March 17, 2008
By Jennifer McNulty

For the first time, anthropologists at the University of California, Santa Cruz, have measured the mechanical properties of foods eaten in the wild by orangutans and chimpanzees to test assumptions about the link between diet and the teeth of primates.

Their findings confirm what researchers have assumed, providing the first data that correlates the thick enamel of orangutans with a diet of hard foods. The results have significant implications for the study of the diet of early human ancestors, because anthropologists have long noted similarities between the teeth of hominids and orangutans, which appear to have independently evolved thickly enameled teeth that are well-adapted to the consumption of hard or gritty foods.

The new study, which correlates differences in the teeth of chimpanzees and orangutans with differences in their diets, appears in the current online issue of the Journal of Human Evolution in a paper entitled, “Functional Ecology and evolution of Hominoid Molar Enamel Thickness: Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii and Pongo pygmaeus wurmbii.”

“Orangutans have really thick enamel on their teeth and ridges across the basin of their molars, compared to chimpanzees, which have much thinner enamel,” said Erin Vogel, associate researcher and lecturer in anthropology at UCSC. “Researchers have speculated for years about the function of this divergent morphology, but no one has ever measured the mechanical properties of their foods in the wild.”

In the field, Vogel and coauthor Nathaniel J. Dominy, assistant professor of anthropology at UCSC, systematically tested the foods eaten by orangutans and chimpanzees for hardness and toughness, uncovering differences that correlate with morphological differences in the two species’ teeth. The study features data gathered by Vogel during nearly a year she spent observing 21 orangutans in Borneo, and chimpanzee data gathered in Uganda by Dominy. Vogel and Dominy used a new standardized engineering technology to study the properties of foods, generating data that are truly comparable across different continents, a significant advance over previous studies of monkey foods.

Although orangutans and chimpanzees both prefer to eat ripe fruit, they turn to other sources of sustenance when fruit is unavailable. Those foods–called “fallback foods”–vary considerably and in ways that could explain why their teeth evolved so differently, said Vogel.

“When fruit is scarce, orangutans feed on foods that are harder and tougher than what chimps eat, including tree bark and really hard seeds that would probably crack the tooth of any other primate,” said Vogel. “By contrast, chimpanzees rely primarily on leaves during fallback periods, so they need those sharp blades formed by thin enamel to fracture the leaves.”

The findings indicate that fallback foods may have exerted selective pressure on tooth evolution, particularly on molar enamel. “For orangutans, those thick, ridged surfaces are a functional adaptation to the routine consumption of relatively tough and hard foods,” said Vogel, noting also that fruit isn’t consistently available in Southeast Asia, which prompts the apes to frequently supplement their diet with other foods.

The findings have implications for inferring the diet of early human ancestors, and they provide valuable comparative data for researchers exploring the diets of hominids. “We know early human ancestors had thicker enamel and very robust jaws, which this study indicates could have been adaptations to eating harder, gritty foods, including the underground storage organs of plants,” said Vogel. Dominy has conducted pathbreaking work on the diet of early humans, which his research suggests likely included bulbs, corms, and other underground plant parts.

The next phase of Vogel’s research will be to analyze the teeth and diets of orangutans on the island of Sumatra, where the apes eat fewer seeds and bark than those on Borneo. “Orangutans in Borneo have more robust jaws than those on Sumatra, which would seem to correlate with differences in their diets,” noted Vogel.

In addition to Vogel and Dominy, coauthors on the paper were Janneke T. van Woerden of the University of Utrecht; Peter W. Lucas of George Washington University; Sri S. Utami Atmoko of Universitas Nasional in Jakarta; and Carl P. van Schaik of the University of Zurich.

Source: http://www.ucsc.edu/news_events/text.asp?pid=2024

Public More Likely to Think Chimps Aren’t Endangered Due to Wacky Portrayal in Movies and TV, Studies Say

By ASHLEY PHILLIPS

March 13, 2008 — From CareerBuilder commercials to “Lancelot Link,” a sitcom following the hijinks of a 1970s psychedelic detective agency, Hollywood has employed primates, particularly chimps, for years to make audiences laugh.

