Thursday 17 July 2008

Before our very eyes - the disappearing rainforests.

In the deep south-west of Kalimantan (Borneo) there is a little known but extremely large bauxite mine that has, and continues to, wipe out thousands of hectares of rainforest and all that live(d) in it - including orangutans. Bauxite is a surface based ore that can be mined relatively cheaply and quickly - no tunnelling is required. The ore is primarily used for making aluminium. This mine is owned by the Chinese Harita Group....the influence of Chinese businessmen is spreading like a plague over Indonesian Borneo.

These photos are taken from a distance - guards protect the area. Our local investigator believes there are still a few orangutans literally holding on in the small pockets of forest you can see in these photos. All we do know is, many orangutans will have been either killed or captured in this area - no one has ever seen one come out alive.