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%).
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.
"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'.
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