FW:SIGN ONLINE PETITION TO PROTECT THREATENED ORANGUTANS

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SIGN ONLINE PETITION TO PROTECT THREATENED ORANGUTANS

 

While you read this, one of the last safe havens for

orangutans is being destroyed. If the current rate of

forest destruction continues, this remarkable species

may be extinct in the wild within the next decade.

 

Orangutans only live in the rainforests of Borneo and

Sumatra in Southeast Asia. These forests are being

heavily impacted by logging to meet the demand for

hardwood products in American, Asian, and European

countries. Orangutans'once tranquil range has been

devastated by intense permitted and illegal logging,

conversion to palm oil plantations and farm lands (see

Action Alert #154 for an account of Citigroup's

funding of palm plantations), mining, settlements,road

construction, illegal animal trade, poaching, and

fires. As a result,orangutan numbers have fallen by

50% in the last decade. Only an estimated 20,000

remain.

 

Until very recently, Gunung Palung National Park in

West Kalimantan,Indonesia was a beautiful and secure

rainforest oasis that harbored an incredible 15% of

the world's remaining orangutans. This haven has been

invaded, and the situation is worsening daily. Today,

deep within what were once the safe borders of this

park, the sounds of chainsaws and illegal logging

teams assault the senses. Previously tranquil rivers

are now cluttered with a ceaseless procession of

immense tree trunks lashed together as log rafts on

their way to plywood factories and sawmills for

processing and export. Lauan (used in plywood

nd hollow-core doors) and Ramin (found in tool handles

and dowels) are the Indonesian woods most commonly

found in American stores.

 

Local and regional authorities have been unable to

halt these destructive activities. As profits from

illegal logging trade go straight to the pockets

of Indonesia's timber barons and international wood

traders, illegal logging represents a major loss of

revenue for Indonesia. In addition to this immediate

loss, the long-term costs to communities are

devastating. These include flooded rice fields,

declining fish stocks, reduced availability of safe

drinking water, and loss of income from non-timber

forest products such as rattan, medicinal plants, wild

honey, and fruit. The park is also an invaluable

research site for Indonesian and other scientists who

inevitably infuse study areas with money. Finally, if

the park is destroyed, villagers will lose the

greatest chance they have to develop a local

eco-tourism industry.

 

Recent surveys found that almost 2,000 orangutans

still survive within the borders of the Park, and more

live in the damaged forests beyond. It's not too late

to tell the people who have the power to stop the

destruction that these havens are a high priority! See

the adjoining box for ways to sign a petition that

will be presented to high-level Indonesian government

ministers.

 

Please sign the online petition (linked below) now to

ensure that the remaining wild orangutans are

protected along with their rich forest home!

 

Sign the petition and learn more:

 

Petition

http://thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/470616277

 

Balikpapan Orangutan Society U.S.A.

http://www.orangutan.com/index.htm

 

Gunung Palung information

http://www.geocities.com/gunungpalung/conservation.html

______________

 

Rainforest Action Network

221 Pine Street, Suite 500

San Francisco, CA 94104

tel: 415-398-4404

fax: 415-398-2732

URL: http://www.ran.org/

 

 

 

 

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