Nature Alert: Indonesia: Orangutan Sanctuary Threatened

Wednesday, 20 May 2009

Indonesia: Orangutan Sanctuary Threatened

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: May 19, 2009 THE NEW YORK TIMES

One of the world’s largest paper companies plans to clear a large area of unprotected forest in Indonesia being used as a sanctuary for endangered orangutans, according to environmental groups working in the area. The company, Asia Pulp and Paper, intends to clear hundreds of acres of trees just outside Bukit Tigapuluh National Park on Sumatra, WWF-Indonesia and other groups said Tuesday.

The forests have been used since 2002 as a release point for about 100 rehabilitated Sumatran orangutans, some orphaned when their mothers were killed, possibly by workers on nearby palm oil plantations. The company said it would create a buffer between the logging site and the national park.

Hall of Shame for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and the Palm Oil Industry.

Nothing can prepare one for the sight of the systematic extermination of orangutans by the government of Indonesia.

Look at the photos and news articles on these pages in the context of a statement the President made to the media on 10th December 2007.

“In the last 35 years about 50,000 orangutans are estimated to have been lost as their habitats shrank. If this continues, this majestic creature will likely face extinction by 2050,” President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said at the launch of an orangutan conservation plan at the climate talks in Bali.

“The fate of the orangutan is a subject that goes to the heart of sustainable forests … To save the orangutan we have to save the forest.”

Statements like these are most welcome, but unless backed up by action, such words fall on deaf ears within the Ministry of Forestry....who are busy granting licences to cut down the very forests the President says they should protect!

When you think you are to busy to help, please could you reflect for a moment on .........

The following extract refers to environmental problems in general. I just hope you find it as thought provoking and relevant to orangutans as I have.

"This is such a shocking and unpalatable fact that most people deny it, or they just don't want to think about it. They believe as individuals, they can do little about it, so push it to the back of their minds. But I can't do that.

When something has to be done, we need to do it. It doesn't matter how big the challenge is or how hard the solution; if I know something is wrong, and I am in a position to help, I will do my best to make it right." Duncan Bannatyne, successful British businessman.