Tanjung Puting at risk from palm oil

Tanjung Puting at risk from palm oil

The Indonesian government is considering giving permission to five palm oil companies to convert 7% of the national park into oil palm plantations.

According to the world’s experts on orang-utan conservation, oil palm development in Indonesia poses the biggest threat to the survival of the orang-utan.

The conversion of parts of the national park would deeply damage the credibility of Indonesia’s commitment to biodiversity conservation.

There are already vast areas of abandoned land in the region, outside the national park, that have already been cleared of rainforest.

We believe that the development of oil palm plantations should only occur in these areas so long as:

* the rights of local communities are respected* no more rainforest is converted to set up plantations

In this way the twin goals of economic development and conservation can both be met for Indonesia.