Orangutan Outreach Website - Saving the Orangutan

The Rainforest Action Network is going after Archer Daniels Midland, Bunge and Cargill, noting that “ADM is deeply involved in the production and marketing of both palm oil and soy. It is also one of the greatest recipients of corporate welfare, which means taxpayers are subsidizing ADM’s role in rainforest destruction. ADM is also the strongest promoter of agrofuels in the United States and Cargill is the most powerful agribusiness and commodity trading group in the world. It is involved in producing and marketing palm oil and soy grown on freshly cleared rainforest lands. In 2003, Cargill built an illegal soy port on the Amazon River which doubled deforestation rates in the area.”

An ADM subsidiary, the Wilmar Group, is the world’s largest producer of palm-based biodiesel and is clearing tropical rainforests in Indonesia that are among the last remaining habitats of the critically endangered orangutan. U.S. agribusiness giants ADM, Bunge, and Cargill account for 60 percent of the funding for Brazil’s booming soy crop. Soy has become a leading cause of deforestation in the Amazon as Brazil has overtaken the United States as the world’s largest exporter of soy, largely due to American farmers planting more corn for ethanol.

Their demands:

• Stop land clearing and deforestation for agrisprawl.
• Respect land rights. Indigenous and local communities must be able to give free, prior and informed consent before any industrial activity takes place on their land.
• Oppose slave labor. Fair and safe working conditions for all workers.
• Stop using dangerous herbicides and pesticides.
• Do not spread or promote the use of genetically modified crops.
• Respect food sovereignty and people’s right to define their own food, energy and agricultural systems.
• Do not produce or promote the use of industrial agrofuels, especially those sourced from tropical ecosystems.
• Don’t break the law. Comply with all local, national and international environmental, labor and agricultural laws.

Source: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/03/ran-on-palm-oil.php

Según explicó la dirección del centro, el proceso de introducción de las hermanas en su grupo familiar está siendo “todo un éxito”

19.03.08 - SANTANDER - El Zoo de Santillana del Mar mostrará esta Semana Santa por primera vez juntas a Victoria y Juliana, ejemplares de orangután de Sumatra. El Zoo de Santillana es el único lugar de España donde se pueden ver este tipo de orangutanes y el único de Europa donde puede verse a dos hermanas criadas juntas y en proceso de introducción en su grupo familiar.

Juliana, que está a punto de cumplir año y medio, y Victoria, un año mayor, pasan actualmente el día en la ‘casita de Victoria’, porque es donde disponen de vídeo vigilancia. Por la noche pasan al dormitorio interior con sus padres, Budi y María.

Según explicó el Zoo en un comunicado, el proceso de introducción de las hermanas en su grupo familiar está siendo “todo un éxito”, tanto es así que este año la Fundación Zoo de Santillana ha presentado esta iniciativa, conocida como ‘Proyecto Pongo’, a los Premios Medio Ambiente Cantabria 2008 promovidos desde la Consejería de Medio Ambiente del Gobierno regional.

Tras muchos meses de trabajo con los padres de Victoria y de Juliana, los conservadores del Zoológico de Santillana afirman que dentro de poco Victoria pasará ya todo el día con María y Budi, porque hasta ahora sólo convive con ellos por la noche. Después, en unos meses será el turno de Juliana, que “lo tendrá mucho más fácil” porque contará con Victoria “como aliada para apoyarla en su adaptación”.

María, la madre de Victoria y Juliana, fue la primera orangután de Sumatra nacida en España, y sus dos hijas han sido respectivamente la segunda y tercera.

El orangután de sumatra

El orangután de Sumatra se encuentra, según la UICN (Unión Internacional para la Conservación de la Naturaleza), en peligro crítico y afronta por tanto “un gran riesgo de extinción en la naturaleza”.

También está protegido por el CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) y por la legislación de Indonesia, pero, “a pesar de todas estas medidas, si no se hace algo al respecto, podría extinguirse en los próximos diez o veinte años en Sumatra”.

El orangután es un habitante de los árboles, se alimenta, duerme y se reproduce en el dosel del bosque bajando sólo ocasionalmente los machos a tierra. La hembra da a luz en un nido ubicado en la copa de un árbol y la diminuta cría se sujeta a su madre mientras ella se encarama por el dosel. La madre y su hijo permanecen juntos hasta que la cría tiene siete años.

