Orangutan under threat of extinction in Indonesia

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September 8, 2008

 

Orangutan under threat of extinction in Indonesia

 

 

JAKARTA (Xinhua) -- The population of Orangutans in Kalimantan or Borneo

Island of Indonesia remained under threat of extinction, despite

claims by

palm oil firms of applying eco-friendly work practices, according to a

newspaper here Saturday.

 

Deforestation for palm oil plantation was blamed for the killing the

protected apes, particularly those living outside conservation areas,

said

Novi Hardianto, the habitat program manager of the Center for Orangutan

Protection (COP).

 

" " The forest is continuously being cleared and orangutans are killed

every

year. It's ironic, " " he was quoted by the Jakarta Postas saying.

 

The manager said a recent investigation by the group show that two palm

oil firms in Central Kalimantan, both of them members of the

Roundtable on

Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), endangered orangutan populations with their

clear-cutting.

 

RSPO spokeswoman Desi Kusmadewi denied the accusation, saying the RSPO

sought to improve environmental practices within the palmoil industry.

 

The province is home to the country's largest orangutan population. In

2004, there were 31,300 orangutans but the figure was declining by 9

percent each year, with the current population at 20,032, the COP

estimated.

 

 

 

HARDI BAKTIANTORO

and orangutan

 

Rungan Sari Compound

Jalan Tjilik Riwut km 36 Sei Gohong

Palangkaraya 73225 INDONESIA

T /F : +62818333911

E: orangutanborneo

www.cop.or.id