. ASEAN-WEN representatives are slated to visit the United
States for wildlife forensics training next year. “This meeting is very timely with the release of TRAFFIC’s publication on the State of Wildlife Trade in China, which shows that China has been taking steps to reduce illegal trade,” said Dr Xu Hongfa, TRAFFIC’s China Program Director. “These exchanges should be conducted regularly to ensure collaborative efforts between ASEAN and China continue, and to encourage the exchange of timely and accurate information on wildlife crime.”

Notes for editors:
ASEAN-WEN
The ASEAN Wildlife Enforcement Network was officially launched in December 2005,at a ministerial-level meeting held in Bangkok. It includes CITES Authorities, Customs and Police working together to broaden inter-agency co-operation against wildlife crime. Cooperative agencies in ASEAN-WEN include: Interpol, World Customs Organisation, the CITES Secretariat, and the ASEAN Secretariat. ASEAN-WEN Support Program ASEAN-WEN is an intergovernmental initiative that is bringing ASEAN governments together to combat wildlife crime. Wildlife Alliance and TRAFFIC, via a cooperative partnership with USAID, are providing technical assistance to government agencies that are implementing ASEAN-WEN.

Illegal wildlife trade in Asia. Asia is a global hotspot for illegal poaching, wildlife trafficking and endangered species consumption. This concentration derives from several factors including: regionally high biodiversity; well-established transportation links and smuggling routes; nominal allocations of local and international government resources to the issues; and low public awareness of regional conservation and sustainability needs. The TRAFFIC report The State of Wildlife Trade in China 2006 can be downloaded from www.traffic.org
For more information and photos, contact:
Tassanee Vejpongsa Azrina Abdullah
Communication Officer TRAFFIC Southeast Asia
PeunPa Foundation Thailand Tel: +66-(0)2-662-4029
(a member of Wildlife Alliance) email: azrina@iucnt.org
Tel +6681 9399433
Email : Tassanee@peunpa.org

Indonesia beckons foreign palm oil companies

The Star online, Malaysia

Thursday September 13, 2007

Indonesia beckons foreign palm oil companies


JAKARTA: Indonesia, the world's biggest palm oil producer, wants foreigners to develop new plantations and may prevent them from acquiring existing operations, the agriculture minister said yesterday.

Overseas firms should buy new land and cultivate oil palms, the fruit of which is crushed to produce crude palm oil, instead of acquiring plantations from small holders, Anton Apriantono told reporters. The government aims to limit foreign control of strategic industries.

Plantation companies in Indonesia are expanding to benefit from higher prices of edible oils. Palm oil on the Malaysia Derivatives Exchange, the benchmark contract, has risen 26% this year, and traded at RM2,518 a tonne at the end of morning trading.

“We want small-holder plantations to continue to exist,'' Apriantono said. Indonesia plans to add 1.5 million hectares of oil palm plantations in the next three years to the current area of about six million, a government official has said.

Of the planned expansion, 1.375 million hectares would come from newly cleared land, while a further 125,000 hectares would be re-plantings of existing plantations, said Rosediana Suharto, chairwoman of the Indonesian Palm Oil Committee. Oil palms last about 25 years, after which they need replacing. – Bloomberg

Indonesia betting on biofuel crops as its regal forests dwindle

Indonesia betting on biofuel crops as its regal forests dwindle

By Samantha Brown
AFP, JAKARTA
Saturday, Sep 15, 2007, Page 9

Southeast Asian nations are gearing up for a palm oil boom as interest in biofuels soars, but activists warn the crop may not satisfy a global thirst for green, clean energy and would require chopping further into forests.

They caution that oil palm plantations require massive swathes of land -- either what's left of the region's disappearing forests, denuded plots that would be better off reforested, or land critical to supporting local people.

Governments and companies have been scrambling to cash in since palm oil prices jumped last year amid spiking demand from China, India and Europe, where biofuels should comprise 10 percent of motor fuels by 2020.

Indonesia has launched a particularly ambitious biofuels expansion program, which aims to source 17 percent of its energy needs from renewable sources by 2025.

Evita Herawati, an assistant to Indonesia's minister of energy, said 5.5 million hectares will be set aside for biofuel plantations by 2010, 1.5 million hectares of which are for oil palm.

The main objective is "to create jobs and alleviate poverty," with some 3.5 million new jobs being eyed by 2010.

"A lot of forest has been cut down but they didn't use it at all. We would like to use it for this program," she said, adding that so far 58 deals worth a total of US$12.4 billion have been signed with companies.

She estimated that just in Kalimantan, the Indonesian portion of Borneo island, about 5.5 million hectares are available for use -- an area far larger than Denmark and a bit smaller than Sri Lanka. Nine million additional hectares are available elsewhere, Herawati said.

The issue of where the land will come from worries activists, who point out that much of Indonesia's peatland forests have already been destroyed, releasing huge amounts of carbon dioxide.

Rully Syumanda, of Indonesia's environmental watchdog Walhi, said proposing palm oil plantations has been used in recent years in Indonesia "as a pretext to clear land and take the more valuable logs."

He estimates that nearly 17 million hectares of Indonesia's forests have been cleared ostensibly for oil palm plantations since the 1960s, but only 6 million hectares have been cultivated.

Though he concedes that the government is now making efforts to reforest, catch offenders and audit the industry, Syumanda said these were "insignificant compared to the damage that is being inflicted on the environment."

Rudi Lumuru, from Sawit Watch, an industry monitor, meanwhile said much of this "empty" land is actually used by local people.

He reckons more than 500 communities have been embroiled in conflicts with more than 100 palm oil companies, typically from Malaysia.

"This land has been used since a long time ago by the people. They live on the land, they grow on the land," he said. "The government says people can make money, but it's about transition of culture. The culture of the farmers, it's rice, coffee, cocoa -- it's not palm oil."

While compensation payments may be meted out, they end up meager thanks to endemic corruption, he said.

The Indonesian industry says it is cleaning up its act.

"The industry now is trying to avoid destroying land," said Derom Bangun, executive chairman of the Indonesian Palm Oil Association. "Companies no longer clear land by burning or in ways that harm the environment or wildlife."

Indonesian companies have joined the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), a WWF-led initiative to engage palm oil companies, and is trying to abide by their principles, he said.

Technology minister Agusman Effendi said that economic factors as well as "sustainability of the environment and the way the government can give extra support to the poor" needed to be considered.

"The `what' has been defined clearly, but the `how to' is the thing that has been criticized by the public," he said.

Companies in Malaysia, the world's largest palm oil producer -- expected to be eclipsed by Indonesia this year -- are being lured here by the vast expanses of already-cleared land.

Malaysian plantations minister Peter Chin insists palm oil production does not damage the environment and said Malaysian companies will boost productivity by replanting with higher yielding clones and adopting good agronomic practice.

"We are committed to ensuring that whatever we do now is not at the expense of the environment and our future generations," he said.

According to the Malaysian Palm Oil Board, 65 percent of Malaysia's total land area of almost 33 million hectares is comprised of forest. Palm oil plantations use 12 percent.

Alvin Tai, plantation analyst at OSK Securities, said most of the companies listed on the Malaysian bourse are expanding in Indonesia as landbank in Malaysia is limited.

He said most major plantation firms were RSPO members and "they have the resources to maintain those standards. It's the smaller plantation owners that are a concern".

Meena Rahman from Friends of the Earth Malaysia disputes the government's claims and says that the group is particularly worried about projects in Sarawak, located on the Malaysian side of Borneo island.

She says there is evidence that 1.5 million hectares of land that was to be set aside for protection and water catchment purposes has been planted with oil palm as well as pulp and wood trees.

