INDONESIA: Forest Crisis Hits Orangutans
A new report by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) warns that orangutans face possible extinction within 20 years. Habitat destruction is the primary threat to their survival and the EIA has called on the new Indonesian government to implement immediately its International Orangutan Conservation Action Plan. Widespread corruption among the Indonesian elite is a major barrier to the success of the EIA's action plan. Logging, land conversion for palm oil plantations, and mega-development projects are the main threats to Indonesian forests, and corruption is rife in all these areas. Campaigns to save "charismatic megafauna" like orangutans are an integral part of the wider campaign to protect forests because the survival of animals like orangutans is not possible unless their habitat survives.
The EIA's 52-page report, The Politics of Extinction: The Orangutan Crisis and the Destruction of Indonesia's Forests, found that:
* The wild orangutan population has declined by up to 50% in the last decade. In is now estimated that 15-25,000 orangutans survive in the wild. Over 80% of them are found in Kalimantan and Sumatra.
* Up to 80% of the orangutans' habitat has been lost in the last 20 years.
* Government-backed conversion of forests for commercial logging and plantations caused the devastating fires of 1997-8.
* Orangutans are also threatened by capture for the pet trade, persecution as agricultural pests and poaching for food.
* Indonesia,s 100 million hectares of forests represent 10% of the world's remaining tropical forest cover.
* Over 70% of Indonesia's "frontier" forest (displaying original ecological features) has been lost.
* Indonesia is losing about 1 million hectares of forest annually.
* Indonesia has the world's longest list of species threatened with extinction, including the sumatran tiger, Asian elephant, Sumatran and Javan rhino, clouded leopard, sunbear and orangutan. Habitat destruction is driving the species decline.
The report examines the corruption and nepotism in the timber industry and the palm oil industry. It also discusses the infamous Kalimantan mega-rice project (see WRR 39) and the causes of the forest fires.
The International Orangutan Action Plan calls for:
* Full implementation of Indonesia's laws regarding the protection of forests and orangutans
*A National Board for Wildlife chaired by the environment minister and involving NGOs biologists, ecologists and community leaders.
* International financial institutions to ensure that investments and aid are dependent on strict environmental, social and economic conditions.
* The elimination of illegal logging, land conversion and the use of fire for land clearance.
* An urgent assessment of the socio-economic and environmental value of non-wood forest products.
* Measures to protect forests, including the extension of protected forests to cover at least 15% of the country's ecologically representative forests, a review of forestry practices, the promotion of independent forest certification schemes.
* Wealthy nations to acknowledge the heavy responsibility they have to provide aid and assistance for these measures.
Source: The EIA's report, The Politics of Extinction: The Orangutan Crisis and the Destruction of Indonesia's Forests
Contacts: EIA in the UK: 69 Old St., London EC1V 9HX, tel: 0171 490 7040 fax: 0171 490 0436 email: eiauk@gn.apc.org
EIA in the USA: PO Box 53343, Washington DC 20000, tel: 202 483 6621 fax: 202 483 6625 email: eiaus@igc.apc.org