Por lo general, y a diferencia del resto de los simios, el orangután es un animal solitario, aunque se puede reunir con otros para comer en los árboles frutales y las hembras adolescentes a veces viajan en compañía de otras jóvenes durantes unos días. Su alimentación es variada, y aunque la fruta es su alimento favorito, también comen hojas, huevos, miel y animales pequeños como lagartijas, polluelos y termitas.

Como el resto de los simios, los orangutanes son sumamente inteligentes, sin embargo, esta inteligencia no les permitirá combatir la gran amenaza a la que esta especie se enfrenta debido a la desaparición de su hábitat por la acción del hombre.

En el caso de los Orangutanes de Sumatra, la estimación más reciente de la población actual es muy inferior a la de del Orangután de Borneo y quedan unos 7.300 orangutanes que ocupan 20,552 kilómetros cuadrados de bosque de la isla de Sumatra.

Fuente: http://www.eldiariomontanes.es/20080319/local/cantabria-general/victoria-juliana-estrellas-santillana-200803191225.html

The Associated Press
Monday, March 24, 2008

WASHINGTON: Michael H. Robinson, a native of England who was director of the Smithsonian National Zoological Park for 16 years, has died. He was 79.

Robinson, who at times shared his home with animals such as a kinkajou and a jaguarundi, died March 22 of pancreatic cancer at his home in Alexandria, Virginia, his ex-wife Barbara C. Robinson told The Washington Post.

The former director believed the zoo should be a place where people could see animals and also learn about their place in the environment. A spider specialist, he opened the Invertebrate House, and installed a controversial exhibit that examined orangutan language exploration and tool use.

Robinson was born in Preston, Lancashire, England, where his father had a pet store. After his father’s death in 1942, however, he was apprenticed as a bricklayer, and was conscripted into the Royal Air Force. He was later admitted to teacher’s college, where he majored in history and biology.

In 1963, he earned an undergraduate degree in zoology from the University of Wales, his ex-wife said, and received a doctorate in zoology in 1966 from Oxford.

Prior to becoming director of the National Zoo in 1984, Robinson spent 18 years in Panama studying animal behavior at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute.

In 2001, he retired and returned to Panama where he spent six months investigating reef squid and orb-weaving spiders. He also moved to Stuart, Florida, that year, where he observed the behavior of spiders as well as birds and other animals, and moved back to the Washington area last year.

Source: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/03/24/america/NA-GEN-US-Obit-Michael-Robinson.php

Another US-based conglomerate is set to move into Indonesian Kalimantan– straight into the Heart of Borneo– not too far from the Nyaru Menteng Orangutan Rehabilitation Center. As the paper starts flowing, who will suffer as the forest is clearcut?? The orangutans…. More dead mothers, slaughtered adults, captured babies sold as illegal pets… This cannot be allowed to proceed without protest…. Stay tuned…. ~ Orangutan Outreach

JAKARTA, March 24 (Xinhua) — U.S.-based paper and pulp company International Paper plans to invest more than 4 billion U.S. dollars in a pulp factory and industrial forest in Indonesia, local press said Monday.

The pulp factory will have the capacity to produce 1.5 million tons of pulp per year, supported by a 500,000-hectare plantation forest, reported major newspaper The Jakarta Post.

Central Kalimantan and Papua provinces had been chosen as the investment locations despite a lack of supporting infrastructure because no similar businesses operated there, the newspaper said, quoting a senior official with the Forestry Ministry.

International Paper is currently rated among the three largest pulp and paper producers in the world. They operate two factories in Brazil and Canada.

The company chose Indonesia for its business expansion after conducting a six-month feasibility survey in a number of Asian countries, said Hadi S. Pasaribu, director general for forest product management.

Hadi said he had requested International Paper follow Indonesian investment regulations by establishing a local company here.

Indonesia has 84 integrated pulp and paper mills, with a total production capacity of 6.5 million tons.

Source: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-03/24/content_7848071.htm

Orangutans are critically endangered. Optimistic estimates place the current population between 15,000 and 25,000. One of man’s closest relatives, the orangutan could go extinct in the wild within the decade if the destruction of their habitat continues at the current rate. Yearning to make a difference, the primate keepers of the Houston Zoo realized they had an unusual commodity: beautiful paintings produced by amazing animals that would not only raise money and awareness to save the only Asian great ape, but also enrich the lives of the animals here at the zoo. After many hours of work by dedicated zoo staff, numerous contributions from generous donors and lots of painting on the part of our orangutan friends, Pongos Helping Pongos was born. To date, the project has raised nearly $60,000.