"Maybe what Peter Chin is saying is that they are planting palm oil in areas that have already been logged -- but they should allow reforestation to take place instead of allowing palm oil expansion," she said.

Malaysia's northern neighbor Thailand is also getting in on the game.

High prices for palm oil, driven by Bangkok's search for alternative fuels, have driven more and more farmers to convert rubber and fruit plantations to grow oil palm, an official from Thailand's agriculture ministry said.

Local prices of palm oil have almost doubled to more than 4 baht (US$0.07) per kilogram from 2 baht last year.

Last year Thailand had some 32,000 hectares planted with oil palm, but the area is expected to jump to 81,000 by year end. An additional 400,000 hectares of unused farmland in the south could also be used, the official said.

The government has provided soft loans to help farmers make the switch, and is considering a floor price for the crop, she said, adding that "we don't have environmental issues" linked to palm oil, like Thailand and Malaysia.

The Philippines meanwhile has about 25,000 hectares under cultivation, but some 454,000 hectares of "disposable land" -- pasture or shrubbery -- mostly in the south, has been earmarked as well, the agriculture department said.

But so far, only one Singapore-based company has come sniffing, seeking at least 25,000 hectares of land.

Southeast Asia gears up for palm oil boom

Personal Comment: Prepare to be depressed.


Southeast Asia gears up for palm oil boom
JAKARTA (AFP) 12th September

JAKARTA (AFP) — Southeast Asian nations are gearing up for a palm oil boom as interest in biofuels soars, but activists warn the crop may not satisfy a global thirst for energy that is both clean and green.

They caution that oil palm plantations require massive swathes of land -- either what's left of the region's disappearing forests, denuded plots that would be better off reforested, or land critical to supporting local people.

Governments and companies have been scrambling to cash in since palm oil prices jumped last year due to spiking demand from China, India and Europe, where biofuels should comprise 10 percent of motor fuels by 2020.

Indonesia has launched a particularly ambitious biofuels expansion programme, which aims to see Southeast Asia's largest economy source 17 percent of its energy needs from renewable sources by 2025.

Evita Herawati, an assistant to Indonesia's minister of energy, said 5.5 million hectares (13.5 million acres) will be set aside for biofuel plantations by 2010, 1.5 million hectares of which are for oil palm.

The main objective is "to create jobs and alleviate poverty," with some 3.5 million new jobs being eyed by 2010.

"A lot of forest has been cut down but they didn't use it at all. We would like to use it for this programme," she told AFP, adding that so far 58 deals worth a total of 12.4 billion dollars have been signed with companies.

She estimated that just in Kalimantan, the Indonesian portion of Borneo island, about 5.5 million hectares are available for use -- an area far larger than Denmark and a bit smaller than Sri Lanka. Nine million additional hectares are available elsewhere, Herawati said.

The issue of where the land will come from worries activists, who point out that much of Indonesia's peatland forests have already been destroyed, releasing huge amounts of carbon dioxide.

Rully Syumanda, of Indonesia's environmental watchdog Walhi, said proposing palm oil plantations has been used in recent years in Indonesia "as a pretext to clear land and take the more valuable logs".

He estimates that nearly 17 million hectares of Indonesia's forests have been cleared ostensibly for oil palm plantations since the 1960s, but only six million hectares have been cultivated.

Though he concedes that the government is now making efforts to reforest, catch offenders and audit the industry, Syumanda said these were "insignificant compared to the damage that is being inflicted on the environment".

Rudi Lumuru, from Sawit Watch, an industry monitor, meanwhile said much of this "empty" land is actually used by local people. He reckons more than 500 communities have been embroiled in conflicts with more than 100 palm oil companies, typically from Malaysia.

"This land has been used since a long time ago by the people. They live on the land, they grow on the land," he said. "The government says people can make money, but it's about transition of culture. The culture of the farmers, it's rice, coffee, cocoa -- it's not palm oil."

While compensation payments may be meted out, they end up being meagre thanks to endemic corruption, he added.

The Indonesian industry says it is cleaning up its act.

"The industry now is trying to avoid destroying land," said Derom Bangun, executive chairman of the Indonesian Palm Oil Association. "Companies no longer clear land by burning or in ways that harm the environment or wildlife."

Indonesian companies have joined the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), a WWF-led initiative to engage palm oil companies, and is trying to abide by their principles, he said.

Companies in Malaysia, the world's largest palm oil producer -- expected to be eclipsed by Indonesia this year -- are being lured here by the vast expanses of already-cleared land.

Malaysian plantations minister Peter Chin insists palm oil production does not damage the environment and said Malaysian companies will boost productivity by replanting with higher yielding clones and adopting good agronomic practice.

"We are committed to ensuring that whatever we do now is not at the expense of the environment and our future generations," he said.

According to the Malaysian Palm Oil Board, 65 percent of Malaysia's total land area of almost 33 million hectares is comprised of forest. Palm oil plantations use 12 percent.

Alvin Tai, plantation analyst at OSK Securities, said most of the companies listed on the Malaysian bourse are expanding in Indonesia as landbank in Malaysia is limited.

He said most major plantation firms were RSPO members and "they have the resources to maintain those standards. It's the smaller plantation owners that are a concern".

Malaysia's northern neighbour Thailand is also getting in on the game.

High prices for palm oil, driven by Bangkok's search for alternative fuels, have driven more and more farmers to convert rubber and fruit plantations to grow oil palm, an official from Thailand's agriculture ministry said.

Local prices of palm oil have almost doubled to more than four baht (seven cents) per kilogramme (2.2 pounds) from two baht last year.

The Philippines meanwhile has about 25,000 hectares under cultivation, but some 454,000 hectares of "disposable land" -- pasture or shrubbery -- mostly in the south, has been earmarked as well, the agriculture department said.

Gorillas head race to extinction (followed closely by orangutans)

Please note: This news was originally posted with photos included on the BBC News web site..



Wednesday, 12 September 2007, 12:02 GMT 13:02 UK

Gorillas head race to extinction
By Richard Black
Environment correspondent, BBC News website


Gorillas, orangutans, and corals are among the plants and animals which are sliding closer to extinction.

The Red List of Threatened Species for 2007 names habitat loss, hunting and climate change among the causes.

The World Conservation Union (IUCN) has identified more than 16,000 species threatened with extinction, while prospects have brightened for only one.

The IUCN says there is a lack of political will to tackle the global erosion of nature.

Governments have pledged to stem the loss of species by 2010; but it does not appear to be happening.

The rate of biodiversity loss is increasing

Julia Marton-Lefevre
"This year's Red List shows that the invaluable efforts made so far to protect species are not enough," said the organisation's director-general, Julia Marton-Lefevre.

"The rate of biodiversity loss is increasing, and we need to act now to significantly reduce it and stave off this global extinction crisis."

One in three amphibians, one in four mammals, one in eight birds and 70% of plants so far assessed are believed to be at risk of extinction, with human alteration of their habitat the single biggest cause.

Critical list

The tone of this year's Red List is depressingly familiar. Of 41,415 species assessed, 16,306 are threatened with extinction to a greater or lesser degree.

RED LIST DEFINITIONS
Extinct - Surveys suggest last known individual has died
Critically Endangered - Extreme high risk of extinction - this some Critically Endangered species are also tagged Possibly Extinct
Endangered - Species at very high risk of extinction
Vulnerable - Species at high risk of extinction
Near Threatened - May soon move into above categories
Least Concern - Species is widespread and abundant
Data Deficient - not enough data to assess
The main changes from previous assessments include some of the natural world's iconic animals, such as the western lowland gorilla, which moves from the Endangered to the Critically Endangered category.

Numbers have declined by more than 60% over the last 20-25 years.

