(MY) new lifeline for orangutans

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Lifeline for orang utans

 

2009/10/11-New Sunday Times

 

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The fate of orang utans in fragmented ecosystems in eastern Sabah was the

focus of a two-day Orang Utan Conservation Colloquium. JASWINDER KAUR sat in

to get details on the way forward.

 

WEAVING its way through the jungle, nibbling on fruits and tree bark, an

orang utan suddenly finds itself in unfamiliar territory.

 

It looks ahead and sees row after row of oil palm, and soon starts foraging

through this man-made landscape in search of another patch of forest for its

next meal, and a tree to build a nest to sleep in.

 

This is the story of orang utans that move about in more than a hundred

forest " islands " which mushroom from vast plantations at fertile flood

plains on Sabah's east coast.

 

 

An aerial survey last year discovered over a thousand nests were seen on

tree tops in jungle fragments that ranged from a few hectares to a startling

single tree.

 

The study became the basis for a two-day Orang Utan Conservation Colloquium

on the outskirts of Kota Kinabalu aimed mainly at discussing the fate of the

primate in fragmented ecosystems.

 

Dr Marc Ancrenaz of the French non-governmental organisation Hutan says the

finding indicates orang utans are using plantations for short periods in

their search for new territories and food.

 

" Between 2002 and 2007, there was a 30 per cent drop in the number of orang

utans in the Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary but we didn't find any

dead ones.

 

" We started asking ourselves where these orang utans had gone, and we felt

that they must have dispersed somewhere else. "

 

The 26,000-ha sanctuary gazetted four years ago is divided into 10 lots,

which neighbour estates and several villages on the Kinabatangan flood

plain.

 

Ancrenaz's study done in collaboration with the Borneo Conservation Trust

(BCT) and funded by the Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC), found 200 nests

in 25 forest islands in plantations in the Lower Kinabatangan area.

 

At plantations south of Sandakan, there were more than 200 nests in 10

forest patches and at yet, another location in the Sugud area, there were

over 150 nests in 15 tiny tracts of jungle.

 

" Yes, orang utans can find food in plantations by eating palm fruit, but

they can't sustain themselves on a single plant. It is like telling a

vegetarian to just eat carrots, and nothing else.

 

 

" It is unlikely that there can be a stable orang utan population in the long

term in plantations. We have to find ways to reconnect the forests. "

 

A long-term result that factors in the crucial role of planters is what

conservationists are pushing for, as it is clear that the palm oil industry

is here to stay.

 

As the largest exporter of palm oil in the world, Malaysia raked in RM65.2

billion last year from this golden crop, making it the country's third

largest export contributor.

 

In Sabah, oil palm covers about 1.4 million hectares or about a third of the

country's total cultivation of 4.5 million hectares.

 

And then, there is another statistic: Sabah has 11,017 orang utans at last

count, making it a stronghold as it shelters a fifth of its population in

Borneo and Sumatra, and yet, 62 per cent live outside protected areas.

 

" There are two groups -- the green people and the oil palm people. Each side

wants to own what is left but if you want to get long-term results, we must

sit together and talk.

 

" The important thing here is the fact that orang utans are getting isolated,

and this affects gene flow which is needed for the long term survival of the

species, " Ancrenaz says.

 

Genetic modelling carried out a couple of years ago showed a majority of

isolated populations in the Kinabatangan area would be extinct in less than

50 years if nothing was done to reconnect the various groups.

 

Sabah Wildlife Department director Laurentius Ambu says inbreeding of the

species will lead to extinction and is an urgent problem that needs to be

solved quickly.

 

" This is why we are working with an NGO (Borneo Conservation Trust) to buy

land from the locals at market value so that we can start reconnecting

forests in the Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Santuary.

 

" There are two lots in the fragmented sanctuary that are almost connected

after BCT was able to buy the land. Planters have so far refused, but we are

hoping that MPOC can come in to assist us. "

 

As the meeting progressed and it became clear that an overnight solution was

not on the cards, the possibility of translocating orang utans in fragmented

areas to forest reserves was raised.

 

The department's chief veterinarian, Dr Sen Nathan says it could complement

efforts to make sure orang utans in fragmented areas do not disappear, but

it is not a solution.

 

" You have to look at the population of orang utans in the area marked for

translocation. It is not that simple. There are issues of food sources and

competition from other orang utans.

 

" Though the primate is solitary, it is territorial, especially the males, "

Dr Nathan says.

 

The department translocated more than 550 orang utans in the last 18 years,

but it was done when the primate was in a " life and death " situation such as

during floods, or when an area was cleared for oil palm.

 

Apart from the fact that translocating one orang utan can cost up to

RM10,000 and takes up to a week of already stretched manpower, no post

release monitoring was done for those shifted from one area to another.

 

" This is being done now, but only for rehabilitated orang utans sent from

the Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre to the Tabin Wildlife Reserve.

In the case of wild orang utans, we moved them and just hoped they were able

to survive. "

 

The human-orang utan conflict is not going to go away, and is one that needs

answers now.

