A pamphlet published today by the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation tells of the horrific abuse orangutans suffer in palm-oil plantations with images of animals butchered, burnt or buried alive.
October 14, 2005 (Press Release) --
A pamphlet published today by the Borneo Orangutan Survival (BOS) Foundation UKprovides photographic evidence and witness accounts of the horrific abuse wild orangutans suffer when they enter palm-oil plantations in search of food – including images of animals that have been butchered, burnt or buried alive. Of those that have survived, many have been sold into the illegal pet trade and one young female was shaved and offered up as a prostitute.
“In order to catch a wild adult orangutan and tie it down, you would have to beat it unconscious first. Most orangutans caught by plantation workers die from concussion or internal bleeding.”
Lone Droscher, Nyaru Menteng Orangutan Reintroduction Project.
Rescue centres in Indonesia are over-flowing with displaced and injured wild orangutans, including orphaned infants, from areas where their forest habitat is being relentlessly cleared and converted into oil-palm plantations. One rescue centre houses more than 380 victims alone, with rescue teams operating on a daily basis. Meanwhile the centre is under immense pressure to find areas of forest where these orangutans can be released once they are healthy again. However, with the accelerating rate of forest clearance, these animals have a dwindling chance of ever being returned to the wild.
Palm oil is found in one in ten products on UK supermarket shelves, including chocolate, crisps, margarine, cereals, lipstick and soap. The palm oil industry has been linked with large-scale forest destruction, massive forest fires and human rights abuses. However, palm oil could be produced in a non-destructive manner: millions of hectares of already degraded land are available for the establishment of oil-palm plantations. But forested areas continue to be cleared because of the quick profit that can be made from the timber. This practice places the palm oil industry as the greatest threat to the continued survival of the orangutan in the wild.
“The rate of loss of orangutans has never been greater than in the last three years, and oil-palm plantations are mostly to blame. We are facing a silent massacre, taking place far from where people can see what is going on. “
Dr Willie Smits, Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation.
UK companies have been accused of failing to take effective action to ensure they do not buy palm oil from destructive sources. Recent research carried out by Friends of the Earth found that not one single UK supermarket was able to reveal where the palm oil originates in the products it sells.
Due to corporate reluctance to take responsibility for the impacts of their business, BOS is calling on the UK Government to give company directors a legal duty to minimise their environmental impacts through the Company Law Reform Bill, which will have its first reading in Parliament next month. They are also imploring the Indonesian and Malaysian governments to introduce and enforce legislation banning the conversion of forests for agriculture.
“In order to catch a wild adult orangutan and tie it down, you would have to beat it unconscious first. Most orangutans caught by plantation workers die from concussion or internal bleeding.”
Lone Droscher, Nyaru Menteng Orangutan Reintroduction Project.
Rescue centres in Indonesia are over-flowing with displaced and injured wild orangutans, including orphaned infants, from areas where their forest habitat is being relentlessly cleared and converted into oil-palm plantations. One rescue centre houses more than 380 victims alone, with rescue teams operating on a daily basis. Meanwhile the centre is under immense pressure to find areas of forest where these orangutans can be released once they are healthy again. However, with the accelerating rate of forest clearance, these animals have a dwindling chance of ever being returned to the wild.
Palm oil is found in one in ten products on UK supermarket shelves, including chocolate, crisps, margarine, cereals, lipstick and soap. The palm oil industry has been linked with large-scale forest destruction, massive forest fires and human rights abuses. However, palm oil could be produced in a non-destructive manner: millions of hectares of already degraded land are available for the establishment of oil-palm plantations. But forested areas continue to be cleared because of the quick profit that can be made from the timber. This practice places the palm oil industry as the greatest threat to the continued survival of the orangutan in the wild.
“The rate of loss of orangutans has never been greater than in the last three years, and oil-palm plantations are mostly to blame. We are facing a silent massacre, taking place far from where people can see what is going on. “
Dr Willie Smits, Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation.
UK companies have been accused of failing to take effective action to ensure they do not buy palm oil from destructive sources. Recent research carried out by Friends of the Earth found that not one single UK supermarket was able to reveal where the palm oil originates in the products it sells.
Due to corporate reluctance to take responsibility for the impacts of their business, BOS is calling on the UK Government to give company directors a legal duty to minimise their environmental impacts through the Company Law Reform Bill, which will have its first reading in Parliament next month. They are also imploring the Indonesian and Malaysian governments to introduce and enforce legislation banning the conversion of forests for agriculture.
Email
Print
SPAM