Forest clearance has allowed hunters access to previously inaccessible areas; and the Ebola virus has followed, wiping out one-third of the total gorilla population in protected areas, and up to 95% in some regions.

Ebola has moved through the western lowland gorilla's rangelands in western central Africa from the southwest to the northeast. If it continues its march, it will reach all the remaining populations within a decade.

The Sumatran orangutan was already Critically Endangered before this assessment, with numbers having fallen by 80% in the last 75 years.

But IUCN has identified new threats to the 7,300 individuals that remain. Forests are being cleared for palm oil plantations, and habitat is being split up by the building of new roads.

Governments know they are going to fail to reach that target

Jean-Christophe Vie
In Borneo, home to the second orangutan species, palm oil plantations have expanded 10-fold in a decade, and now take up 27,000 sq km of the island. Illegal logging reduces habitat still further, while another threat comes from hunting for food and the illegal international pet trade.

So fragmented have some parts of the Bornean forest become that some isolated orangutan populations now number less than 50 individuals, which IUCN notes are "apparently not viable in the long term".

Straight to zero

The great apes are perhaps the most charismatic creatures on this year's Red List, but the fact they are in trouble has been known for some years. Perhaps more surprising are some of the new additions.

"This is the first time we've assessed corals, and it's a bit worrying because some of them moved straight from being not assessed to being possibly extinct," said Jean-Christophe Vie, deputy head of IUCN's species programme.

The first formal assessment of corals shows many are at risk
"We know that some species were there in years gone by, but now when we do the assessment they are not there. And corals are like the trees in the forest; they build the ecosystem for fish and other animals."

IUCN is now embarking on a complete assessment of coral species, and expects to find that about 30% to 40% are threatened.

The most glaring example of a waterborne creature failed by conservation efforts is probably the baiji, the Yangtze river dolphin, which is categorised as Critically Endangered, Possibly Extinct.

This freshwater species appears to have failed in its bid for survival against the destructive tides of fishing, shipping, pollution, and habitat change in its one native river. Chinese media reported a possible sighting earlier this year, but the IUCN is not convinced; with no confirmed evidence of a living baiji since 2002, they believe its time on Earth may well be over.

If so, it will have become a largely accidental victim of the various forces of human development. Not so the spectacular Banggai cardinalfish; a single decade of hunting for the aquarium trade has brought numbers down by an astonishing 90%.

Last rites for river dolphin
Many African vultures are new entrants on this year's list. But birds provide the only notable success, with the colourful Mauritius echo parakeet making it back from Critically Endangered to Endangered.

Intensive conservation work has brought numbers up from about 50 to above 300.

But the gharial, a crocodilian found in the major rivers of India and Nepal, provides a cautionary tale of what can happen when conservation money and effort dry up.

A decade ago, a programme of re-introduction to the wild brought the adult population up from about 180 to nearer 430. Deemed a success, the programme was stopped; numbers are again hovering around 180, and the gharial finds itself once more on the Critically Endangered list.

Climate of distraction

IUCN says that it is not too late for many of these species; that they can be brought back from the brink.

It is something that the world's governments have committed to, vowing in the 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity "to achieve by 2010 a significant reduction of the current rate of biodiversity loss at the global, regional and national level".

Conservation is not enough
"Governments know they are going to fail to reach that target," said Jean-Christophe Vie, "and not just in terms of a few species - the failure is really massive.

"We know that it is possible to reverse the trend, but the causes are so huge and massive and global, and there is still a lack of attention to the crisis that biodiversity faces."

Many in the environmental movement argue that too much money and attention has gone on climate change, with other issues such as biodiversity, clean water and desertification ignored at the political level.

IUCN's assessment is that climate change is important for many Red List species; but it is not the only threat, and not the most important threat.

There are conflicts between addressing the various issues, with biofuels perhaps being the obvious example. Useful they may turn out to be in reducing greenhouse gas emissions; but many conservationists are seriously concerned that the vast swathes of monoculture they will bring spell dire consequences for creatures such as the orangutan.


Richard.Black-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk

British supermarket chain ASDA bans Malaysian palm oil products

British supermarket chain ASDA bans Malaysian palm oil products
The Star: 4 September 2007
by Stephen Then

MIRI: The boycott of Malaysian palm oil and its by-products by a giant supermarket chain in Britain smacks of discrimination, said Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Peter Chin Fah Kui.

The move by the British ASDA chain of supermarkets to ban the sale of Malaysian palm oil and related products from their retail outlets recently was very damaging and may cause similar reaction among other retail chains in Europe, he said.

The ministry has written to the company’s headquarters in Britain seeking an explanation on why it has boycotted Malaysia’s palm oil and yet continue to sell edible oils from Western countries, he told The Star in an interview yesterday.

“We want to know why they have boycotted our palm oil and yet continue selling soya oil and rape-seed oil. We told them that we feel this is a very unfair policy that is discriminatory in nature,” he said.

The boycott was believed to be the result of massive anti-palm oil activities in several parts of Europe. They were propagated by those out to tarnish the image of palm oil and related products.

These parties claim that Malaysian oil palm plantations have resulted in the ‘genocide’ of orang-utans and that the cutting down of forests for these plantations were causing global warming.

Chin had described these claims as lies and two months ago, he went to Europe to meet non-governmental organisations and government leaders to try to counter the anti-palm oil activists.

He said that certain countries, like the Netherlands, had been fair in the way they view the palm oil issue.

“The Netherlands views environmental issues like climate change very seriously. Environment Minister Jacqueline Crammer will be in Malaysia soon to discuss and see for herself the sustainable way we cultivate our oil palm plantations,” he said, adding that the Netherlands imports 1.5 million tonnes of palm oil from Malaysia annually.

Chin hopes that the Netherlands will help to convince other European Union members that any boycott of the country’s palm oil or any related products is unjustified.

Opinion: Palm oil: Malaysian asset or liability?

2007/09/12 - New Straits Times

Opinion: Palm oil: Malaysian asset or liability?
By : AHMAD IBRAHIM

Despite the many studies conducted on the benefits of palm oil, it is still being targeted by critics in the West. AHMAD IBRAHIM wonders if the future of this 'net carbon sink' will be just as bright as it is now.
AT 65 years old, Pak Samad is now enjoying his retirement with a decent income from his many years of toil as an oil palm smallholder.

In his younger days, Pak Samad earned a meagre living as a fisherman. It was hard work. The money was pittance; not enough to support his family of four growing children. Then oil palm came along. The government encouraged many like Pak Samad to join others from the country’s hardcore poor to trade their fishing nets to a life tending to the growing of oil palms. Many were initially sceptical of the scheme. Not any more. Most now have only good things to say about oil palm. To them the oil palm is truly a golden crop. It is truly nature’s gift.

Alleviating poverty is the greatest priority for almost all developing countries. Even developed countries are increasingly attending to the pockets of poverty in their midst. Urban poverty, which afflicts even the most developed of nations, has started rearing its ugly head.

The United Nations has singled out poverty eradication as the most urgent business of its Millennium Development Goals. People like Pak Samad know how much the oil palm has saved them from destitution. But elsewhere in this world, many have yet to appreciate and recognise the tremendous contribution made by this tropical wonder plant to mankind.

The oil palm has been up against controversy after controversy. It was not like that in the 1960s and early 1970s, when palm oil was a comparatively small player in the global oils and fats trade. Nigeria was the largest world producer then. And much of the palm oil ended up in the EU as cooking fats, margarine and soap. But by the 1980s, when the world production of palm oil assumed sizable quantities, palm oil became big news.

In the mid-1980s, massive campaigns against palm oil were launched in the United States. Palm oil was blamed for everything from heart disease to obesity. One advertisement went so far as to describe palm oil as "poison". Another suggested that palm oil may be responsible for increasing sexual dysfunction among American men.

