Nature Alert: The EU and its complicity in corruption

Thursday, 13 May 2010

The EU and its complicity in corruption

Personal note: Regular readers will know of my scathing criticism towards the EC, amongst others who give away taxpayers money with no accountability. This recent extract from an EC letter gives you a feel for the breathtaking amount of money wasted on Indonesia, much of it surely into the hands of corrupt officials. When considering the money below, remember it relates only to EC money, on top of which there is money from Australian, UK, USA, etc. etc.

".....the EU has long been a donor to the forest sector in Indonesia; since 1990 the Commission has given financial support to the conservation sector equalling over 100 million euro. The EU has also provided €2.4 million in support to the United Nations Environment Programme project protecting the great apes and their ecosystems worldwide. One component of this action targets the orangutan in Indonesia."

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.