Saving the Orangutans
Introduction
Orangutans are one of our closest relatives and share 97% of the same DNA as us. They show significant intelligence and the ability to think and reason. They make tools to help get food and water and even make umbrellas when it rains very heavily. In fact recent research shows that orangutans are the most intelligent animal, other than humans. They even have a higher learning capacity than chimps.
The largest threat to the orangutan is palm oil. This is becoming a common ingredient in everyday products such as margarine, chocolate, biscuits, toothpaste, cosmetics and biofuel. As its yields are high and profitable, large swathes of forests are being felled at an alarming rate to make way for palm oil plantations. 25 hectares are lost every minute.
The problem with palm oil is that it is not produced sustainably or with any environmental concerns. Not only is rainforest being cleared, but peatland being drained. As we all know trees and peat store carbon, so getting rid of these stores, releases vast quantities of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The natural rainforest stores 150-400 tonnes of carbon per hectare whereas the oil palm can only store 40-50 tonnes.
Currently manufacturers and shops do not have to list palm oil on their ingredients – it can be found under ‘vegetable oil’ which means that the consumer cannot make their own choice as to whether they eat or use products with palm oil in it. Recently when Cadbury’s in Australia and New Zealand announced that they were changing their recipe to include palm oil there was public outcry. It received so much adverse press attention that Cadbury’s backed down and have promised to revert to their original recipe, though they claim this is for taste reasons.
We should have the right to decide. Slowly some shops are beginning to list palm oil separately, but this alone is not enough. They need to ensure that the palm oil they use is sustainable and not harming orangutans. Promises that are being made are for 2015 and onwards. Those promises might come to nothing. The orangutan might not have that long.
The Plight of the Orangutan
Time is running out for the orangutans in the wild. These beautiful creatures are only found on the Indonesian islands of Borneo and Sumatra and it is predicted that they will be extinct in the wild within 10 years.
- Orangutan orphans at the Nyarau Menteng rescue centre
Orangutans are one of our closest relatives and share 97% of the same DNA as us. They show significant intelligence and the ability to think and reason. They make tools to help get food and water and even make umbrellas when it rains very heavily. In fact recent research shows that orangutans are the most intelligent animal, other than humans. They even have a higher learning capacity than chimps.
The largest threat to the orangutan is palm oil. This is becoming a common ingredient in everyday products such as margarine, chocolate, biscuits, toothpaste, cosmetics and biofuel. As its yields are high and profitable, large swathes of forests are being felled at an alarming rate to make way for palm oil plantations. 25 hectares are lost every minute.
The problem with palm oil is that it is not produced sustainably or with any environmental concerns. Not only is rainforest being cleared, but peatland being drained. As we all know trees and peat store carbon, so getting rid of these stores, releases vast quantities of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The natural rainforest stores 150-400 tonnes of carbon per hectare whereas the oil palm can only store 40-50 tonnes.
Currently manufacturers and shops do not have to list palm oil on their ingredients – it can be found under ‘vegetable oil’ which means that the consumer cannot make their own choice as to whether they eat or use products with palm oil in it. Recently when Cadbury’s in Australia and New Zealand announced that they were changing their recipe to include palm oil there was public outcry. It received so much adverse press attention that Cadbury’s backed down and have promised to revert to their original recipe, though they claim this is for taste reasons.
We should have the right to decide. Slowly some shops are beginning to list palm oil separately, but this alone is not enough. They need to ensure that the palm oil they use is sustainable and not harming orangutans. Promises that are being made are for 2015 and onwards. Those promises might come to nothing. The orangutan might not have that long.
The Orphans of Nyaru Menteng
28km from Palangka Raya in Borneo, lies a haven for hundreds of orangutans. Many of them are orphans, having lost their mothers to poachers or the palm oil industry. Usually a baby will stay with its mother until it’s 6years old – this is the longest time an animal, other than humans, stays with the mother. Even then, they infants won’t go far. An adult female only gives birth every 6-11years, which is why their numbers take a long time to recover.
Here are some of the individual characters for whom Nyaru Menteng has become home:
KESI
Kesi arrived at Nyaru Menteng when she was about 4months old. Her mother had been killed by a machete whilst Kesi clung on to her. The machete also injured Kesi and she lost her left hand. Despite her disability she makes great progress through the Forest School system and is a proficient tree climber.
GRENDON
Grendon was rescued from being kept as a pet by a police officer, who should have known better. His home was a small wooden crate, but despite this he arrived in 2006 in a relatively good shape. He is currently attending Forest School along with Kesi.