Why? Because palm oil was ostensibly loaded with saturated fats which can clog arteries, slow blood circulation and lead to heart ailments. Never mind that the US then consumed less than two per cent of their total oils and fats from palm oil. The bulk of their fats came from soyabean oil and hydrogenated, at that. But they still singled out palm oil as the culprit.

Palm oil producers had to spend huge sums of money to help fund nutritional studies by credible world nutritionists to get the scientific facts. But they were only proving the obvious: That palm oil is as good as, if not better, than all other vegetable oils.

Like all other oils derived from plants, palm oil is cholesterol-free. But better than the others, palm oil has the right balance of saturated and unsaturated fats. And almost all of palm oil’s unsaturated fat is "monounsaturates", similar to olive oil, often touted as the healthiest of oils.

Now scientists have credible evidence that palm oil, thanks to its balanced nature, may even be healthier than olive oil. And with recent revelation of the unhealthy nature of trans-fatty acids associated with hydrogenated fats, palm oil again comes out ahead.

Unfortunately, the story has not ended here. A new controversy has just cropped up. Oil palm has been singled by some environmental groups as entirely responsible for the declining population of orang utans in Borneo. They say the clearing of large tracts of rainforest for oil palm cultivation has destroyed much of the orang utan’s natural habitat.

Such critics may not know that almost all oil palm in Malaysia is grown on land vacated by rubber and other crops, or abandoned for years. In Malaysia, nearly 70 per cent of the land area is still under forest. The government has maintained that level for years through the creation of many forest preservation projects.

These groups have been calling on consumers, especially in Britain, to boycott palm oil unless big retail chains there join their roundtable on "sustainable palm oil". This forum was set up a few years ago to come out with guidelines and criteria on the sustainable production of palm oil. Many in the palm oil supply-chain have joined the roundtable, including most palm oil interest groups in Malaysia and Indonesia.

But that has not stopped other environmental groups from continuing to raise the issue. One way or the other, palm oil is publicised as a bad boy. Little is heard of the environmental consequences of expansion in the other oils, such as the massive land-clearing in Latin America for soyabean cultivation.

The other issue is of global warming. Though there is still some dispute among scientists, most agree that the unchecked release of greenhouse gases, principally carbon dioxide, causes drastic temperature changes, with dire consequences for climate, disease and agriculture. The popular prediction is that many island countries may disappear.

Commercial oil palm cultivation can slow down the build-up of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The oil palm is, in the language of environmentalists, a "net carbon sink".

Studies indicate that oil palm has twice the capacity of soya-bean to sequester carbon dioxide and generate oxygen. It has been estimated that the four million hectares of oil palm in Malaysia has the capacity to sequester 117.2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide each year and generate 85 million tonnes of oxygen. This compares favourably with the 17 million hectares of soyabean, which can sequester less than 60 million tonnes of carbon dioxide and generate 43.5 million tonnes of oxygen.

A boycott of palm oil by Western consumers would hurt most small oil palm farmers like Pak Samad. They have managed to earn a decent income which over the years has raised them from poverty. But as they all say, life is never fair.

Dr Ahmad Ibrahim is a fellow of Malaysia’s Academy of Sciences.

Palm oil output to fall after 9 years of growth

Palm oil output to fall after 9 years of growth - New Straits Times
By Ooi Tee Ching
bt@nstp.com.my September 10 2007


FOR the first time in nine years, Malaysia's crude palm oil (CPO) output will decline and the minister in charge sees a shortfall of 1.5 million tonnes from an earlier forecast of 16.5 million tonnes. However, the situation is not alarming as it is part of a normal cycle for the industry.

"Besides the flood factor at the beginning of the year, I've also been informed that this year coincides with the down cycle in palm oil output.

"Every few years, trees become stressed and they produce fewer fruit bunches.

"From January to July, we harvested 8.04 million tonnes of CPO, seven per cent less than in the same period in 2006," Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Peter Chin told Business Times.

The Finance Ministry, in its 2007/08 economic report last Thursday, revised its CPO production forecast to 15.7 million tonnes.

Chin said the latest data from the Malaysian Palm Oil Board provide a more sobering account that the oil palm trees are a little stressed this year.

"Not to worry, we should see a rebound next year as they recover. Oil palm trees need to take a rest every now and again," he said.

"Another (piece of) good news is that in the first half of the year, we saw more replanting (to replace) unproductive trees than previously.

"This will ensure better supply of palm oil four years from now," he added.

Go for Indon partnerships, Malaysian plantation investors advised

Tuesday September 11, 2007 - The Star, Malaysia

Go for Indon partnerships, Malaysian plantation investors advised

MAKASSAR (South Sulawesi: Malaysian investors in the plantation sector in Indonesia have been advised to opt for joint ventures with local partners rather than 100% ownership.

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said he advised this to dispel the misconception among certain groups in Indonesia that Malaysia wanted to monopolise their economy.

“This is important as we think that the best approach for us to improve ties with Indonesia is by focussing on economic cooperation.

“We believe that if our economic interaction is good, politics and people-to-people relations would follow suit,” he said in his keynote address at a seminar on the 50 years of ties between Malaysia and Indonesia here on Monday. Indonesia, he noted, had the advantage of having a large "land bank" and other sources of raw material, while Malaysia's strength was in technology, capital and management expertise.

It would be advantageous for both countries to exploit each other’s strength for mutual gain, he said. Najib said both countries could not afford to take the existing good relations for granted.

He noted that the misconception about the lopsided participation of Malaysian investors in Indonesian economy must be corrected as there were also many Indonesian investors who now owned prime property in Malaysia.

Penan blockade: Samling under pressure

Penan blockade: Samling under pressure -Malaysiakini.com
Sep 12, 07 12:16pm

'Resolve the land conflict with blockading Penan communities by November 2007 or we’ll revoke your certification of 56,000 hectares of tropical forest in the Upper Baram region of Sarawak.'

This was the clear message sent by the Malaysian Timber Certification Council (MTCC) to logging giant Samling recently.

MTCC chief executive officer Chew Lye Teng has told Samling to negotiate with the Penan community currently defending one of Sarawak's last remaining tracts of primeval rainforest against the loggers.

“If Samling fails to resolve the issue by November the council could revoke the company's certificate of sustainable management,” Chew was quoted by AP.

According to the CEO, the council's order was based on a survey earlier this year by an independent inspection company.

Swiss-based rainforest NGO Bruno Manser Fund (BMF) in a statement welcomed MTCC’s overdue clarification made after two years of intensive campaigning by the Penan communities, and Malaysian and international NGOs.

BMF director Dr Lukas Straumann said the council has realised that its loss of credibility outweighs the gains from the cooperation with Samling.

“We now expect Samling to immediately stop the road construction to Long Lellang and cease all logging activities both in the contested Penan areas and the few remaining primeval forests of Sarawak,” he said.

The council’s decision is an important campaign victory for Penan headman Saun Bujang (right) of Long Benali whose community has maintained the blockade of a Samling logging road for more than three years.

In July 2006, the blockade was dismantled by local police units but the Penans re-erected them several times.

Second blow

In 2007, Malaysian security forces set up a permanent camp close to the blockade site within the MTCC-certified Samling concession.

The local communities reported several incidents of intimidation by the police officers such as shots in the air and verbal threats.

According to the community, the Samling road construction has almost reached their village in the last weeks.

MTCC’s ultimatum is the second major blow for Samling after the company lost its Forest Stewardship Council's (FSC) certification of 570,000 hectares of tropical forest in Guyana in Jan 2007.

The audit found that the Samling subsidiary 'could not demonstrate compliance with FSC certification requirements' due to 'systematic major nonconformities'.