But according to conservationists, those smiles come with a dark side.

Constantly using chimps for laughs leads the TV- and movie-viewing public to mistakenly believe that the animals aren’t an endangered species, a group of scientists that includes Jane Goodall said this week in Science.

“My gut feeling is that there is some level of public trust in what’s allowed and what’s not. When you go to the grocery store, food is FDA approved. Nothing that you consume is going to be bad for your health,” said Kristen Lukas, curator of conservation and science at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo and a co-author of the paper. “I think there’s that similar public trust that if you see something like this on TV, how bad could it be? If chimps are endangered, how could they be used this way?”

In 2005 and 2006, two separate studies conducted by two different conservation organizations found the same thing: Visitors were more likely to believe that gorillas and orangutans were endangered than chimps. When asked why, the visitors all pointed to the use of chimps in the media.

In 2005, visitors to the Regenstein Center for African Apes at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago were surveyed to select the great ape species — chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans — that were considered endangered. The survey labeled the species to avoid confusion.

The results: 95 percent thought gorillas were endangered, 91 percent thought orangutans were endangered, but only 66 percent believed that chimpanzees were endangered.

When informed that chimps were endangered, 35 percent of the respondents said that they didn’t think chimpanzees were endangered because of their common portrayal in TV, movies and commercials.

In 2006, a similar study was repeated at the Great Ape Trust in Iowa in Des Moines with strikingly similar results. In this survey, 72 percent of respondents thought chimps were endangered compared to gorillas (94 percent) and orangutans (92 percent).

“This is the first evidence that links the inappropriate use of chimps in the media with these wider conservation attitudes that people hold about chimps in general,” said Steve Ross, the lead author of the paper and the supervisor of behavioral and cognitive research at the Lester E. Fisher Center for the Study and Conservation of Apes at the Lincoln Park Zoo.

Ross said that he wasn’t surprised by the two surveys’ findings.

“We long suspected this inappropriate portrayal of chimps had this effect. … These results really bear that out,” he said. “This is a great opportunity … for scientists to use data to affect policy or popular perceptions.”

“These data can be very important in raising awareness of the issues and organizations that might consider this a viable advertising campaign — these types of campaigns have costs. You’re affecting people’s conservation attitudes.”

Lukas believes that because chimpanzees look so similar to humans, people relate more on a visceral level to them than other primates.

“There is something that people find just humorous when they see chimps portrayed this way,” Lukas said. “Orangutans look so different. With gorillas, people are more afraid of them because they’re so large and have that ‘King Kong’ thing going for them. Chimps are more vulnerable when it comes to this kind of messaging.”

Several animal actor agencies were unable to comment by deadline.

According to the World Wildlife Fund, there are currently at least 172,000 chimpanzees, 49,000 orangutans and more than 100,000 gorillas in the wild.

Source: http://www.abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=4444917&page=1

Opinion and Editorial - March 11, 2008
The Jakarta Post
Stevie Emilia, Jakarta

Well-crafted words fail to hide the true meaning behind the government’s latest action that might soon allow more mining companies to operate within protected forest areas in return for cash compensation: our forests are for sale.

As if the idea is not bad enough, the “sale” price isgoing to be set very low, up to Rp 3 million (US$326) a year per hectare.

Currently, there are 13 mining companies that operate in protected forests. This special treatment is
legitimized by a 2004 government regulation, despite that the companies’ operations are against a forestry regulation that completely bans all mining activities in protected forests.

Protected forests are supposed to be free of all commercial exploitation and exploration activities.
However, at this pressing time, the government insists the 13 companies are allowed to continue operations, because they started operations in the forests before the regulation was introduced.