The 2008 Pongos Helping Pongos will be held on the evening of March 29, 2008. In addition to orangutan art, the event will also include paintings by our elephants and siamangs. Each painting will be professionally framed and accompanied by conservation information and an animal artist biography. The paintings will be displayed at G Gallery in the Heights for a single night in a fine arts setting, including a wine and cheese reception and photographic portraits of the featured artists (but taken by humans). At the close of the evening, all the paintings and portraits will be sold by silent auction and all the proceeds donated to the preservation of orangutans in their natural habitats.

Learn more:

http://www.ggalleryhouston.com/

http://www.houstonzoo.org/

Earlier this month, one of our youngest supporters, Isabella Velez of Charlotte, NC, celebrated her 7th birthday. In lieu of gifts, she asked everyone at her birthday party to bring a donation for the orangutans from Orangutan Island. Isabella ended up raising more than one hundred dollars for the orangutans!!!

We were so thrilled by Isabella’s act of selflessness that we decided to reward her with an orangutan adoption. She chose to adopt Kesi. According to her mother Isabella was “very sad and upset at first to hear what happened to Kesi, but was excited that she is now doing well!”

We would like to extend our thanks to Isabella’s parents, Julia & Robert, as well as to all of Isabella’s friends (and their parents) for making a contribution to help save the orangutans!

Below is Isabella’s letter to us, which we felt compelled to post…

Thank you so much Isabella! The orangutans need more people like you!

Orangutan Outreach is beginning to organize support groups around the country. Please email us to learn more. We are not connected in any way with the group in Mason City, but we applaud their efforts. It is truly wonderful to see children so moved by something that they decide to take action.  Bravo! Keep up the great work!   ~ Richard Zimmerman (Director, Orangutan Outreach)

By Briana Denney
KIMT News 3

Mason City, IA- Roosevelt Elementary fourth graders in Mason City put together a fund raiser effort to help save orangutans. The students say the idea is from a book they read. It’s called “How to Babysit an Orangutan”. The kids learned the great apes could be extinct in seven years.

Students got more information and created a Power Point presentation, newsletter and television commercial to tell their school of the dangers the animals face.

One student says he wishes they could have done more.

“First we wanted it every Friday but our principal said only once. So we chose this day, Friday, March 21st, because it’s the day before spring break,” said Jaedon Bettle.

The students raised more than $400.00 With that money they can afford to babysit an orangutan for nearly three days.

Source: http://www.kimt.com/news/local/16906416.html

Los conservacionistas y los activistas de los derechos animales han pedido al gobierno indonesio que pare la deforestación para proteger a los orangutanes.

Se han encontrado alrededor de 23 mil orangutanes en Kalimantan y quedan doce mil en Sumatra. Sin embargo, los incendios de 1997 redujeron drásticamente la población de orangutanes a 27 mil, de los que quince mil estaban en Kalimantan y doce mil en Sumatra. Los conservacionistas y los activistas de los derechos animales han pedido al gobierno indonesio que pare la deforestación para proteger a los orangutanes de la isla de Kalimantan. En la imagen,una cría macho de orangután de veinte días de vida juega con un peluche en la enfermería para animales en el zoo Safari de Cisarua, en Bogor (Indonesia).

Fecha de publicación: 13/3/2008
Fuente: http://www.lavozdegalicia.es/sociedad/2008/03/14/00031205501790483152317.htm

Please visit the website of Corporate Accountability International: http://www.stopcorporateabuse.org/
and vote in the Corporate Hall of Shame 2008

Download this post as a pdf.

Source: http://www.stopcorporateabuse.org/cms/page1662.cfm

First the good news: burning ‘biodiesel’ fuels emits less global warming pollution than burning standard, oil-based gasoline.

Now the bad news: producing biofuels creates tons of global warming pollution – easily enough to offset any global warming benefits gained at the tail end of the process.

At least that’s the case when it comes to Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) and its business partners that manufacture and trade in Indonesian palm oil.

