Orangutans persist in islands amid a sea of oil palm plantations
mongabay.com - July 17, 2008
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Orangutans are surviving in forest islands in a sea of oil palm plantations in Malaysia, reports a new survey by a government- and industry-backed conservation initiative. The finding underscores the need to protect critical forest areas for the endangered primates as forest continues to fall in southeast Asia at a rate that is the highest of any of the world's tropical forest regions.
The Borneo Conservation Trust (BCT), a group that seeks to establish a wildlife corridor between forest fragments across the Malaysian state of Borneo, released the survey in response to recent press reports warning that the orangutan could disappear from lowland forests areas within the next 50 years.
"This initial finding is part of the effort to realize our goal towards creating a contiguous forest within the landscape and thus will benefit a wider range for wildlife habitat and movement," said BCT Chief Executive Officer, Cyril Pinso.
Young orangutan in Borneo. Photo by Rhett Butler
Unlike many other forest species, Orangutans are capable to surviving in secondary and degraded forests provided they are large enough and have sufficient food sources. Because some plantations leave forest reserves in areas unsuitable for oil palm cultivation — such as hillsides — the apes can sometimes persist after isolation.
BCT is working with the palm oil industry to improve the capacity of plantations to support wildlife populations. Measures include protecting riparian zones and establishing forest reserves where zones where oil palm is not viable.
The industry is hoping to improve its image in response to criticism from environmental groups who say that oil palm expansion has taken a heavy toll on Southeast Asia's forests. In April, the Malaysian Palm Oil Council held a sustainability conference to highlight efforts to reduce the use of pesticides and fertilizers, conserve ecologically-rich areas, and reduce pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, including treating palm oil mill effluent.
Some producers have banded together to form the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil to establish environmental standards for the industry. Unilever, one of the world's largest buyers of palm oil, said in May that aims to have all its palm oil certified as eco-friendly by 2015.
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