However, the passing of a new decree, announced Feb. 29 by Energy and Mineral Resources minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro, will surely cause the country’s forests to bleed to death. A new presidential decree might soon be introduced allowing other mining companies to apply for similar treatment in return for cash.

The move clearly shows two things; first, the government’s poor coordination and second, a lack of
good will needed to protect the country’s forests.

For one thing, the decree will make the National Rehabilitation Movement (Gerhan) project, launched in 2003 to restore 5 million hectares of forest by 2009, pointless.

The massive reforestation program was aimed at rehabilitating forests damaged by decades of
deforestation, illegal mining and forest fires.

Deforestation in Indonesia — claimed to be the world’s worst with an area the size of Switzerland
being lost every year — has already lead to the damage of some 59 million hectares of forest out of
the country’s 120.35 million hectares. If the decree is issued, allowing more commercial
activities to take over what remains of our pristine forest, home to rich biodiversity, including many
near-extinct species, it will mark a huge setback of our reforestation program.

For ordinary people, it seems that each related ministry — the Forestry Ministry, the Environment
Ministry and the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry - have their own set of agendas and programs and are unwilling to work together for the sake of the people
and the future.

It seems like President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has lost the will to deal with his own aides. He lets them do as they please, unaware that his ministers’wrongdoings will eventually make him suffer the consequences.

This critical year before the presidential election presents a prime time for Yudhoyono to start seriously embracing green issues in his bid to gain more popularity.

He should take example from other world leaders, many of whom have embraced environmental issues in their campaigns to gain attention and to win hearts.

Even top celebrities have learned to educate about environmental issues and lend support to green
campaigns. Former U.S. vice president Al Gore might not have been elected as president but his efforts to raise awareness of climate change threats have made him popular across the world and have even earned him a shared Nobel Prize with an UN body also working on the issue, the UNFCCC.

If Al Gore’s lectures and his success story fails to harm Yudhoyono, he can at least recall the sufferings experienced by thousands of mudflow victims in Sidoarjo, East Java.

Many innocent residents have lost their homes and livelihoods due to the catastrophe that started out then hot mud started gushing out of a gas exploration site, and the mud continues to flow to this very day.

Or perhaps he can look at how bad our management of the environment has been, allowing constant suffering from floods during the rainy season and drought during the dry season.

It is undeniable that, as a developing country home to millions of poor people, we are in desperate need of cash for the sake of development and a better economy, but here are many other ways to raise cash without having to touch the pristine protected forests.

A government promise to conduct a “selection” process inside protected forests before any approval of commercial activities might not help smother the environment alarm.

The promise to conduct studies before granting new permits for the mining companies might have made the regulation sound more “serious”, allowing us to believe that the government “will not compromise” on the country’s protected forests and environment, but the problem is people have lost their faith in such promises.

The true meaning of the word “study” is not lost on the public. For members of the House of
Representatives, “study” may imply an opportunity for travel. For investors, the words “study” and
“selection process” might suggest the need to bribe their way in the face of complicated bureaucracy
procedures, while for ordinary people those words might simply translate as “nothing will get in our
way”.

Besides, it is no secret that many of the projects requiring studies such as the investigation of
environmental impact analysis, could start regardless of their outcome. Questions are likely to be raised only when such projects fail, suffer damages or, even worse, claim lives.

The latest survey, jointly conducted by the Indonesia Center for Environment Law and the State Ministry for the Environment, brought to public attention on March 2, confirmed these fears.

The survey found that the government and private firms both continued to block public access to information about environment problems. It also cited that many private companies failed to fully accommodate for public interest during the processing of the pre-development environmental impact analysis.

Another concern is the number of reports that place the country among the most corrupt in the world while, every day, we are entertained by news showing public officials stashing huge amounts of money for their own interests.

Under the present situation, with poor coordination among ministries and a lack of commitment to protect the country’s environment, how can we trust the government with the fate of our protected forests?

