Borneo orangutans face threat of extinction<\/p>\n
Bambang Bider, Contributor, Kalimantan<\/p>\n
Life becomes more meaningful when one becomes aware that
\neverything in this universe is a whole entity, the parts of which
\nare interrelated and interdependent.<\/p>\n
From the point of view of internal ecology, there is an
\nintrinsic value in every creation. Whether one realizes it or
\nnot, destruction is always linked with ignorance and a rejection
\nof the intrinsic value of the lives of others.<\/p>\n
Just imagine if another's life happens to be an orangutan
\n(Pongo pygmaeus), an animal that is 97 percent genetically
\nsimilar to humans.<\/p>\n
The World Conservation Union (IUCN) has stated that the
\norangutans in Borneo (Kalimantan, Sabah and Sarawak) and Sumatra
\nare now on the verge of extinction.<\/p>\n
The 2002 IUCN Red List puts Borneo orangutans in the category
\nof an endangered species while Sumatran orangutans are
\ncategorized as being a critically endangered species.<\/p>\n
More than 80 orangutan experts and observers from all over the
\nworld gathered in Jakarta in January 2004 to attend the
\nInternational Workshop on Population Habitat Viability Analysis
\n(PHVA), in which the latest potential population of orangutans in
\nBorneo and Sumatra and the factors influencing the survival of
\nthese species were analyzed.<\/p>\n
According to an estimate made in 2004 by PHVA, the population
\nof Sumatran orangutans of the Pongo abelii species stands at
\n7,501, spread in 13 habitats.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Borneo orangutans have three subspecies, namely
\nPongo pygmaeus pygmaeus in the northwest of Borneo, starting from
\nthe northern part of Kapuas up to Sarawak, Pongo pygmaeus wurmbii
\nin Central Borneo, starting from the southern part of the Kapuas
\nup to the western part of Barito, and Pongo pygmaeus morio in the
\nnortheast of Borneo, namely in Sabah and East Kalimantan.<\/p>\n
The total population of Borneo orangutans is estimated to
\nstand at 57,797, therefore bringing the total population of
\norangutans in Borneo and Sumatra to 65,298.<\/p>\n
Threat from tree felling<\/p>\n
In the Workshop on an Action Plan for the Conservation of
\nKalimantan Orangutans held in Pontianak in October 2005, Sri Suci
\nUtami Atmoko of Yayasan Penyelamatan Orangutan Borneo (BOS) said
\nthe total population of orangutans was greater than what was
\nestimated about a decade ago. \"However, this does not prove that
\nthere are now more orangutans than one or two decades back.\"<\/p>\n
More specifically, on Borneo orangutans, MacKinnon and Ramono
\n(1993) estimated the total population of orangutans in Kalimantan
\nin the 1900s at over 200,000 but Sugardjito and van Schaik (1993)
\nhave found that the figure has dropped to about 45,000.<\/p>\n
Jito Sugardjito, who is also country representative of Fauna
\nand Flora International, said, \"Tree felling to transform the
\nfunction of a forest area and to turn it into forest concession
\nland is the main threat to the population of orangutans.\"<\/p>\n
In the Workshop on the Action Plan for the Conservation of
\nKalimantan Orangutans, which was held in Pontianak after a
\nsimilar workshop for Sumatran orangutans held in September in
\nBrastagi, Herry Djoko Susilo, from the directorate general of
\nforest protection and nature conservation, identified the main
\nthreats facing the population of Kalimantan orangutans.<\/p>\n
These were: illegal logging, a shift in the function of a
\nforest areas, hunting, forest fires, unirrigated farming, drying
\nof peat forest areas and poor management of concession forest
\nareas.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the result of research done by A.D. John published
\nin his 1992 research paper titled Vertebrate responses to
\nselective logging: Implications for the design of logging systems
\nshows that the felling of 18 trees in each hectare of orangutan
\nhabitat can damage 47 percent of the fruit trees and reduce their
\nnumber by up to 50 percent.<\/p>\n
On the same occasion, Julia Ng Su-Chen of Traffic Southeast
\nAsia said, \"What is also saddening is that cross-border illegal
\ntrading of orangutans is now flourishing.\" It is estimated that
\nbetween 200 and 500 of them are traded every year.<\/p>\n
She added that the trading of orangutans was flourishing
\nbecause of the high market demand for these primates as pets, for
\nprivate collections, souvenirs or as materials for traditional
\nmedicine.<\/p>\n
Political will, vested interests<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Purwo Susanto of the Forest Conversion Initiative
\n(Kalimantan Region) of the World Wide Fund for Nature, has come
\nup with a more systematic cause for the fragmentation of the
\nhabitat of orangutans, qualitatively and quantitatively, that has
\nled to the sharp drop in their population.<\/p>\n
He said, \"The main cause is both legal and illegal logging,
\nRTRWK (spatial plans for forest areas) that fail to accommodate
\nthe need for orangutan conservation, as well as poor law
\nenforcement and lack of political will and political action to
\nstop illegal trading.<\/p>\n
\"Also, critical are poor coordination among countries, between
\nthe central government and regional administrations and among
\nnon-governmental organizations dealing in orangutan conservation,
\na lack of information related to orangutan conservation, in terms
\nof both dissemination and equipment, on the one hand, and the
\nquality of the drafting of policies and of law enforcement, on
\nthe other.\"<\/p>\n
Regarding the aspect of political will in relation to
\norangutan protection, Julia Ng Su-Chen has said that Indonesia
\nand Malaysia, particularly Sabah and Sarawak, commonly have
\nregulations protecting these primates. The difference lies only
\nin the political action in enforcing these regulations.<\/p>\n
\"In Sabah and Sarawak sanctions are really imposed on hunting
\nor acts that may threaten the lives of orangutans to deter the
\nrecurrence of such acts. In Indonesia, regulations are yet to be
\nproperly enforced,\" she said making a comparison.<\/p>\n
Of the total population of Borneo orangutans, 13,614 are found
\nin Malaysia, spread in a total of 17 habitats in Sabah and
\nSarawak. It is understandable that orangutans in Sabah and
\nSarawak are highly protected because their population is small.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Purwo Susanto cited a plan for the development of
\n1.8 million hectares of coconut palm estates along the border
\nareas between Indonesia's Kalimantan and Malaysia's Sarawak as an
\nexample of a policy of the Indonesian government that fails to
\naccommodate orangutan protection.<\/p>\n
\"The border area has forests of different status. In the
\ncontext of the development of coconut palm estates, it is not
\nright to convert an area into a coconut palm estate if it is
\nstill a forest and is ecologically functional to a larger area,\"
\nPurwo stressed.<\/p>\n
In response to this problem, Herry said, \" Of course, if it
\nconcerns broader interests, we cannot view it from only one
\naspect. Our view must be balanced, in the context of sustainable
\ndevelopment.\"<\/p>\n
Erik Meijaard of The Nature Conservancy said that it was very
\neasy to save orangutans. \"Just don't kill them and don't damage
\ntheir habitat,\" he noted.<\/p>\n
\"Protect areas that must be protected. Do not damage protected
\nforest areas by converting the land to large-scale coconut palm
\nand other estates.<\/p>\n
\"Forest concessionaires must accommodate harmoniously
\norangutan conservation efforts in their concession areas. Stop
\norangutan hunting,\" he said.<\/p>",
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