Forest Fires Threaten Orangutans: Kalimantan

By Barrie | July 30th, 2007 | No Comments

The government has been urged to stop deforestation in order to protect the rapidly decreasing orangutan population on the island of Kalimantan.

“We demand the government, in this case the Forestry Ministry, re-evaluate and stop forest deforestation and conversion to oil palm plantations,” chairman of the Centre for Orangutan Protection (COP) Hardi Baktiantoro said.

“They are a threat to the existence of orangutans.”

Hardi said at a press conference on orangutan protection that the species was mostly seen by plantation companies as a pest because it ate palm oil buds.

“Our organization is not anti the palm oil industry, which produces green energy or biofuel. However, many of their workers will cruelly do anything to the primates to protect their crops,” he said.

“This is a violation of the 1990 Conservation Law. Violators may face up to five years in prison or a fine of Rp 100 million.”

Also present at the press conference were chairman of the Orang Utan Republik Education Initiative of Indonesia, Barita O. Manullang, and Harvard University anthropologist Cheryl D. Knott, who is also chairman of the Palung Foundation in West Kalimantan.

The COP estimates that at least 1,500 orangutans were killed in Central Kalimantan alone last year as a direct result of forest conversion to oil palm plantation.

“Kalimantan still has about 34,000 orangutans left. Plantation companies should try to use critical or abandoned land instead,” Hardi said.

However, Forestry Ministry spokesman Masyhud said the figure was “bombastic, because there are not many oil palm plantations in Central Kalimantan,” he said over the phone.

“Converted forests are those already set for production purposes and not for conservation purposes.”

Kalimantan orangutans are also struggling to survive in their natural habitat because of fires set to clear land.

Barita said that people should not rely too much orangutan mortality rate figures as they were only extrapolations of other data.

“Even the Forestry Ministry asks us NGOs for orangutan mortality statistics,” said Barita.

Knott said that empowering local communities to cultivate other type of plants for consumption could help in fostering biodiversity.
Separately, Central Kalimantan governor Teras Narang said that despite the administration’s efforts to save the orangutan and its habitat, a better set of protection laws was still needed.

“The laws are yet to lean on primates or biodiversity protection,” Teras said over the phone, adding that he opted for multicultural rather than monoculture plantations due to their greater ability to conserve biodiversity.

“Moreover, what we have tried to conserve here would be pointless if the central government, in this case the Forestry Ministry, keeps issuing massive concession permits,” he said.

Alvin Darlanika Soedarjo