Saving orangutans — Op-Ed in The Jakarta Post by BOS UK Director
The greatest threat to the survival of this magnificent species is the conversion of their habitat to oil palm plantations.
Orangutans are left starving, and in desperation venture into newly planted plantations where they are considered agricultural pests. Out in the open they are easy targets; many are killed, and infants are taken to enter the illegal wildlife trade.
The Borneo Orangutan Survival (BOS) Foundation operates the largest primate rescue project in the world, and is the only organization actively rescuing wild orangutans from oil palm plantations where they face certain death.
Approaching 1,000 orangutans in its care, the BOS Foundation desperately seek out safe forests to which to return these orangutans. However, unless the Indonesian government enforces a moratorium on the conversion of forest for palm oil, there is little hope for the orangutan.
Is Indonesia ready to be held responsible for the genocide of one of man’s nearest cousins? Please, Indonesia, protect the orangutan, a national symbol of your remarkable country, and the rainforest in which it lives.
MICHELLE DESILETS
London
Source: The Jakarta Post
