A new UN report warns of the threat that logging poses to orang-utans' tropical forest home, writes Dick Ahlstrom
Illegal logging is destroying the last strongholds of the orang-utan. Its tropical rainforest habitat is disappearing much faster than experts had previously supposed, pushing this marvellous animal ever closer to the edge.
The orang-utan is a great ape and a close primate relative. Their homes in the forests of Sumatra and Borneo are being cleared at an alarming rate however, leaving them under serious threat, according to a new report from the United Nations Environment Programme.
Issued two days ago, the report indicates the natural rainforests of Indonesia are being cleared so rapidly that up to 98 per cent may be destroyed by 2022 unless there is urgent action to protect them.
It indicates the rate of loss, which has accelerated in the past five years, outstrips a previous UNEP report released in 2002, when the experts predicted that most of the suitable orang-utan habitat would be lost by 2032.
"The situation is now acute," states the leader of the UN research team, Christian Nellemann.
There are very big companies behind this illegal trade, which in the case of Borneo is focused on the Kalimantan rainforest, says the director of Dublin Zoo, Leo Oosterveghel.
"Huge companies are involved and they are getting stuck into the Kalimantan rainforest. Not only do they take out the hardwoods, there is big money to be made taking palm oil as well."
There are two subspecies of orang-utan, one from Borneo and one from Sumatra. The five orang-utan resident in Dublin Zoo are Bornean, he says.
"The name orang-utan means 'person of the forest'. They are highly intelligent and they have an amazing capacity to find their way through the huge three-dimensional space of the rainforest," he adds.
Dublin participates in the international effort to breed orang-utan given the threat to their habitat, says Oosterweghel. A central group dictates breeding matches in order to protect and maximise the genetic diversity of the zoo-based animals.
Illegal logging, made profitable by global demand for timber, is driving the habitat loss in these rainforests, the UN report indicates. This illegal trade accounts for tens of millions of cubic metres of timber annually and may account for 73 per cent of all Indonesian logging.
Importantly, illegal logging seems to be entering a new phase, with loggers moving into national parks as the more easily reached forests become depleted.
Satellite images and data from the Indonesian government indicate that illegal logging is now taking place in 37 of its 41 national parks. "At current rates of intrusions, it is likely that some parks may become severely degraded in as little as three to five years, that is by 2012," states the report entitled The last stand of the orang-utan: state of emergency.
Bornean and Sumatran orang-utans are classed as "endangered" and "critically endangered" and are listed in the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. Recent estimates cited in the report suggest there are between 45,000 and 69,000 Bornean and just 7,300 Sumatran orang-utans left in the wild.
They share their shrinking environment with other important endangered species including the Sumatran tiger, Sumatran rhinoceros and Asian elephant.
The report suggests that the loss of orang-utan habitat is happening up to 30 per cent faster than previously thought. The Indonesian government has sought to slow the trade but has had difficulty given the world demand for timber, no matter what the source.
"We are currently in an unequal struggle over illegal logging," stated Indonesia's environment minister, H E Rachmat Witoelar. He was speaking earlier this week at the UNEP's 24th global ministerial environment forum in Nairobi.
He said his government was involved in counter measures including the introduction of "ranger quick-response units". There was a huge logistical challenge given the vast park spaces involved, he added. "In 35 of our national parks we have over 2,000 rangers but they have to patrol an area of over 100,000sq km."