Criticism of the Sarawakian company includes its dealings with the local indigenous communities, its environmental performance and its failure to comply with basic health and safety requirements for the company workers.


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Timber kickbacks: The Shea connection

PLEASE NOTE. This article was originaly published with photos and charts.


Timber kickbacks: The Shea connection - Malaysiakini.com
Erik Wang
Sep 11, 07 2:03pm

Exclusive He is a complete unknown. Perhaps his parents want him to be someone important - after all, his name ‘Kin Kwok’ means ‘nation-building’.

A search on the Internet does not reveal much of this shadowy man. He was a participant at a golf tournament for the elderly in Hong Kong, suggesting that Shea Kin Kwok is a senior citizen.

Golf aside, Shea is a businessman. He is a shareholder and director of two companies registered in Hong Kong - Regent Star Company Limited and Richfold Investment Limited.

Behind that veneer of anonymity, Shea has indeed much to do with Malaysia, specifically his ties to members of Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud’s (photo) family and their business empire.

Shea’s name first surfaced late March when Regent Star was implicated by the Japanese media in a multi-million ringgit timber-shipment kickbacks scandal.

It was reported that a Japanese shipping cartel of the country’s top shipping companies paid at least RM32 million to Regent Star to help “resolve” problems encountered in the exports of timber from Sarawak to Japan.

Japan’s tax authorities had considered these payments as ‘illegitimate expenses’ since Regent Star - believed to be a paper company - did little ‘substantive work’. As a result, the Japanese shipping companies were slapped with back taxes along with heavy fines for ‘hiding’ the funds from the tax authorities.

A week later, malaysiakini broke the news on the alleged kickbacks in Malaysia, quoting Japanese media sources.

Shea is one of two directors of Regent Star. The company was incorporated in Hong Kong 24 years ago. Corporate information obtained from the Hong Kong authorities indicated that Regent Star’s office is in Kowloon.

The company has a paid-up capital of HK$10,000 (RM4,500). Regent Star’s 1985 annual return said its two pioneers directors were Shea Kin Kwok and Kho Eng Beng. Both were appointed a week after the company was formed, and each director held 5,000 shares.

Kho was listed as a British national while Shea was a Hong Kong national. Kho resigned as director in 2001 and was replaced by Ng York Kee, a Philippine national.

In June - two months after the timber kickbacks scandal broke - Regent Star made a surprise move. Ng, on behalf of the company, applied to the Hong Kong Companies Registry for Regent Star to be deregistered.

This came in the wake of Taib’s lawsuits against malaysiakini and two opposition leaders for defamation over the alleged kickbacks scandal. The two PRK state leaders had reprinted press reports on the scandal from malaysiakini and Japanese media organisations for distribution to the Kuching public.

The PKR leaders have since, through their lawyer, written to the Hong Kong Companies Registry and Tax Office to query the deregistration of Regent Star.

Rise of Dewan Niaga Sarawak

The Sarawak government under Taib, who was also forestry minister, appointed Dewan Niaga (Sarawak) Sdn Bhd soon after he took power in 1981 as the local shipping agent for the exports of timber.

Dewan Niaga Sarawak, incorporated in 1981 as a wholly Sarawak-based entity, is the sole agent for timber shipments out of the state. Anyone who wants to export timber has to go through them.
The company has an authorised capital of RM1 million with an issued capital of RM200,000. Its directors are individuals closely linked to the state government as well as Sarawak’s Associated Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Among them is ex-senator Wee Kok Tiong (photo), son of the late Sarawakian tycoon Wee Boon Ping.

Wee, who was Bandar Kuching parliamentary candidate in the 2004 general election, is from the predominately Chinese Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) - a key Barisan Nasional component party in the state. He lost to the DAP candidate in the contest.

Wee is also president of the Associated Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the vice-chairman of SUPP Kuching branch, as well as a member of the party’s powerful Central Working Committee. He also owns Sarawak-based Chinese-language daily, International Times.

Another prominent director of Dewan Niaga Sarawak is Abdul Aziz Husain. Abdul Aziz, one of the pioneer directors when the company was formed 26 years ago, was Sarawak’s state secretary until 2006. He is also Taib’s brother-in-law.

He has since been appointed group managing director of the public-listed Sarawak Energy Bhd, which is majority owned by the state government. Sarawak Energy is responsible for, among others, the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity in the state.

Two other family members of Taib are also directors of Dewan Niaga Sarawak - younger brothers, Onn Mahmud and Mohd Tufail Mahmud, were appointed in 1988 and 1991 respectively.

Sarawak’s first family

Dewan Niaga Sarawak’s shareholders are Achi Jaya Transportation Sdn Bhd, with 104,000 shares, the Associated Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (80,000 shares) and Koperasi Koppes Bhd (16,000 shares).

The majority shareholder, Achi Jaya Transportation, is the new name for CMS Transportation Sdn Bhd. The company was established in 1983 and described its business as ‘transportation and trading of goods and services’. It has an authorised capital of RM3 million with an issued capital of RM500,000.

Three of the five directors of Achi Jaya Transportation are from the Mahmud family. They are brothers Onn, who is the company’s pioneer director, Mohammad Tufail, who became director two months after the registration of the company, and sister Fredahanam, wife of former state secretary Abdul Aziz.

Another director, Noor Zakri Abdul Ghani, shares the same registered residential address as that of Onn. Noor Zakri is believed to be Onn’s brother-in-law. The final director is one Chiew Chee Hung @ Chiew Chee Ung.

In turn, Achi Jaya Transportation’s sole shareholder is Achi Jaya Holdings Sdn Bhd, with 500,000 shares. Achi Jaya Holdings was set up as Achi Corporation Sdn Bhd in 1983 to provide ‘management services, property and investment holding and property letting’. It has an authorised capital of RM2 million with an issued capital of RM1 million.

All five Achi Jaya Holdings directors are linked to Sarawak’s first family. They comprise Onn, his wife Halimatun Abdul Ghani, 23-year-old son Omar Yakub and 28-year-old daughter Siti Hajah Hamidah, and Noor Zakri.

Onn and Halimatun were the pioneer directors while their son became a director in January 2007. Onn and his wife together own all the shares of Achi Jaya Holdings. Onn holds 499,999 shares while the wife has one share in the company.

This story would not be complete without mentioning CMSB, or Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd.

Most Sarawakians know CMSB, which is majority owned by Sarawak’s first family. It is a public-listed company and its 2006 annual report put its revenue at RM6.4 billion.

CMSB is a conglomerate involved in manufacturing, construction, construction materials, stockbroking and other financial services, property development, insurance, and until recently, banking. However, its banking business - the RHB Bank - was recently sold to the Employees Provident Fund for RM2.25 billion.

Prominent among the board of directors are two of Taib’s sons - Abu Bakir, 43, and younger brother Sulaiman Abdul Rahman, 38. The elder son is CMSB deputy group chairman and a non-executive director while the younger son is a non-executive director.

Some of the key owners of CMSB are Taib’s immediate family members - wife Laila (11.23%), daughters Hanifah Hajar (13.85%) and Jamilah Hamidah (13.64%), and sons Sulaiman (8.94%) and Abu Bakir (8.92%).

Altogether Taib’s family owns at least 56.58% of the company. His brother, Onn, also owns 0.76% in CMSB.

Given its pedigree, CMSB secures some of plumpest contracts from the Sarawak government. Moreover, it owns more than 2,234 ha of vacant land in various locations in the state as well as offices, factories, quarries, premix operations, shophouses and even a jetty.

Shea’s investments

Shea’s business relationship with Onn dates back more than two decades. Shea’s Regent Star is linked to another Hong Kong-registered company, Richfold Investments, in which one of two directors is Onn.