ADM is an agribusiness giant, and they’re a big player in the biodiesel business. A large part of the business relies on clearing Indonesia’s woodsy wetlands, or “peatlands,” to create palm plantations. The result? A whole lot of palm oil and a whole lot of resulting global warming pollution.

A 2007 Greenpeace report found that clearing, draining and setting fire to Indonesian peatlands emits 1.8 billion tons of carbon dioxide every year. That’s about four percent of the world’s total greenhouse gas emissions. Roughly half of Indonesia’s peatlands have already been destroyed, helping Indonesia achieve a dubious ranking as the world’s third largest emitter of greenhouse gases, behind only China and the United States.[1]

But if this palm oil can be used instead of standard gasoline to fuel our cars, isn’t it worth it? Sadly no. Not by a long shot. According to Rainforest Action Network, “Producing palm oil, one of the most popular sources of biodiesel, entails so much deforestation that, over its lifecycle, palm-based biodiesel can emit up to ten times more carbon dioxide per gallon than gasoline.”[2]

ADM and its partners’ rampant destruction of Indonesian peatlands also threatens the existence of endangered species like the orangutan; a close relative of ours that scientists say could be wiped out by 2012 .[3]

Corporate welfare and greenwashing
ADM is a major player when it comes to influence in Washington, DC. Indeed, one of ADM’s largest supporters is the American taxpayer; the biofuels behemoth rakes in massive tax credits to subsidize its ethanol sales.[4]

Meanwhile, ADM is bending over backwards to present itself to the public as a friend of the environment. ADM’s company slogan is “Resourceful by Nature”, and its website extols its efforts to “develop nature-based alternatives to the world’s finite stores of fossil fuels.” Unfortunately, one of its alternatives is destroying an ecosystem and accelerating global warming.

Corporate snapshot
Founded in 1902 and incorporated in 1923, the Decatur, IL-headquartered ADM is one of the world’s largest processors of agricultural crops and a “world leader” in biodiesel fuels. [5]

According to Greenpeace, “global commodity traders including ADM-Kuok-Wilmar (ADM’s business alliance operating in Indonesia), Cargill, Golden Hope and Sinar Mas have commanding control over the entire palm oil supply chain – from plantations in Indonesia to refined vegetable oil or biofuel [processing facilities]. The alliance brings together Wilmar, the ‘largest palm biodiesel manufacturer in the world’, and ADM, the ‘world leader in renewable transport fuels’.

The ADM-Kuok-Wilmar alliance have ‘rapid expansion plans’ in relation to biodiesel. Between early 2006 and mid-2007, the ADM-Kuok-Wilmar alliance gained control of more than 1.4 million acres of peatland.[6]

ADM is also America’s largest producer of fuel ethanol, buoyed by massive taxpayer subsidies. Its website also trumpets the company’s “worldwide transportation network and more than 250 domestic and international plants.” [7]

The company’s fiscal year 2007 revenues exceeded $44 billion, with its CEO, Patricia A. Woertz, raking in a salary of $2.7 million.[8] [9]

Take action
“Just like a global phase out of old, energy guzzling light bulbs or a switch to hybrid cars, protecting and restoring peatlands is perhaps another key “low hanging fruit” and among the most cost- effective options for climate change mitigation,” according to Achim Steiner, United Nations Under-Secretary General and Executive Director U.N. Environment Programme.[10]

Greenpeace and Rainforest Action Network (RAN) are leading the global charge to protect peatlands from ADM and its business partners. Join their efforts at:

http://ran.org/get_involved/take_action_locally/stop_rainforest_agribusiness

[1]Greenpeace International. “How the Palm Oil Indsutry is Cooking the Climate.” November 8, 2007. Report can be accessed here: http://www.greenpeace.org/international/press/reports/cooking-the-climate-full.

[2]Rainforest Action Network. “Rainforest Action Network Calls ADM’s Government-Subsidized Carbon Sequestration Project Greenwashing.” Press release, January 8, 2008. Accessed from Common Dreams: http://www.commondreams.org/news2008/0109-08.htm.

[3] United Nations Environment Program. “The Last Stand of the Orangutan - State of emergency: illegal logging, fire and palm oil in Indonesia’s national parks.” February 2007. Report can be accessed here: http://www.unep-wcmc.org/resources/publications/LastStand.htm.

[4] Lilley, Sasha. “Green Fuel’s Dirty Secret.” CorpWatch, June 1, 2006. Accessed March 12, 2008: http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=13646.

