Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Plans for world's largest palm oil plantation scrapped
WWF's Heart of Borneo campaign was launched today with full support of Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei. The three countries have all confirmed intentions to support conservation efforts on the island. Best of all, plans to create the world's largest palm oil plantation in Kalimantan along Indonesia's mountainous border with Malaysia have been scrapped. See the news on WWF's own site here: http://www.wwf.org.uk/news/n_0000002432.asp
Sunday, March 19, 2006
Sustainable logging does work
A recent article from Malaysia extols the (financial) virtues of using logs from approved sustainable sources. "Customers in Europe prefer tropical timber from well-managed forests, and those of other nations are also following suit." Good news from an area where orangutans reside and the populations have remained relatively stable. See the full article here:
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/nst/Friday/National/20060317082828/Article/index_html
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/nst/Friday/National/20060317082828/Article/index_html
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Sustainable Forest Management increased in Sabah
Good news from Malaysia - three vital reserves are being extended and preserved with the approval of the Malaysian government, with thumbs up from GRASP following their latest visit. Read the article here http://www.bernama.com.my/bernama/v3/news.php?id=185798
Thursday, March 09, 2006
The sixth extinction wave
It's widely agreed that the earth is on the verge of its sixth mass extinction in history. There is an accepted "background" rate of extinctions, but there have been five periods in geological history where it's thought that extinction rates have far exceeded this. With this in mind, we are undeniably in the sixth of these periods right now. Current extinction rates are about 1000 times more than the background rate. There is just one difference - this mass extinction of species is the only one which has been solely brought about by one of the Earth's species: Homo sapiens.
Borneo and Sumatra are both in a recently published list of the 20 areas in the world where extictions are most likey to arise in the near future. For the full article look here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4780876.stm
Borneo and Sumatra are both in a recently published list of the 20 areas in the world where extictions are most likey to arise in the near future. For the full article look here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4780876.stm
Sunday, March 05, 2006
Update from the field - BOS
An edited latest update from Michelle Desilets, Director of the Borneo Orangutan Survival Project - UK appears here, dated March 1st 2006 - please do contact them and subscribe at www.savetheorangutan.org.uk for the full, very moving report.
I have now returned from Borneo, and would like to take this opportunity to update you further. In the just over 3 weeks that I was at the project, 23 rescues took place, and one of the rescue teams was out again on the day I left. In the early hours of the morning on which I departed, the first rescue team returned with a baby girl orangutan, just a few weeks old. Our team reported seeing dozens of orangutans on the edge of the forest where it met the 30 kilometer stretch of palm oil plantation in which they were rescuing. In the days and weeks to come, these, too, will need to be rescued-otherwise they face almost certain death if they venture into the plantation in search of food.
Our facility, as previously mentioned, is beyond capacity. The wild orangutans that we are rescuing must now remain in our care until a new and safe release site can be secured. Ex-captive orangutans, ready for release into the wild, also must wait for the decisions of the Indonesian authorities as to whether we can release in the remote northern regions of Central Kalimantan. Meanwhile, throughout the region, orangutans' forests are being decimated for the conversion to oil palm. The result: more and more victims, and less and less space to put the survivors. Unless we can secure this release site very soon, and unless we can afford to put up some more temporary cages to hold the wild orangutans until that time, we will soon be faced with the devastating situation of having to turn away orangutans in need.
The international community must insist that the Indonesian government approve secure release sites for displaced and rehabilitated orangutans, and we also must demand that no further conversion of orangutan habitat take place. (There are 25 million hectares of already degraded land suitable for oil palm cultivation).
I have now returned from Borneo, and would like to take this opportunity to update you further. In the just over 3 weeks that I was at the project, 23 rescues took place, and one of the rescue teams was out again on the day I left. In the early hours of the morning on which I departed, the first rescue team returned with a baby girl orangutan, just a few weeks old. Our team reported seeing dozens of orangutans on the edge of the forest where it met the 30 kilometer stretch of palm oil plantation in which they were rescuing. In the days and weeks to come, these, too, will need to be rescued-otherwise they face almost certain death if they venture into the plantation in search of food.
Our facility, as previously mentioned, is beyond capacity. The wild orangutans that we are rescuing must now remain in our care until a new and safe release site can be secured. Ex-captive orangutans, ready for release into the wild, also must wait for the decisions of the Indonesian authorities as to whether we can release in the remote northern regions of Central Kalimantan. Meanwhile, throughout the region, orangutans' forests are being decimated for the conversion to oil palm. The result: more and more victims, and less and less space to put the survivors. Unless we can secure this release site very soon, and unless we can afford to put up some more temporary cages to hold the wild orangutans until that time, we will soon be faced with the devastating situation of having to turn away orangutans in need.
The international community must insist that the Indonesian government approve secure release sites for displaced and rehabilitated orangutans, and we also must demand that no further conversion of orangutan habitat take place. (There are 25 million hectares of already degraded land suitable for oil palm cultivation).
Thursday, March 02, 2006
Send Them Back Home
Safari World in Thailand has been exploiting orangutans for far too long now. Despite repeated approaches there have been serial denials of any wrong-doing. The facts are clear and they are clearly and powerfully laid out here - www.sendthembackhome.org Please follow the link and do what you can to pressure the authorities ...