A check by malaysiakini with the Hong Kong Companies Registry revealed that Richfold Investments was established on the same day as Regent Star - Nov 22, 1983. In addition, the two companies shared the same office in Hong Kong.

Onn owns 49,999 shares of Richfold Investments while Shea holds just one. Onn was appointed director of Richfold Investments together with Shea just a day after Shea was appointed director of Regent Star. (see Chart below)

Ng York Kee, another director of Regent Star, is also listed as Richfold Investments’s company secretary.

However, Shea’s links to Taib’s family is not restricted to Hong Kong. According to Bursa Malaysia, Shea was also a substantial shareholder of two Sarawak-based companies.

From the public-listed Sarawak Oil Palm Bhd (SOPB) annual reports of 2002 to 2005, Shea held shares in this well-connected company and was listed under the ‘30 largest shareholders’ category.
His shares were 1,309,400 or 1.38% in 2002, 1,239,400 or 0.97% in 2003-2005. However, it the 2006 annual return, Shea disappeared as a direct shareholder. It is not known if he had cashed out or moved his share ownership to other companies.

Another of Shea’s investments in Sarawak was CMSB, but this appeared shortlived. The CMSB 2001 annual report listed Shea as having 663,000 shares in the company. Subsequent annual reports do not list Shea as a direct shareholder.

For a person who is a complete unknown in Sarawak, Shea certainly has a strong connection to the state.

Is he a proxy?

It is also not clear how much the Japan’s shipping cartel had paid Regent Star over the more than two decades of its existence. The Japanese Taxation Bureau, whose probe is limited to seven years, estimated RM32 million was paid over that period.

This will translate into Japanese consumers having paid millions of ringgit extra for furniture and other timber products. And this could also translate into large tracts of forests saved or much improved livelihood for the native communities in Sarawak and Sabah who regarded land and forests as their life and blood.

But was this money paid to a Hong Kong national called Shea or was he merely a proxy? If so, a proxy to whom?

And just who is Shea? He doesn’t seem to play a significant role in Hong Kong corporate world because a search with Hong Kong Companies Registry does not show he has other business interests save for Regent Star and Richfold Investments.

What can be established however is that Shea is a business associate of Onn and that their association goes back to 1983 - the same year Onn incorporated Archipelago Shipping to be a shipping agent, the same year Dewan Niaga Sarawak executed the shipping agreement with the Japanese shipping cartel for the shipment of logs from Sarawak.

And 1983 is also the same year Dewan Niaga Sarawak appointed Archipelago Shipping to be the sole handler of shipments of all logs exported from Sarawak. What’s more, both Regent Star and Richfold Investments were incorporated at the same time in that year.

Clearly Shea is a person intrinsically linked to the alleged timber kickbacks involving the Japanese shipping cartels and Sarawak’s political elite. But this trail is about to turn cold as Regent Star could soon disappear should its application to close shop is approved by the Hong Kong Companies Registry.



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Activists Reject Team to Tackle Riau Logging

Activists Reject Team to Tackle Riau Logging

Source: The Jakarta Post- September 8, 2007
By Rizal Harahap, Pekanbaru

Twelve environmental non-governmental organizations expressed opposition Friday to the formation of a special team to stop illegal logging in Riau. The special team was announced by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Wednesday. The activists claimed two of the team's members have been involved in illegal logging activities in the province.

"The inclusion of officials who have allegedly been involved in illegal logging activities in Riau to the President-appointed team will jeopardize efforts to stop illegal logging, due to their conflict of interests," executive director of the Indonesian Forum for Environment (Walhi) in Riau, Johny Setiawan, said Friday.

When pressed on the names of the officials allegedly involved in illegal logging activities, he pointed to Forestry Minister MS Kaban and Riau Governor Rusli Zainal without providing more details. The special team will be led by Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Adm. (ret) Widodo A.S.

The activists believe the special team is a setback in the progress made to enforce the illegal logging law in Riau.

"The President should have pushed for speedy law enforcement by issuing permits to investigate the accused officials," Johny said. He claimed illegal logging cases in Riau involved several regents and other state officials. He said solving forestry crime in Riau involved a long drawn-out process due to the slow issuance of investigation permits.

"Law enforcement would be much faster if the President issued the permits," he said. He said it was not necessary for President Yudhoyono to set up a special team. It would be better if the President fully enforced the 2005 presidential instruction to strengthen the fight against illegal logging activities across the country, he said. Based on the instruction, 18 government offices are involved in the fight against illegal logging.

He views the team's formation as a way to apply legal solutions to illegal logging cases in Riau.

"The team's formation is based on economic interest, to protect investments and businesses. What is needed here is law enforcement, not a move to protect those who violate the law.

"It's fine for companies to receive hundreds of permits (to operate) but if they violate the law, they should be arrested," Johny said.

Coordinator of Riau Forest Rescuer Working Network, Susanto Kurniawan, said the investment climate would improve if the government enforced the law.

"The President overreacted in dealing with this problem. The law should not be blurred to save investments ...," he said. He said enforcement of the law would not make companies suspected of involvement in illegal logging activities go bankrupt.

"They might end up with less profit, but that is the consequence for breaking the law."

Indonesia Fails to Reach Forest Rehab Target

Indonesia Fails to Reach Forest Rehab Target

Source: The Jakarta Post - September 8, 2007
Jakarta

The government has failed to reach its 2007 forest rehabilitation target due to financial issues and poor coordination, said a senior forestry ministry official.

"The government's target was to reforest three million hectares of land in four years ... but it has so far only replanted around two million hectares," director general of land rehabilitation Darori said Friday. But the shortfall of one million hectares was due mainly to a lack of funds, he said. "So far we have only had reforestation funds to rely on and they are limited."

In 2006 he said his office received Rp 300 billion (US$33.3 million), which saw it able to reforest 37,790 hectares. Darori said it was unfortunate the pace of reforestation was slower than the rate of deforestation. The government has managed to rehabilitate some 500,000 hectares of forests annually, but the deforestation rate reached 1.8 million hectares per year, he said.

Indonesia's forest occupies 120 million hectares of land or around 65 percent of the country's land area, but deforestation has significantly cut the country's forests. Total deforestation has reportedly reached 59 million hectares due to high rates of land clearing, peatland blazes and growing industries.

Daruri said to accelerate reforestation efforts, his office would aim to rehabilitate 900,000 hectares of forests this year. He said the government had allocated Rp 3.3 trillion from its budget for this project. Next year he said his office would propose access to Rp 8.6 trillion from the state budget for reforestation.

"If the proposal is approved, we will target to reforest 1.7 million hectares of land," he said.

Darori said failure to reach the four-year target was also due to poor coordination efforts between the central government, regional administrations and community members. Improved coordination was a must, he said, to realize a new presidential regulation around forest and land rehabilitation.

The regulation was issued on September 3, 2007 and includes provincial, regental and municipal administrations. It says these bodies should contribute at least 10 percent of costs for forestry and land rehabilitation in their respective territories. In addition to state and local administration budgets, the government also uses donations from foreign countries to finance its reforestation programs. The German government recently donated around 20 million euros (US$27.3 million) to help Indonesia finance its reforestation programs. (05)

Indonesia Says More Money Needed To Stop Deforestation

Indonesia Says More Money Needed To Stop Deforestation
Source: ABC News – September 7, 2007

By Indonesia correspondent Geoff Thompson

The Federal Government has nominated climate change as a top focus of the APEC summit. But one of the Government's key climate change initiatives is under fire from the very country which benefits from it, Indonesia. Indonesia is regularly accused of being the world's third biggest emitter of greenhouse gases because of the vast fires across its deforested peat lands every year.

