Orang-utan conservation is in crisis
“Huge areas of forests, habitat for the remaining orang-utan on Borneo and Sumatra, are being destroyed in the race between Malaysia and Indonesia to become the world’s biggest supplier of palm oil.
Conversion to oil-palm estates completely eradicates forests, and annihilates orang-utan populations within them, and those of countless other species. All that remains are the palms themselves, in tidy rows as far as the eye can see, some ferns and other scrubby vegetation underneath, and a few of the more adaptable animal species like pigs, rats and snakes that manage to eke out an existence here and there.
While they can appear green and lush at first sight, closer inspection reveals a dearth of wildlife below the canopy of fronds, and it becomes hard to envision that these areas were once covered in pristine forests teeming with life. We have already lost huge areas of orang-utan habitat and tens of thousands of orang-utan to the palm-oil industry, and we are losing many, many more as I write.
Indonesian newspapers have just reported that a kind of ‘oil-palm fence’ stretching 845 kilometres along the border with Malaysia in Borneo is to be established, crossing through orang-utan habitat.
The problem is truly immense. For many years, the fight to save orang-utan was one waged against logging. Illegal logging is a major issue, especially in protected areas, but affected forests can recover if allowed to. It is the total clearance of forests, ultimately for the planting of oil palm, that has wreaked by far the most havoc. Reports such as this are long overdue.
It is high time that this major threat to the continued survival of orang-utan was more widely publicised and acknowledged. Only by raising awareness of the issue can we hope to bring oil-palm expansion to the top of the conservation agenda where it rightly belongs.”Dr Ian Singleton, Scientific Director, Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme
The BOS( Borneo Orang-utan Survival Foundation) Nyaru Menteng Sanctuary in Indonesia is the world's largest great ape rescue centre. But now this safe haven for Indonesia's endangered orangutans has run out of money and is on the brink of closure. The WSPA is taking worldwide action right now and with your help aims to raise the money needed to cover the day to day running costs of the sanctuary in the year ahead Visit their site for more information on how to. Support WSPA