Orangutans are Protected but Not Protected
Despite their
protected status, orangutans continue to be captured and held illegally.
Monitoring patrols conducted by GPOCP from January-November 2012,
especially in coastal areas, identified 10 such cases of orangutans
being illegally held in captivity. Our program partner, International
Animal Rescue Indonesia (YIARI), also identified and rescued additional
orangutans from various districts throughout West Kalimantan during the
same time period (January-November 2012). As of November, there were 57
orangutans at the YIARI center, consisting of 34 juveniles and 23
adults. Many of these cases of captive orangutans come from communities
that are situated adjacent to palm oil plantations, and some of the
captive individuals come directly from the plantations themselves.
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| Baby orangutan being held in village shed |
Human Orangutan
Conflict (HOC) is becoming a more common occurrence, largely arising
from the activities conducted by resource extraction industries such as
oil palm and mining companies. Conflicts lead to orangutan death, injury
or rescue. Even in the cases of rescue, many organutans have already
suffered injury. Oil palm plantation companies are supposed to carry out
an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) to identify the presence of
orangutans in concession areas. These assessments should lead to
mitigation measures that reduce conflict within the area. However, there
is often little or no monitoring of the implementation of the EIA
itself.
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| Illegal logging inside Gunung Palung National Park |
Some companies,
under the pretext of "rescuing" orangutans, hand over individuals they
find within their concessions to conservation organizations. However, if
wild animals and plants are within the concession area it is the
responsibility of the concession managers to protect the species if
necessary, rather than eject them from the area.
Additionally, weak
law enforcement further undermines the protections that have been put
in place. To date, not a single case of the orangutans rescued in 2012
have been taken forward legally. This lack of legal action means there
is little deterrent for people breaking wildlife laws. Seeing as threats
to orangutans continue, it is imperative that these issues continue to
be brought to the attention of the various stakeholders involved in
their protection, including the government, NGOs, the private sector and
the local communities. In order to ensure a place for orangutans in
their natural habitat the protections that have been developed thus far
must be implemented consistently and properly.
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