The country's Environment Minister Rachmat Witoelar has told ABC radio's PM program that Australia's $200 million Global Initiative on Forests and Climate "will not solve too many problems". Jakarta regularly makes it into the top 10 lists of the world's most polluted cities. But it is actually not urban development which is to blame for rocketing Indonesia up the rankings of the world's worst greenhouse gas offenders. The vast annual fires in Kalimantan's deforested peat lands are to blame for that.

Wetlands International places Indonesia's greenhouse gas emissions behind only the United States and China because of the vast tracts of deforested land where carbon-rich peat decays and catches fire every year, blanketing much of South East Asia in a choking haze.

It is a real problem in search of a real solution and back in March, Indonesia warmly welcomed Australia's $200 million Global Initiative on Forests and Climate, which is aimed fighting climate change by preserving the world's forests.

In July, $10 million of that money was committed to developing forest protection projects in Indonesia. But now Indonesia's Environment Minister, Rachmat Witoelar, is questioning what in reality the scheme can achieve.

"Maybe if it is upscaled even more because it does not solve too many problems because $200 million divided into so many areas over five years does not give a lot of forest aid," he said. He would like Australia to contribute more.

Experts argue that forest sustainability programs like the Australian initiative are challenged by the local reality that the forests are worth more dead than alive. Timber and palm oil profits are much greater and easier to grasp than vague notions of sustainability.

Indonesia's Vice President Jusuf Kalla says international alliance is needed to save the forests.

"There are international operations to destroy the forest. Clearly for economic reasons and to improve [there] should be international cooperation to do that," he said.

Professor Emil Salim is the father of Indonesia's environmental movement and a senior adviser to Indonesia's President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. He says that with Indonesia's current population of 230 million expected to grow by another 100 million in the next 30 years, Indonesia needs very good reasons not to clear land. And local people, he says, need good economic reasons to keep the forests standing.

"Why is Australia not bold enough to really translate the action into getting the technology of Australia transferred to the developing country?" he asked. "And stop talking about $200 million, $10 million. It's not money. It's the capacity of a new development by raising the value added of the forest."

Indonesia's real forests debate kicks off in December in Bali, when the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change searches for a successor to Kyoto, which decided against awarding carbon credits for what has been dubbed "avoided deforestation". In any new Kyoto-style international treaty, Indonesia wants access to the world's multi-billion dollar carbon credit market not just by planting trees but by keeping them.

Orangutans Squeezed By Biofuel Boom

Orangutans Squeezed By Biofuel Boom

Indonesia, Conservationists Have Different Views of Palm Oil Plantations
Source: AP – September 4, 2007
By Chris Brummitt ,Tumbang Kuling, Indonesia

Naingolan shunts the excavator into high gear and tears into a patch of smoldering forest on Borneo island, clearing the way for yet another palm oil plantation that Indonesia hopes will tap into a surge in global demand for biofuels.

Despite government claims pristine jungles are escaping the effects of the “green solution” to the energy crunch, the boom is threatening the survival of animals like the endangered orangutan and turning the country into a major global warming contributor, environmentalists say.

The fruits of Naingolan’s labor in one corner of Borneo are plain to see: a wasteland of churned up peat and trees stretching to the horizon with freshly dug-in palm plants dotting every meter. Behind him, smoke from illegal scrub-clearing fires clouds the sky.

Palm oil plantations have long been a staple of the economies of tropical Indonesia and neighboring Malaysia. Oil made from the red, spiky apple-sized fruit is used to make a vast range of products, from soap to chocolate to lipstick.

But concern over pollution from the burning of fossil fuels in Europe and the United States has led to a new use for the oil — mixing it with diesel to make a cleaner burning and cheaper fuel to put in cars.

The EU parliament this year announced a renewed push to meet sustainable energy targets, including mandating using biofuels to supply at least 10 percent of transport fuel needs by 2020.

Tax breaks
Encouraged by government tax breaks, many of Indonesia’s largest conglomerates as well as foreign companies are investing millions in expanding plantations and refining facilities on Borneo, which has one of the richest ecosystems in the world and is one of the only remaining homes of the orangutans.
Conservationists working to preserve the 20,000 great apes say palm oil poses the biggest threat. Rehabilitation centers are overflowing with the animals rescued from plantations, many with wounds inflicted by workers, they say.

“Scientifically, I think the population is doomed, but emotionally I want to feel like there is still hope,” said Raffaella Commitante, a primatologist at a center in east Kalimantan. “Orangutans spend 80 to 90 percent of their time in trees. If you take away the trees, they cannot move.”

Deforestation in tropical countries accounts for roughly 20 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, according to the World Bank, because trees release carbon dioxide, the main heat-trapping gas, when they are destroyed.

Indonesia is the third-highest emitter of carbon dioxide behind China and the United States, largely because much of the palm oil on Borneo is planted on carbon-rich peat land that must be drained first, releasing millions more tons of CO2 into the atmosphere each year.

Demand for biofuel “could prove to be the final nail in the coffin for our remaining forests,” said Greenpeace Southeast Asia campaigner Hapsoro. “Trying to solve one environmental problem by wiping out Indonesian forests is senseless.”

Promises and reality
The government insists that palm oil is only being planted on land that was fully or partially deforested long ago, so called “degraded” land. They said local authorities were now getting tough on illegal loggers after years of working hand-in-hand with them.
“There were will be no trees cut down for the sake of palm oil,” said Environment Minister Rachmat Witoelar. “We have 18 million hectares of plantable area on land designated on degraded land. We are not going to sacrifice any natural forest, much less the rain forest, for planting palm oil.”

Environmentalists dispute that, claiming that developers prefer to chop down virgin forest because they can sell the logs to invest in palm oil plants, which take around five years to reach maturity. They allege permits changing the status of land from protected to degraded can be bought.

An Associated Press team spent several days touring Borneo’s palm oil heartland in central Kalimantan province, visiting areas where workers were opening up thick jungle land to extend existing plantations or create new ones.

The status of the land was not clear, but massive trees were among those being cut, in some cases workers had piled up the valuable timber by the side of the road, presumably awaiting transport to sell them.

At one plantation owned by a subsidiary of Singapore-based Wilmar International Ltd. police had taped off several large logs, suggesting they were being used as part of an investigation. The company, which has been accused by Friends of the Earth of bad environmental practice on Borneo, said it does not clear “high value rain forests” for development but will sometimes clear trees on degraded land.

Naingolan, the excavator driver who has spent the last three months clearing land to make way for more palm oil plants, says he realizes he is now part of the problem, but that he needs money for his family.

“I have seen countless gibbons and heard the cries of orangutans,” he said as he finished up work for the day. “But there is no work for me in my village.”

BACK

Last Refuge Of The Orang-utan

Last Refuge Of The Orang-utan

Source: The Independent - September 4, 2007

Once it was a mighty orange army, 300,000-strong. Now the tree-dwelling mammal is down to its last 25,000 as its habitat is destroyed in favour of palm oil plantations. David McNeill reports from the sanctuary in Borneo battling to keep them alive

Homeless, semi-paralysed and blind in one eye, Montana faces an uncertain future. Even if his friends find somewhere for him to live, the 15-year-old has been seriously weakened by years in assisted care.

The lethal dangers of readjustment in his natural home include men like those who shot him out of a tree when he was just a baby and the hostile attentions of his stronger neighbours. But for the source of the greatest threat to Montana's existence, say his supporters, look no further than your food cupboard.
The orang-utan, one of our closest animal relatives and the largest tree-living mammal on the planet, is in deep crisis. A once-mighty orange army of 300,000 that swung through the dense forests of much of south-east Asia has dwindled to fewer than 25,000 concentrated on the two Indonesian islands of Borneo and Sumatra, conservationists say. There, they cling precariously to life on government-protected nature reserves that are under siege by developers of one of the world's most lucrative commodities: palm oil.