LOMON
Lomon also spent many of his early years cooped up in a wooden box, but didn’t fare as well as Grendon. When he arrived at the rescue centre he only weighed 1/3 of what he should. Over time he gained the weight and his confidence grew.
RUTHIE
After Ruthie’s mother was killed, Ruthie was kept as a pet. During this time she was ill-treated leading to both physical and mental scarring. Ruthie certainly has issues and frequently bites her classmates. This lead to her expulsion from Forest School until she can behave better. It’s not just the other orangutans she bites though, but her experiences have also made her a self harmer.
NODY
Nody also lost his mother but was rescued from a life of ill-treatment and thrives at Nyaru Menteng. He’s recently graduated from nursery to Forest School. Here he will learn new skills from his older classmates, skills that should have been taught by his mother.
If you would like to learn more about Nyaru Menteng and the orphans they look after, visit www.savetheorangutan.co.uk
On a lighter note – The Milk Bucket
You wouldn’t think that a simple bucket of milk would cause such a fuss!
This clip doesn’t get old, I just love it and it makes me chuckle! Enjoy.
Meeting the inspiring Lone Droscher Nielson
It is always a privilege to meet someone who inspires you and I had that rare opportunity last night at Woburn Safari Park. They held “An Evening with Lone Droscher Nielson”, and I was first on the list for a ticket –
in fact, I was pre-list as I have contacts at the Park. It was scheduled to be an hour’s talk, but it was nearer two and everyone sat spellbound. I thoroughly enjoyed every mome
nt, Lone spent time talking to everyone who wanted to talk and signed books. As usual, I became a bit tongue-tied when faced with someone I admire so much, but I hope I made a little bit of sense!
For anyone who doesn’t know, Lone is the founder and public face of the Nyaru Menteng Rescue & Rehabilitation Centre. She began her work 10years ago with the dream of helping the hundred or so orangutans who were in need of immediate help. The centre has gone from strength to strength but the demand for space in the nursery, forest schools and islands has grown beyond imagining. Currently there are 600 orangutans in their care and one day the majority will be released back into the wild into specially found release sites. 
Despite all the great work Lone has done and all the things she has achieved, she doesn’t feel successful – she told us that her dream hadn’t come true. She has not been able to release all the orangutans and solve all the problems they face in Indonesia. Her great wish is that there was no longer any need for centres such as hers and that all the orangutans were safe and in the wild. Lone is a humble lady, not only does she feel that she hasn’t achieved what she set out to do yet, but she was clear to reiterate that what she does in Borneo could not be done without her committed staff, many of which are local people passionate in the cause.
Lone has so many stories to tell about her experiences, but there was one story that will remain with me forever. Alma was an orangutan that came to the centre after living with a gold-miner. Unfortunately Alma had discovered one of the small bottles of mercury used in the process and had drunk it. At Nyaru Menteng they did everything they could for her, even sending her blood to the States and getting special medication that would bind the mercury together. Nothing, however, stopped it from getting to her brain. Alma was a very sick little orangutan and had to spend a lot of time on IVs in the infirmary. When she was fit enough she spent time in Lone’s house. She was one of the gentlest and calmest orangutans Lone has ever come across,she would play for hours in the kitchen cupboards taking out each pot and putting it on the floor. Whenever she came across a can of food she would take it through to the living room and hand it to Lone who would pretend to open it but not be able to. One day Alma brought in a can opener instead and Lone had no option but to show her what it did by opening a can of beans. Two weeks later after a further spell in hospital, Alma came back to Lone’s house and carried a can through to the living room. When Lone showed her she couldn’t open it, Alma went back into the kitchen and found the can opener! A while after this Lone went to visit her in the hospital and found her to be much more anxious and agitated than normal, trying to rip out her IV. Eventually Lone decided to take her out into the forest which she enjoyed doing when she was well enough. They spent a long time playing in the water which always made Alma laugh. Afterwards they went for a walk further into the forest where they sat down for a chat. Just as Lone decided it was time to go back Alma climbed up into her lap and slowly went to sleep. She never woke up. At some level, this beautiful orangutan must have known what was going to happen and had decided how she wanted to spend her time. She hadn’t made a fuss to get out of the hospital until the person she saw as her best friend arrived and then she decided that’s who she wanted to spend time with. I can say there were quite a few people in the room wiping their eyes at the end of this story – including me!
