4 starving orangutans rescued after their forest was bulldozed

International Animal Rescue (IAR) releases dramatic footage showing rescue of starving orangutans

April 2013. International Animal Rescue's team in Indonesia has released dramatic footage showing how they rescued four starving orangutans from an oil palm concession in Borneo after their forest homes were bulldozed by a company belonging to the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).

IAR is now urging the company, Bumitama Gunajaya Agro (BGA) to halt any further land clearing because it is believed that there are other orangutans trapped inside the concession that will die if they are not relocated.

Adi Irawan, Programme Director of IAR Indonesia, said: "We know there are more orangutans isolated in small patches of forest within this plantation along with other species of protected wildlife such as proboscis monkeys. All the animals in this plantation are under threat and therefore this company should stop all land clearing immediately, carry out habitat assessments and develop strategies to protect all the endangered wildlife in their estate."

Large orangutan population
The concession is operated by BGA subsidiary PT Ladang Sawit Mas (LSM) in a forest buffer next to Gunung Palung National Park, an area that hosts one of the largest populations of Central Bornean Orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus wurmbii) in West Kalimantan.

The footage shows the IAR team and members of the local forestry department (BKSDA) capturing the starving orangutans and translocating them to areas where there is sufficient food for their survival.

Karmele Llano Sanchez, Executive Director of IAR Indonesia, said: "We were appalled at the condition of these orangutans. All of them had gone through long periods of starvation before we rescued them, as the area where they were found, since the company had cleared most of the forest, was too small to provide them with sufficient food.

Baby disappeared
"One of the orangutans had lost her baby, probably killed before the rescue team arrived. More orangutans could die if this company does not take immediate action."

The rescuers found evidence that the orangutans had been reduced to eating bark and stems because there was little fruit and few leaves available. As well as the lactating female whose baby could not be found, a pregnant female and a mother and baby were successfully tranlocated.

Alan Knight OBE, IAR Chief Executive said: "It is heartbreaking to see the state of these animals: they are weak from hunger and an increasingly desperate search for food. The only positive note is that, on this occasion, rather than chasing them away or killing them, the palm oil company did the right thing in contacting us so that we could move them to a place of safety."

International Animal Rescue's team in Indonesia has saved the lives of more than 60 orangutans. The majority are currently undergoing rehabilitation in IAR's new centre in Sungai Awan, Ketapang, with a view to eventually being returned to protected areas of forest.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/orangutan-rescue-film.html

Borneo will probably lose 50% of its orang-utans

According to new research led by a Liverpool John Moores University conservation scientist, one of our closest cousins, the Bornean orang-utan, is facing extinction.

November 2012. Sharing 97% of human DNA, orang-utans are close to humans in evolutionary terms but scientist Professor Serge Wich and others have found that only 22% of the already endangered species are actually living in protected areas.

Logging, oil palm plantation and tree plantation land
The research also shows that the rest of the orang-utans are inhabiting areas used for logging (29%), oil palm plantations (19%), industrial tree plantations (6%) or are in land that is not allocated for any specific use (24%).

Recent studies show that orang-utans could possibly survive in well-managed logging areas so a very optimistic outcome would be that half of the current population could continue to exist. Unfortunately, it is more likely that far less than half of the population will survive as not all protected areas and logging areas will continue to be well-managed. Improving such management is therefore a high priority.

Commenting about the research, Professor Wich said: "This research paints a bleak future for the Bornean orang-utan. To avoid this potential decline, plantation development in orang-utan habitats must be halted because it infringes national laws on orang-utan protection.

Further growth of the oil palm plantation sector should be achieved through increasing the productivity of trees in existing plantations and expansion of new plantations into areas that have already been deforested.

Island-wide land-use masterplan
"To reach this goal a large scale, island-wide land-use masterplan is needed that clarifies which possible land uses and management systems are compatible with orang-utan conservation. Such a plan should make much better use of values of ecosystem services of forests such as water provision, flood control, carbon sequestration, and sources of livelihood for rural communities.

"Presently land use planning is more driven by vested interests and direct and immediate economic gains, rather than by approaches that take into consideration social equity and environmental sustainability."

The research appears in the scientific journal 'PLOS ONE'.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/orangutan-borneo012.html

Unchallenged crimes of "rotten apple" palm oil company

Report exposes illegal activities and enforcement failings in Kalimantan

July 2012. Systemic law enforcement failings threaten to make a mockery of Indonesia's pledge to reduce deforestation and carbon emissions by enabling plantation companies to destroy carbon-rich peatlands with impunity, a recent report reveals.

Testing the Law, jointly produced by the London-based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) and Indonesian NGO Telapak, highlights how a well-connected oil palm firm has been allowed to continue operating in Central Kalimantan in clear breach of the law for almost five years.

Evidence gathered by EIA/Telapak shows that Government officials have been aware of the activities of PT Suryamas Cipta Perkasa (PT SCP) for years and, despite statements to the contrary, have failed to take action.

Destruction of the habitat of hundreds of orangutans
The crimes committed by PT SCP, part of the BEST Group, have led directly to the destruction of the habitat of hundreds of endangered orangutans and local livelihoods, generating millions of tonnes of carbon emissions in the process.

In March2012, EIA/Telapak submitted a dossier of evidence to a range of authorities in Indonesia, detailing how PT SCP had broken numerous laws governing land allocation, access to resources and environmental management.

The dossier provided the authorities with sufficient evidence to prompt a criminal investigation into the illegal conversion of more than 23,000 hectares of peatland and peat swamp forest, while giving notice to the Government that its response would be made public.

Continued:  http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/orangutan-palm-oil.html