Millions of Indonesians still rely on the forests for their livelihoods and survival.

Even renowned guitarist and Grammy winner Carlos Santana has raised doubt over the government’s sincerity in protecting the forests with his refusal to perform here for a jazz festival. He simply stated that our countrymen loved to cut down trees.

We might be poor and not have much money, but do we have to sell our souls and our dignity?

The author is a staff writer at The Jakarta Post.

A group of Girl Scouts in Houston has started a petition to have palm oil removed from Girl Scout cookies! It’s about time! We all love those cookies… chocolate mint… peanut butter….. and they certainly don’t need to be made with palm oil! Maybe– just maybe– if thousands of people sign the petition, the makers will see the truth: Palm Oil is Evil!! Orangutans shouldn’t die because of those cookies!!! When the palm oil is removed, we would be happy to purchase hundreds of boxes of them!!!! ~ Rich

Online petition - Stop using palm oil, change it to something else
Target: ABC/Interbake and Little Brownie Baker

Region: United States

Description/History:
Recent discoveries have determined the orangutan species is rapidly declining. This is due to logging in places such as Indonesia and Malaysia. Rainforests are being destroyed and palm oil plantations are established in their place.

An organization under the website, themanoftheforest.com, states the following: “Presently in Borneo (Indonesia and Malaysia) and Sumatra the Orangutan population is down to around 69,000.This may initially sound like a fairly large number, but when you discover that we are currently losing 50 Orangutans a week and that at the present rate of killing there will be none left by 2026, you then realize why the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) have raised the alarm to an unprecedented level with a new report : “Last Stand of the Orangutan : A State of Emergency”.”.

This oil is used in products such as food and Girl Scout cookies manufactured by ABC/Interbake and Little Brownie Baker. Let’s change the ingredient and save the environment.

(Please note this petition is not affiliated with any specific troop or Girl Scout council. It was started by an individual. Nor is it affiliated with Orangutan Outreach or BOS International. We do, however, support the cause and wish to see palm oil removed from Girl Scout cookies.)

Source: The Jakarta Post - March 6, 2008
By Adianto P. Simamora, Jakarta

In a bid to prevent open-pit mining in protected forests, the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) is fund-raising to “rent” forests so that major mining companies cannot.

The move is a response to the 2008 government regulation on non-taxable income, which allows open-pit mining in protected forests. The regulation stipulates that open-pit mining operators in protected forests only need to pay between Rp 2.25 million and Rp 3 million per hectare per year as compensation to the government.

On Monday, Walhi handed over Rp 1.6 million (US$176) collected from the public to the Finance Ministry.

Walhi forest campaigner Rully Syumanda said the forum had also received positive responses from the international community, including the United States, Norway and Britain.

“They are now waiting for our instructions on how to transfer the money,” he said here Wednesday.

Walhi, who has called for donations on its website (www.walhi.or.id), has also received a massive response from ordinary Indonesians, Rully said.

“We just received a call from a community in a Depok bus terminal who wants to transfer money. They have also expressed their concern about the policy,” Rully said.

Former environmental minister Nabiel Makarim welcomed the move by donating Rp 50,000. Rully said Nabiel’s donation could be used to rent about 166 square meters of protected forest per year.

“Please, use this money to rent the protected forest. I also don’t want the land to be used for open-pit mining,” Nabiel said. “Such a policy will only allow businesses to destroy the forests. We need to reject it soon.” Nabiel, now heads the research and development agency of the Indonesia Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P).

The head of muslim group Muhammadiyah, Din Syamsuddin, and singer Franky Sahilatua each promised to donate Rp 30 million to be used to rent 10 hectares of protected forest for two years.

The government is facing increasing opposition from green activists after issuing the regulation, but has insisted it will go ahead with the plan, using the fees to “regenerate” the country’s ailing forests.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Forestry Minister MS Kaban previously said only 13 open-pit mining companies would be eligible to operate in forests, after they secured the permits from Megawati Soekarnoputri’s government. But a week later, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro told mining investors that open-pit mining companies could soon apply to operate in protected forests.