 

The six words on a framed photo of an orang utan given to Plantation

Industries and Commodities Minister Tan Sri Bernard Dompok who opened the

colloquium is perhaps reflective of the grave situation: " Will you still see

me tomorrow? "

 

 

*Oil palm sector playing a responsible role*

 

THE palm oil sector can take some blame in the conservation debate, but not

all of it.

This is the view of Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC) chief executive

officer Tan Sri Dr Yusof Basiron who spoke on responsibilities of the

industry at the colloquium.

 

" We live in a world where sustainability is difficult to define.

 

" There has to be a percentage for agriculture and for forests and we don't

really know what the optimal ratio is. "

 

Aware of criticisms by some groups in the west that claim orang utans are

being sacrificed for oil palm, Dr Yusof says if the world stops using

Malaysian palm oil, it will have to substitute it with rapeseed, sunflower

and soyabean which will take up much larger land areas.

 

Malaysia has 4.3 million hectares planted with oil palm and contributes 31.2

per cent to the world's supply of edible oils, compared to soyabean which

takes up 92 million hectares producing 28 per cent of oil for consumption.

 

Rapeseed is planted on 30 million hectares producing 14 per cent of edible

oils, and sunflower grown on 23 million hectares contributes 7.8 per cent of

the world's edible oil supply.

 

" The world will have to fell 23.6 million hectares more to plant rapeseed or

it has to clear another 41.5 million hectares to plant soyabean if it

decides not to use Malaysian palm oil.

 

" This will be a tremendous loss of biodiversity. "

 

He says the industry has shown responsibility, and that Malaysian companies

were among the first to receive the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil

(RSPO) certification.

 

The Malaysian Palm Oil Wildlife Conservation Fund, a collaboration of the

industry and the government, is now in place to fund studies on

sustainability of wildlife.

 

" One of the projects from this fund is the aerial survey of orang utans in

plantations which resulted in this meeting.

 

" Other projects include jungle patrols to protect wildlife in forest

reserves that border plantations in Sabah, and a biodiversity conservation

study of ox-bow lakes in oil palm plantations. "

 

Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun however

feels that the palm oil industry must not get defensive when scientists come

up with proposals to restore habitats.

 

" The industry must self-regulate itself. Eventually, by the full force of

global pressure on the need for sustainable harvesting, it will have to be

done.

 

" The industry can make money and be socially responsible at the same time.

 

" Profit comes from the soil and while the state government is dependent on

(revenue) from palm oil, we need planters to be responsible, " he says.

 

Masidi says recommendations from the meeting, which centres around the need

to re-establish connections between orang utan populations, will be handed

to the Sabah Cabinet once a paper is prepared.

 

 

*Much to gain from protecting wildlife*

 

HELLO Kitty, a popular caricature and brand in Japan, is helping to save

Sabah's wildlife.

The " cat " with a red ribbon is featured on Saraya Corporation's soaps and a

range of products that use palm oil, and one per cent of their sale goes to

a fund that buys back land to reconnect forests in the oil palm landscape.

 

It was bad publicity the company faced five years ago that led it to learn

what it could do to make sure that its use of palm oil would not further

degrade wildlife habitats, especially in Malaysian Borneo.

 

There was anger among consumers when a television programme in Japan

featured a Borneo pygmy elephant with a rope tied to its trunk at an oil

palm plantation, its president Yusuke Saraya says.

 

" Our consumers wanted to know if our products were friendly to the

environment after this programme was aired. We sent an officer to Sabah in

November 2004 and found out that incidents like this were happening. "

 

Within two years, Saraya pushed for the setting up of a body to buy back

land to reconnect forests in oil palm landscapes and the state-mandated

Borneo Conservation Trust was born.

 

One per cent of sales from Saraya's products went into a fund to buy land,

and some of its consumers who won a contest were brought to Sabah to see for

themselves what the company was doing.

 

" I feel that oil palm companies should donate to this fund when prices go

up, even if it is only one per cent of their earnings. "

 

Plantations too can gain from protecting wildlife and a diverse species of

plants in forested areas at their borders or within their land by setting up

conservation units.

 

This is the message that PT Rea Kaltim Plantations head of conservation, Rob

Stuebing, sent to a handful of planters who attended the colloquium.

 

He says such a move could help the industry in effectively answering

criticisms from conservation groups and non-governmental organisations that

feel oil palm is bad for wildlife.

 

" It may not be a perfect solution, but it does help to save species, "

Stuebing says.

 

The plantation he works for in Kalimantan, Indonesia, still has 20 per cent

under forest cover, providing a safe harbour for some 20- odd orang utans,

and a range of other mammals, snakes, birds and frogs.

 

Stuebing says some plantation owners prefer to hire public relations

companies to pump up their names claiming they are involved in conservation

work, but these estates are often over-planted with oil palm.

 

He is hopeful that plantations will eventually " come around " and start

caring for the species within their estates.

 

" The palm oil industry is young. It is like a teenager, and it acts like

one. It throws things on the floor and it is defiant.

 

" Mature industries like the oil and gas sector don't react this way. They

just do what they need to when others say something about them. "