Lone went on to explain about the palm oil problem. Until about 2003, Lone and her team were making some progress with the logging companies and things were starting to look up for the orangutan. Then palm oil exploded 
onto the scene and the problem intensified. Logging did not mean great amounts of forests being completely felled – some trees remained standing and the forests had chance to regenerate. Orangutans could live in these forests and the new trees fruited better than older ones. A balance could be found. Palm oil plantations, however, decimate the landscape. Rainforest the size of 300 football pitches are lost every hour and are replaced by the monoculture of oil palms. This is not just devastating news for the orangutan, but all wildlife. Between 80-100% of wildlife is lost when palm oil moves in and never returns to the plantations. This is a shocking figure, particularly when palm oil is heralded as a “green oil”, that will one day soon start filling our cars as biofuel.
Sadly, with palm oil being in at least 1 in 10 supermarket products, there is no way even an active boycotter could avoid palm oil completely. There are however, solutions. Some palm oil that is being produced is done so sustainably. Many companies claim that there just isn’t a large enough supply and that it would cost too much for the consumer. Currently there is 2 million tonnes of sustainable palm oil being stored in Hull and Rotterdam – only 19% has been brought. In addition to this a recent BBC programme Britain’s Really Disgusting Food (available to watch on iplayer) investigated how much it would cost the consumer if manufacturers began using sustainable palm oil. The resulting increase would be 0.5p on a Mars Bar. I’m sure that the manufactures could cope with swallowing that cost themselves whilst using it as a great PR move, but even if they weren’t prepared to, 0.5p on a bar of chocolate is not going to stop people from buying it.
Despite all the problems Lone, her team and the orangutans are facing, there is still hope for the species and certainly for the rescued and rehabilitated orangutans of Nyaru Menteng. In March they plan to release 100 orangutans which involves plane and helicopter flights, several staff to carry the orangutans, radio monitoring equipment and so on. There is so much work to be done in order to release even one orangutan, including finding the appropriate sites and working with logging and mining companies as well as the government. Each release will cost approximately £3000 so they urgently need our help. If you would like to learn more about the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation or donate to their work, please visit www.savetheorangutan.co.uk
Michelle Desilets & the Orangutan Land Trust
Another inspiring woman involved with the battle to save the orangutan (who probably doesn’t get the credit she deserves) is Michelle Desilets and she also spared us her valuable time at Woburn.
Michelle’s interest for the great apes began at school when she watched films featuring Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey and Birute Galdikas and she remained fascinated by the apes’ behaviour. She learnt about them, their habitat and what challenge they faced.
Her dream to see apes in the wild became reality when she visited East and Central Africa, coming face to face with wild gorillas. In 1994 she visited Borneo when she volunteered at the Tanjun Puting National Park. Michelle returned later to look after the orangutan orphans that came in to the project.
In 1997, Michelle and her best friend Lone Droscher Nielson began to look into the possibility of building a centre in Central Kalimantan to give refuge and hope to the ever increasing numbers of orphaned orangutans. They sought advice from Dr Willie Smits and secured financial backing. With this support the Nyaru Menteng Orangutan Reintroduction Project began.
Michelle didn’t get complacent or stop working. She h
as continued to be active and a leader of international campaigns to help the orangutan, including campaigns about repatriating smuggled orangutans, illegal trade and supporting sustainable palm oil.
She has now been working in orangutan conservation for more than 15 years and she was the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation UK. Now she has set up the Orangutan Land Trust, an organisation that is making it possible to secure and protect both future release sites for orangutans and their existing habitat. These are some of the other activities carried out by OLT:
- Funds forest rangers / anti-logging operations
- Supports alternative livelihoods and sustainable uses of foorest in exchange for their protection in cooperation with local communities
- Supports fire-fighting efforts in orangutan habitat
- Supports reforestation and regeneration activities
- Works with palm oil companies to set aside more than the required conservation areas
- Creates wildlife corridors
- Develops education, outreach and empowerment to communities living in orangutan habitat areas
- Lobbies local and national authorities to protect orangutan habitat.
Here’s some of the ways how the Orangutan Land Trust is funded:
- Carbon funding/offset agreements
- Fees paid into Orangutan Friendly Palm Oil logo
- Fundraising events
- Grants from government & grant-giving agencies
- Sponsorship from corporations and other groups, including zoos
- And obviously public donations
If you would like to be in at the start of what looks to be another amazing project set up by Michelle, then visit the website at www.forests4orangutans.org to see what you can do.
