Lone Droscher-Nielsen: The destruction of the rainforests amounts to orangutan genocide
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Independent Minds
My biggest wish is that people in the western world could understand what is happening here in Borneo, and how the demand for palm oil is devastating the rainforests and contributing to the extinction of the orangutan. Forests are being destroyed at the rate of an area roughly the size of two football fields every minute in the country, contributing massively to climate change and driving the orangutan closer to extinction with the loss of every acre. Orangutans are so much like us, yet we humans are killing them by the thousand. To me that is genocide and it has to stop.
Orangutans are among our closest relatives. They demonstrate a high level of intelligence and an ability to solve problems, and there is an immensely strong bond between mother and child that lasts for the first eight years of a baby orangutan's life. They are also key indicators to the health of the rainforests. Their place in the ecosystem is vital and yet still the demand for palm oil continues. Is nobody listening?
There is no need for this continual destruction of the rainforests for oil-palm plantations. There is already open grassland that can be used for this purpose, but we need pressure from the international community and to educate people about the dangers to our environment that is being caused by the world's consumption of palm oil.
Rainforests aren't just beautiful, they are there for a purpose. They help control the climate by absorbing carbon dioxide, prevent drought because they're an important part of the water cycle, and help put a check on soil erosion. But they are also home to 420 species of birds, 210 species of mammals, 254 species of reptiles, and 368 species of freshwater fish.
At Borneo Orangutan Survival (BOS) we are doing our utmost to prevent the extinction of the orangutan. A century ago there were 300,000 wild Bornean orangutans. Today there are approximately 30,000 to 40,000 and extinction in the wild is predicted within 5 to 10 years if nothing is done.
Here at Nyaru Menteng, we're dealing with the fall-out from the destruction of the rainforests. We have over 600 orangutans in our care, most of them orphans whose mothers were slaughtered while searching for food by workers in the oil palm plantations.
Babies and young orangutans who are brought to the centre are cared for 24 hours a day by our team of "babysitters". At the age of about eight years, they are relocated in groups of around 25 to a neighbouring island for the first stage in their release. Here, they live a semi-wild existence but they're fed daily and monitored, to check for illness, injury or an inability to adapt to their new lifestyle. A couple of years later, those who are ready for total freedom will be taken to an area of protected rainforest – deep in the heart of Borneo – and released back into the wild to contribute to the propagation of their species. No rehabbed orangutans have yet been released, but we're hoping the first of these releases will take place this year.
We also take in a number of wild-caught adult orangutans, most of whom are found starving, injured or ill, and who are released back into the wild once we're sure that they're fit enough to survive on their own. To date, around 150 such orangutans have been released, and a further 219 have passed through the centre.
The palm oil issue is complex. Many communities in Borneo depend on these plantations for their existence, so we can't just condemn the industry outright. This is why we at BOS are working with the Indonesian government and local communities to find a solution to a problem that will ultimately affect every human being on earth. Progress is being made, but consumers can also play their part by putting pressure on those companies that use palm oil in their products, and to persuade them to source oil which has been produced by environmentally friendly methods.
The most important thing though, is that we don't give up the fight to protect the rainforests, the orangutans, and, ultimately, ourselves.
Lone Droscher-Nielsen is the founder and manager of the Nyaru Menteng rescue and rehabilitation centre of Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation which operates the largest primate rescue project in the world, with nearly 1000 orangutans in their care. They rescue both wild and captive orangutans which have been displaced by poaching and the devastation of their rainforest habitat for logging and the production of palm oil. The ultimate goal is the release of healthy and rehabilitated orangutans back into protected forest. Borneo Orangutan Survival is a registered charity committed to the protection of the orangutan and its rainforest habitat, and we rely entirely on donations to fund our work. Visit: www.savetheorangutan.org.uk
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Comments
And the author says "Rainforests aren't just beautiful, they are there for a purpose..." No, they are not. They are just there because they happen to be there. No God in the sky put them there for any purpose. They may, however, serve one or another purpose of ours, because we are the lords of creation.
Wherever did you get that idea? We are killer apes, the most destructive and the most self-destructive species ever to have emerged on this planet.