[5]From Archer Daniel Midland’s website: http://www.admworld.com/naen/about/.

[6]Greenpeace International. “How the Palm Oil Indsutry is Cooking the Climate.” November 8, 2007. Report can be accessed here: http://www.greenpeace.org/international/press/reports/cooking-the-climate-full.

[7]From ADM’s webite, accessed March 12, 2008: http://www.admworld.com/naen/fuels/petroleum.asp & http://www.admworld.com/naen/about/history.asp.

[8]From Yahoo Finance, accessed March 12, 2008: http://finance.yahoo.com/q/pr?s=ADM.

[9] From Ameritrade.com, accessed March 12, 2008: https://wwws.ameritrade.com/cgi-bin/apps/Main

[10]United Nations Environment Programme. “Peatlands are Quick and Cost-Effective Measure to reduce 10% of greenhouse emissions.” Bali, December 11, 2007. Accessed from: http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=523&ArticleID=5723&l=en.

Source: http://www.stopcorporateabuse.org/cms/page1662.cfm

Most Koreans are now aware that the prices of black bean-sauce noodles and instant noodles have risen because Americans are using corn ethanol to fuel their automobiles. As a consequence of feeding human foodstuff to motor vehicles, 800 million hungry people in the world grow hungrier. And studies show that using ethanol in automobiles is of little help in reducing greenhouse gases.

Another petroleum substitute is biodiesel. Ethanol is used mainly in the U.S. and Brazil, and biodiesel in Europe. While ethanol is produced from American cornstalks and Brazilian sugar cane, biodiesel is made from coconuts grown in Indonesia and Malaysia. Biodiesel involves no fewer problems than ethanol.

Many would doubt the truth of the notion that Indonesia is the world’s third largest producer of greenhouse gases. Indonesia ranks 15th in the world in consumption of coal and petroleum, but greenhouse gases come from more than just fossil fuels. When trees are logged, the roots decay and produce carbon dioxide. With the rampant logging of its rainforests, Indonesia discharges the largest quantity of greenhouse gases in the world after the U.S. and China.

A problem unique to Indonesia is the widespread cultivation of palm tree plantations in marshes called peatlands. Peatlands are densely forested but their beds are swampy. Lying beneath the water are great masses of condensed organic matter, normally more than two meters thick. When trees and plants die and sink to the peatland floor, the plant material doesn’t get a chance to fully decompose. Covered by water, it is deprived of oxygen. This organic matter slowly decays over hundreds and thousands of years and eventually turns into coal.

In the cultivation of palm tree plantations, the swamps are dried and the native trees are logged. The thick layers of organic matter that have built up over hundreds and thousands of years then decompose in just a few years, releasing carbon dioxide. Sometimes forests are deliberately set on fire to make plantations. A satellite investigation of the Riau region by Indonesian authorities in July last year revealed no fewer than 124 mountain fires.

Last November, Greenpeace issued a report entitled “How the Palm Oil Industry is Cooking the Climate.” Indonesia has 10 percent of the world’s tropical forests — 91 million hectares, of which 20 million hectares are peatland. Palm tree plantations have been cultivated in 1.5 million hectares of peatland. Over the next 10 years, an additional 3 million hectares is slated to become palm tree plantations.

This is because of Europe. Europe is forging ahead with a plan that calls for increasing the current 1 percent bio-energy ratio to 5.75 percent in 2010 and to 10 percent in 2020. As an alternative to petroleum, European countries have turned to palm oil imported from Southeast Asia. As a result, the price of palm oil has doubled in the past two years. This is bound to accelerate the destruction of more peatlands in Indonesia. The carbon dioxide emitted from Indonesian peatlands alone reaches 1.8 billion tons a year, more than three times South Korea’s emissions.

European countries supposedly use biodiesel to help prevent global warming, and doing so does indeed reduce the quantity of carbon dioxide emitted in Europe. But in consequence, Southeast Asia, on the opposite side of the globe, emits more carbon dioxide. It doesn’t matter where it is emitted — carbon dioxide spreads across the entire globe. European countries count as “accomplishments” any reduction in carbon dioxide emissions. They even sell their carbon credits on the market. It all seems like some kind of international fraud.

This column was contributed by Chosun Ilbo in-house columnist Han Sam-hee.

Source: http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200803/200803210011.html