Forest watchdog Greenomics Indonesia condemned the statement, saying the government had publically lied about the regulation.

“We don’t know why the government is looking for so many ways to allow open-pit mining in protected forests,” Greenomics executive director Elfian Effendi said. He said the mining sector would contribute only 0.17 percent of the Rp 1.5 trillion of the 2008 state budget, far lower than the ecological cost of Rp 70 trillion per year from the policy. Elfian said the government had many reasons to stop open-pit mining in protected areas, as has been done by other forestry nations.

“The government of Costa Rica has prohibited open-pit mining in protected forests since August 2002,” he said, adding that Ecuador and Argentina have also banned open-pit mining in protected forests since August 2007.

“It is a global trend. President Susilo can follow it,” he said.

Originally published 18 December 2007 (Better late than never!)

Source: Environment Leader

Most natural-product consumers indicated they would pay more for environmentally friendly products, with seven in 10 consumers willing to pay up to 20 percent more, according to a recent MamboTrack study by Mambo Sprouts Marketing, which surveyed the buying habits of 1,000 natural product consumers and forecasted their expected purchases for the coming year. Only one in 10 respondents said they were unwilling to pay extra for green products and services.

In addition, survey results showed consumers want to support businesses and retail stores that have green sustainable practices. More than 7 in 10 indicated it was important (41%) or very important (32%) to do business with companies that were environmentally responsible. For the coming year, while price was the overriding factor (60%) in their decision of where to shop, 1 in 2 or more consumers also identified the selection of healthy organic products (56%) and availability of organic produce (49%) as key factors as well.

When it comes to grocery spending in particular, natural category consumers indicated they were most likely to choose organic options for produce (60%), dairy products (54%) and child/baby food products (50%). Only one in four or fewer felt it was very important to buy organic in the categories of beer and wine (10%), pet food (23%) and desserts and snacks (23%). Natural and organic consumers plan to increase their use of environmentally-friendly grocery bags with 63 percent expected to increase their use of these green reusable bags and 62 percent expected to decrease their use of disposable plastic bags in 2008.

Green restaurants, hybrid electric cars, eco-clothing and eco-travel/vacations are among the earthfriendly products and services prospect consumers are targeting for 2008. About 7 in 10 or more natural and organic product consumers already use energy saving light bulbs (77%), recycled paper (69%), environmentally friendly cleaning supplies (68%) and energy efficient appliances (64%). Six in ten respondents indicated significant interest in expanding their earth-friendly practices by dining at “green” or eco-friendly restaurants (64%), buying a hybrid/electric car (61%), eco-friendly travel and vacations (60%) and buying clothing made from earth-friendly materials such as organic cotton, bamboo and hemp (61%).

Erwida Maulia , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta Thu, 03/06/2008

Prevention is the key to combating Indonesia’s widespread corruption, as eradication efforts rely too heavily on repressive measures, law experts say.

Romli Atmasasmita, professor of law at Padjadjaran University in Bandung, told a seminar that despite more than 50 years of using repressive measures to fight corruption, law enforcers have succeeded in uncovering graft in lower state institutions only, proving those measures ineffective.

He said four revisions to the national corruption law and its “most complete definition of corruption compared with any other country in the world” had resulted in almost nothing.

“There’s no use in persisting in repressive actions when corruption in upper levels remains unaffected,” he said at Wednesday’s “Finding Solutions against Corruption through Preventive Measures to Support Sustainable National Development” seminar, organized by the State Ministry for Administrative Reforms.

Romli said Indonesia was required to include preventive measures in its corruption eradication system under the United Nations Convention against Corruption, which it ratified.

He recommended there be a specific law setting out the preventive measures and a special agency to execute them, adding law enforcement efforts should target not only public but also private institutions.

