Letter: Opportunity to save orangutans gone

Letter: Opportunity to save orangutans gone
The Jakarta Post | Sat, 01/14/2012 2:39 PM

I was very disappointed to read that at the recent Sabah Wildlife Conservation Colloquium (SWCC), a resolution was not passed for a “No Kill” policy regarding orangutans who, usually in a desperate search for food, stray onto oil palm plantations and surrounding villages on Borneo and Sumatra.

Over 500,000 people (including certain conservation and orangutan NGOs) signed this request to the Malaysian palm oil industry to agree to a policy of not harming or harassing orangutans. Unfortunately, they made no commitment to protecting this endangered species. Apparently, the opportunity to help orangutans and prevent further loss of life was not considered.

When will people realize that orangutans are not the enemy here, but innocent victims? Defenseless and helpless, they are suffering more than any other species as their forest homes are destroyed under piles of smoke and ash.

They are disappearing rapidly in what I perceive to be a “war” against them. The SWCC would have been a great opportunity for the palm oil industry to publically commit to stopping a further decimation in numbers, but I wonder if the will to help was as extinct as the orangutans themselves soon will be?
J. Elford
The UK