Growing palm-oil plantations put orangutans in peril

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Growing palm-oil plantations put orangutans in peril

 

Thank your lucky stars you evolved, because it's not a great time to be an ape.

In Indonesia and Malaysia, forests are being converted lickety-split into

lucrative palm-oil plantations, and orangutans who leave their rapidly

diminishing habitat to sneak in for a palmy snack are often tortured or killed.

As if habitat destruction, poaching, logging, and disease weren't enough, the

biofuel boom could help push apes over the edge: the United Nations has

predicted that the 50,000 to 60,000 orangutans left in the wild could be extinct

within the decade. Indonesia and Malaysia produce 83 percent of the world's palm

oil, which is used not only in biofuels, but in toothpaste, soaps, and foods.

(Note to consumers: some companies, like Cadbury-Schweppes, Unilever, and the

Body Shop, actively seek out sustainable palm oil.) One glimmer of hope:

Uganda's government recently scrapped plans to convert thousands of acres of

rainforest into a palm plantation, giving in to intense opposition.

 

 

 

straight to the source: Planet Ark, Reuters, Gillian Murdoch, 29 May 2007

 

 

straight to the source: BBC News, 30 May 2007

 

 

straight to the source: Planet Ark, Reuters, Tim Cocks, 28 May 2007

 

“The Earth is not dying - she is being killed. And those who are killing her

have names and addresses.†— Utah Phillips