Illegal logging, fires and clearances have decimated the tropical rainforest that is the exclusive home of the primates, who nest high above the forest floor. The casualties join Montana at a care centre near Pangkalan Bun in central Borneo, crowded with more than 320 homeless, orphaned and sick or injured orang-utans – a number that grows by a barely manageable 20 per cent a year, say the workers there.

Montana peers unhappily from his cage. Unlike 250 of his predecessors, who have been relocated to the jungle upriver from here since this centre was set up in 1998, he is unlikely to ever leave. "We just can't find homes for all of them," says Birute Galdikas, the famed anthropologist who runs the care facility, after producing a long list of daily needs that includes nappies for the three dozen or so babies. "We are looking at the extinction of orang-utans in the wild." She estimates that without action, the orang-utans – one of the four great apes along with gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos, have just 10 to 15 years left in the wild.

The Borneo orang-utan is listed as "highly endangered" by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, one short step on the ladder of extinction above its Sumatran cousin, which is critically endangered. "When it goes extinct, it will be a terrible loss," says Dr Galdikas. "I can't tell you how urgent it is."

To grasp just how urgent, you have to travel from Pangkalan Bun up the chocolate-coloured Sekonyer river to the heart of one of the world's last great wildernesses, the Tanjung Putting Park, a 410,000-hectare nature reserve that is home to perhaps 6,000 orang-utans (nobody knows for sure) along with proboscis monkeys, gibbons, macaques and crocodiles.

The reserve is an oasis in a landscape pressured by human demands and the growing local population. Behind the thick canopy of mangroves and Pandanus along the Sekonyer, bald patches of cleared jungle can be seen from the boat. Guards posted along the river patrol for illegal logging and poaching.

Some orang-utans are kept as pets or smuggled out of the country and sold to perform in Thai kick-boxing matches or in circuses. But the "real issue", say scientists, is palm oil plantations.

Julia Roberts and Joanna Lumley made this journey a few years ago, with documentary crews to film one of the only places in the world where orang-utans can still be seen in the wild. Lumley is said to have been "horrified" to discover that her handbag was stuffed with cosmetics containing palm oil.

Extracted from the fast-growing oil palm tree, it is now probably the world's most popular vegetable oil, surpassing its soybean alternative and used in a tenth of supermarket products, including crisps, biscuits, toothpaste, margarines and make-up.

So ubiquitous is the oil that few UK supermarkets have ever seriously considered removing it from their shelves – and 85 per cent of it comes from Malaysia and Indonesia, the world's number one and number two producers. Often it comes from giant mono-crop plantations hewn from the tropical forests and run by agri-business concerns with powerful political support.

"Greed drives the industry," says Dr Galdikas. "The industry is tied with the political elite who are making bundles of money off this. You have to see these mansions in Jakarta to understand the money that is coming from it." She calls the clearance of central Borneo to make way for the crops a "scorched earth" policy. "It is unbelievable," she says.

Conservationists say many of the devastating fires in 1997-98 that robbed the orang-utans of perhaps 30 per cent of their habitat in Borneo and helped blanket much of south-east Asia in a dense smog were caused by forest-clearing for palm oil plantations. Those fires briefly drew attention to the plight of the Borneo and Sumatra orang-utan, but Indonesia is still converting land at a rate of at least 1,000 sq miles a year and has announced plans to raze an area half the size of the Netherlands to make the world's biggest palm oil plantation, according to the UK-based Orang-utan Foundation.

A couple of years ago, say local forest guides here, 2km was shaved off the northern end of the Tanjung Putting reserve. "Nothing is safe," says one, who explains that the valuable forest hardwood, including teak and mahogany is often sold to finance the plantations.

The reserve is dotted with elevated feeding stations, where the guides leave ripened bananas and milk to supplement the animals' diets. As a small group of tourists wait in the sweltering tropical heat, the animals descend from the forest roof in ones and twos, first mothers hugging their children, accompanied by the sound of creaking and breaking branches.

With their bulk and powerful grip, the orang-utans do considerable damage to the trees, but they also help spread the seeds for new growth in the dung they leave across the forest, a process of regeneration that has gone on for millennia.

Then the dominant male arrives, a huge 250lb bruiser named Tom by the guides, who has earned his title by beating off all the other young pretenders.

As Tom peels and eats bananas, the guide tells us he is 24 and, like all male orang-utans, lives alone. "But we don't know where, somewhere high in the trees," he says. As the forest shrinks around him, so do his sources of food, but the guides say they must not destroy the orang-utans' ability to forage, and turn them into vermin dependent on human charity. "The only way for them to survive is for us to preserve their habitat."

The destruction of the rainforest here would also deprive many other animals of their home, including some possibly not yet discovered. One estimate is that Indonesia is home to perhaps as many as 140 species threatened with extinction in the next few decades, including the Sumatran tiger and the Asian rhinoceros. And in a bitterly ironic twist, they may go the way of the dodo to meet demand for cleaner energy sources in a world choking on fossil fuels: many countries are looking to palm oil as a source of bio-fuel.

Cheap and carbon neutral, palm-oil diesel was until recently hailed as a safe, renewable alternative to petroleum, but such claims have been undermined by a series of studies. One, by Wageningen University in Holland, published this year, found the carbon released from peat swamps in Indonesia and Malaysia – drained and burned to allow plantations of palm oil trees – released 2 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide a year into the atmosphere, or 8 per cent of the world's fossil fuel emissions.

"It is like kicking your head to get rid of a headache," says Dr Galdikas. "The palm oil prices are going through the roof because of their use as bio-fuel and this, one of the poorest countries in the world, is cutting down its trees to supply the market."

Scientists say that the global warming caused by the release of this carbon is drying the forest floor, making it easier to burn and adding to the devastation.

To that double whammy – releasing vast quantities of carbon into the air while destroying the forests that suck it up – add another: the permanent, irreversible loss of countless animals. But demand for palm oil continues to rise. A $48m (£24m) palm-oil bio-diesel plant opened in Australia's Northern Territories last year and three 50 megawatt power stations are currently planned in Holland.

The staff at the Pangkalan Bun centre say each of those decisions brings the orang-utan one step closer to extinction. Senior administrator Mrs Waliyati fears more for her youngest charge, nine-month-old orphan Britney, than her oldest. "It might be too late for Montana, but what about the young ones?" she asks. The solution, she says, is as simple as it is enormously difficult. "Don't use palm oil. If you do, it means you are agreeing to cutting down the rain forest. If you don't stop, in 15 years, or sooner, there will be no place for these animals."

One of our closest ancestors
One of our closest ancestors, with 97 per cent of its DNA the same as that of humans, the gentle orang-utan was once found across Indonesia and as far north as China, but is now on the edge of extinction. Earthwatch estimates they may have as little as 12 years left in the wild, after which our only chance to see them will be in zoos, where about 1,000 are kept in captivity around the world. Their name comes from the Borneo words orang hutan, meaning "people of the forest".
Almost totally dependent on trees, the animals survive on a mostly fruit-based diet supplemented by bark, flowers, leaves and insects. They usually live and forage alone, except when mothers are nurturing their children and teaching them how to survive in the dense forests, a process that takes up to six years. Scientists believe the animals are equipped with large memories to help them locate the thousands of food sources on which they depend.

Extremely slow to breed, the inter-birth cycle in orang-utans takes up to eight years, limiting females to three or four offspring during their 45-year life span. Although successfully bred in captivity in Australia and other parts of the world, the long-term impact of captivity on the species is not known, but is likely to be negative. Scientists say it is better to save them now.

"Concern for orang-utans indicates concern for the planet," says the conservationist Birute Galdikas.