Deputy chairman of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), Moch. Jasin, said preventive measures against corruption have been in place in Indonesia since 1999, when the government established the Public Servants Wealth Audit Commission (KPKPN), which was replaced by the KPK.

The preventive measures, however, were poorly implemented because of inadequate human resources and financial management support, Jasin said.

“Repressive and preventive measures must complement each other. So when prevention doesn’t work, repressive measures are there to teach the perpetrators a lesson,” he said.

Another seminar speaker, Subrata, president director of state publisher Perum Percetakan Negara, said preventive measures against corruption included wealth reporting, determining and reporting the status of grants, and including corruption in school curricula.

Bambang Widjojanto from the Partnership for Governance Reform said preventive measures were crucial in the fight against corruption because repressive activities were expensive and it was difficult to recoup corruption money.

Citing data from the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) and the Finance Ministry, Bambang said there were many potential graft cases in the country, with 6,113 “hidden” bank accounts holding about Rp 5 trillion (US$550 million).

In the first half of 2006, the BPK reported finding 17,142 possible instances of misappropriation in various currencies, worth Rp 101.76 trillion, $43.36 million, 2.36 million euros ($3.59 million) and 7 million yen ($67,879).

However, only 6,197 of these — worth Rp 18.63 trillion, $6.85 million, 1.46 million euros and 7 million yen — were followed up.

Dominic Monaghan, well known for his portrayal of “Merry” Brandybuck in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and Charlie in the ABC television series, Lost, also counts photography as one of his talents. He’s currently holding an exhibition of some of his favorite works in the Hamilton-Selway Fine Art Gallery, West Hollywood, in Southern California.

Entitled Happy Accidents, this “photographic commentary” combines two of Dominic Monaghan’s passions in life - photography and nature. He’s a fervent wildlife enthusiast, with a keen interest in orangutans and the work being done at our Nyaru Menteng sanctuary in Central Kalimantan, Borneo. His concern for the everyday survival of wildlife has led him to pledge 20% of the sales of his photographic exhibition to BOS, to help us in our mission to rescue, rehabilitate and release back into the wild the Borneo orangutans so vital to the preservation of the species.

We are extremely grateful to Dominic for his interest in BOS and his support for our work.

Happy Accidents runs from March 14 -  27.

Hamilton-Selway Fine Art Gallery
8678 Melrose Ave
West Hollywood, CA 90069

310-657-1711

www.hamiltonselway.com

Sunday, March 9, 2008
Jakarta Post
By: Rizal Harahap

The National Commission of Human Rights has found human rights abuses in the prolonged land dispute between the Sakai tribe and forestry company PT Arara Abadi in Riau, Sumatra.

Chairman of the commission’s fact-finding team, Jhony Simanjuntak, said the Sakai people had lost their right to live peacefully and safely because of the company’s continual intimidation.

He said the company deployed security personnel and trained dogs to drive away farmers working on the disputed land and to intimidate children traveling to and from school.

The team, which visited the land early this week, found dual ownership of certain enclaves had triggered the dispute. The Sakai people have lived in the 10 villages and have farmed the surrounding areas in Bengkalis and Siak since 1830. They were granted official ownership of the land in 1940 by the Sultan of Siak. PT Arara Abadi obtained the forest concession in 1996.

“When the company came in, it did not know the Sakai people were living and farming in the enclaves, which has caused a dispute,” said Jhony at a press conference at the Governor’s Office here Thursday.

According to the fact-finding team, the Sakai tribe should be recognized as the land’s rightful owners under the 1999 Forestry Law. However, the tribe has not sought legal protection because of the complicated bureaucratic process involved. The law guarantees the Sakai people’s right to the land but approval from the government is also required.

“Government approval has proven difficult to obtain because the criteria it sets is unrealistic,” said Jhony.