Hence we will be the agents of our own annihilation (and will take uncountable species to extinction with us)....... almost certainly before the middle of this century considering the rate at whcih we are currently wrecking the planet.
did you know that the rainforest is there holding back carbon monoxide? It is, and if we cut it down we are releasing it at a very high rate. biofuel production causes more harm than good and we are killing off our future families..... See my blog http://www.notjustanessexgirl.com/o
I am so disappointed in these large food Companies, in that they are so behind in the 21st Century, as to the effects their profit making foods are having on the people and animals of Borneo and Sumatra, around the rainforest regions.
This has been public knowledge for years, and I have known about it for 12 years. What is going on in this World of greed and neglet for others?
Anyway, you are correct to point out my typo, and I appreciate that, as I do not want to promote the wrong information - I meant carbon dioxide and not carbon monoxide. The trees of the rainforest hold in carbon dioxide and it is released when they are cut down or 'slashed and burned' as is so common out there now. I apologise to anyone who read that and was misinformed!
When I say rape, I do not mean rape on the streets as commonplace, but as an example, one orangutan in particular was held chained up for a substantial amount of time, shaven (all body hair) twice a week, and was used for prostitution. Bestial behaviour is going on out there, and although I do not usually remark on it, as it is not something people want to hear about, it is going on as many other tortures are happening for money making reasons. Although I have moaned myself about this Country many times, we are lucky to live in a mainly civil environment.
I am learning all the time, and will ensure that all information I give is thorough and correct. Check back on the website in 2 months if you wish, as it is in its first stages at the moment and there's lots more to come.
I would like to help many problems. I was one of the lucky ones to see the last two White Rhinos in Zambia before they were illegally shot whilst in a National Park for their horns. It is sad that there are no longer any Rhinos in Zambia now and sad to speak to the people of Zimbabwe with their problems. I would love to help the plight of many people and animals, but have to keep it to Orangutans, mental health problems, cancer and leukaemia at the moment as I just dont have the time.
I hope that by reading all this stuff from the Independent that you can appreciate it and understand is what is needed anyway to make changes. Sorry I have written so much, but that is what I do!
First of all we ARE killer apes therefore killing off Orangutans are tantamount to genocide. What makes us homospaiens so interesting is that yes, we do have an amazing capacity for high levels of inteligence and for that reason, would it not be a great thing to accpet that we can understand the world in a detailed and substantial way?? Look between the lines. If you want to hang onto some dictionary definition of what genocide means, then you are limiting yourself. If you are happy with that, well, have a merry time in your ignorance. We are animals. Orangutans are also animals. We use the term humans to put a block on our connection with the eorthe (and that is not a typo, it is as I have come to understand Old English for 'earth').
Which brings me to further point out that the rainforests are there for a purpose. They are there as a chain reaction to the needs and flow of the life that takes place. Within chaos there is a reassuring pull of certainty. I think you misunderstood the author's point: she wasn't saying that it was put there by a God for humans. But that doesn't suprise me as your views are very clearly centered on the ego. The rainforrests have a FUNCTIONAL and PRACTICAL reason for being there. Like a lung, or a heart. Without a lung or a heart, we can safely say, we are screwed. And this is not an invitation to the development of stem cell or cloning etc. We need to keep this issue simple and fundamental so that we do not loose track of what is important to the eorthe which is incidentally where WE come from. So. centered in the ego or not, the earth is an EPIC part of ourselves and everything around us.
I fully embrace a natural disaster if it comes along and I may not be able to stop bombs going off but understanding things as they are and not how they are dictated to us is surely a better way to tread??
Shirley Bannister
Food manufactures were then coerced to use new low trans palm oil products which were cheaper and thus the rain forest clearance accelerated.
Large companies who trade and refine these products like, Bunge, Cargill ,Kuok, Wilmar and ADM sell food oils into these biodiesel markets and make large profits in the process. These giants should be held accountable for sustainability throughout the supply chain. That's not to let Unilever and Co off the hook but to add their suppliers to the list of Corporate culprits.
And as for biofuel. the only green dimension, is the amount of dollars generated by the multinationals.
People in USA -- need to know a whole lot more and change their bying habits!