“The conflict has become complicated because many farmers have claimed plots of land which were also included in the forest concession. Land claims have led to the arrest of many farmers and, in this case, Arara has no authority to make arrests. Instead, it should maintain its assets, including the land in the forest concession,” he said.

The rights body carried out the preliminary inquiry after residents of 10 villages in the two regencies submitted a complaint over Arara’s violence and intimidation. Farmers and security personnel have been involved in clashes, claiming lives from both sides.

“My team recommends the government review the forest concession given to Arara by resetting its borders to help settle the dispute immediately. If the borderlines are not reset, the conflict will continue and spread to other areas,” Jhony warned.

He also criticized the provincial government, which he said had turned a blind eye to the prolonged conflict.

Arara spokesman Nurul Huda denied security personnel were trying to intimidate local people, saying the company was merely maintaining its concession area in accordance with the Forestry Law.

Forestry Minister Malam Sambat Kaban said Arara should return the land which the people occupied before 1996, “as long as they have their own legacy over the land.”

Arara also denied it had burned down its forest to make way for a palm oil plantation.

Various non-government organizations accused the company of land clearing after afire in its forest concession burned thousands of hectares. Arara says it has no palm oil plants in the province.

Source: The Jakarta Post
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2008/03/08/human-rights-body-finds-rights-abuse-riau-land-dispute.html

Interesting to think that the world’s greatest rainforests are being destroyed so that 5 rich individuals can be even richer… seems fair, right?
Think they care that orangutans are being slaughtered so they can make money from palm oil… ??? Doubt it… ~ Rich

Agustina Wayansari
The Jakarta Post
Jakarta 03-08-08

Five Indonesian businessmen, including pulp and paper tycoon Sukanto Tanoto, are among the 1,125 wealthiest people in the world, according to Forbes magazine.

The 58-year-old Sukanto Tanoto, owner of the Raja Garuda Mas (RGM) group, was ranked 284th on the list with estimated assets of some US$3.8 billion, the magazine reported in its Wednesday issue.

RGM and its subsidiaries operate in a range of industries, including pulp and paper, palm oil plantations and construction. RGM subsidiary Asian Agri is currently being probed by the tax office for alleged tax evasion.

Also on the Forbes list are the owners of tobacco company PT Djarum, Michael Hartono and Budi Hartono. Their fortunes were estimated at $2 billion each.

Other Indonesians to make the list were palm oil producer Wilmar International Holding owner Martua Sitorus at 652nd with $1.9 billion, and Peter Sondakh, the owner of Rajawali Group, with $1.2 billion at 962nd.

Forbes named Berkshire Hathaway Inc. chairman Warren Buffet as the wealthiest person in the world, toppling Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates, who had topped the list for the past 13 years.

Buffet reportedly owned total assets of some $62 billion as of February, mostly from his share of Berkshire Holding, which has a market value of $215 billion.

According to Bloomberg, Buffet’s wealth increased about $10 billion from last year.

With total assets of $58 billion, Gates fell to third on the Forbes list, after Mexican telecommunications mogul Carlos Slim, who has an estimated net worth of $60 billion.

This year’s list includes 1,125 people with a total net worth of $4.4 trillion.

There are 211 Asians on this year’s list, from 160 the previous year. India had 53 people make the list, including four in the top 10, China had 42, Hong Kong 26, Japan 27 and Indonesia had five.

Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal ranked fourth with a total net worth of $45 billion, followed by petrochemical entrepreneur Mukesh Ambani with $43 billion and his estranged brother, Anil Ambani, with some $42 billion.

Another Indian businessman, K.P Sigh, who is in the property business, was eighth with an estimated wealth of around $30 billion.

Forbes also saw more younger billionaires this year, with 50 members below the age of 40, 68 percent of them self-made.

Social networking site Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, 23, is considered the youngest self-made billionaire ever with a total fortune of $1.5 billion, putting him 785th on the list.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2008/03/07/five-indonesians-039forbes039-rich-list.html