The orangutan, part of the great ape family, may quickly become
part of another group of animals: the extinct.
One factor in the decline of the orangutan population is the
increased use of palm oil, a product found in many snack foods,
cosmetics and detergents. Palm oil comes from the fruit of the
African oil palm tree, and much of the orangutan’s native habitat
is being destroyed to make way for more oil palm plantations.
The orangutan, part of the great ape family, may quickly become part of another group of animals: the extinct.
One factor in the decline of the orangutan population is the increased use of palm oil, a product found in many snack foods, cosmetics and detergents. Palm oil comes from the fruit of the African oil palm tree, and much of the orangutan’s native habitat is being destroyed to make way for more oil palm plantations.
The demand for palm oil has increased in the United States with the Food and Drug Administration’s recent crackdown on food made with “trans fats,” or fats produced with hydrogenated oils, which can raise cholesterol. The best alternative for companies often has been palm oil, which contains saturated fat but is trans-fat-free.
As fewer orangutans survive in the wild, the United Nations, among other groups, is predicting the extinction of the animal in as few as five to 10 years. Others say the future may not be quite so dire.
“I think that ‘they’ll be gone’ is probably too extreme, but … at the current rate there’s going to be a rapid depletion,” says Wayne Sowards, founder of the Orangutan Conservancy. “Wild populations will no longer be self-sustaining, and they’ll become more and more fragmented, having less opportunity to maintain genetic diversity.”
But there are solutions, or at least sustainable ways, to help the orangutan.
Here’s a look at the threats to the animal, the locations that are at risk, why palm oil is so popular and how consumers can get involved.
How many orangutans are there in the world?
Many people can see one of these great apes at the local zoo, but orangutans living in the wild are concentrated in two places: Borneo and Sumatra. While the great apes used to be common throughout southern Asia, they now survive only in these two places, according to Friends of the Earth, an organization representing the world’s largest federation of environmental groups. There are 45,000 to 69,000 wild orangutans in Borneo and just 7,300 in Sumatra, according to a February U.N. study.
How is palm oil a threat?
The palm oil plant itself is not killing the orangutan; rather it’s the clearing of land in its habitat for such plantations that is doing the real harm, including logging and slash-and-burn deforestation.
According to the U.N. study, 37 of 41 national parks in Indonesia have been spots for illegal logging. Many loggers go into the rainforests to cut down trees and then put up palm oil plantations to meet reforestation regulations, according to the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta. An alternative approach, according to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs, Colo., is to use degraded lands that are ready for palm oil cultivation, without any further deforestation.
Slash and burn, a land-clearing technique done through cutting and burning forested lands, also is being used to make way for palm oil plantations. In 1997, according to Friends of the Earth, one fire was so extensive it destroyed about 12.5 million acres of land and wiped out almost a third of Indonesia’s orangutan population.
The U.N. report states that in 2006 neighboring countries Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and Thailand “urged Indonesia to do more to stop the annual fires because the regions’ citizens suffer both economic losses and health problems from the resultant haze.”
But how much of the forest is really being destroyed?
The U.N. report found that between 1985 and 1997, the Sumatran forests were reduced by 61 percent. It also estimated that by 2020 almost 98 percent of the Indonesian forest will be destroyed.
What happens to the displaced orangutans?
Orangutans removed from their habitats face dire situations. Some end up wandering into towns, where fearful locals sometimes kill the apes, according to Sowards of the Orangutan Conservancy. Others are taken to centers such as the Nyaru Menteng Orangutan Rehabilitation Center in Borneo, where workers care for the displaced apes in hopes of eventually releasing them into the wild. But, it is becoming more difficult to find land where the orangutans can be released once they are rehabilitated, Sowards says.
Are other animals at risk?
Yes. While orangutans are appealing due to their charismatic nature and similarities to humans, Nicole Meese, an animal keeper in the primate and panda unit at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., says there are other animals that are harmed as well. She notes animals such as tigers, rhinos, Asian elephants and other species would be helped by saving the habitats in Malaysia and Borneo.
Do the countries recognize this as a problem?
The government of Malaysia does not agree with all of the statements being made about the degradation to the environment, as Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, the deputy prime minister of Malaysia, made clear in recent comments to Bernama, Malaysia’s national news service. While the Malaysian Palm Oil Board declined to comment, Najib said to Bernama, “It’s not true. There is an underlying motive, which is to hurt the interest of the oil palm industry.
That is the real intention.” He also says that the government strives to participate in sustainable practices, a goal also stated on the MPOB’s Web site.
What products contain palm oil?
It would be hard to travel through the grocery store and not pick up something that contains palm oil. Palm oil can be easy to find if you simply check the ingredients of your products. Cheyenne Mountain Zoo says the following popular items often contain palm oil:
– Lowfat dairy products (they usually have vitamin A palmitate, which is made using palm oil)
– Cookies
– Cosmetics
– Frozen dinners
– Potato chips
While it’s found most commonly in supermarket items, palm oil is also quickly becoming an attractive biofuel, an alternative energy source with increasing popularity in the fight against global climate change.
Is palm oil healthier?
As mentioned earlier, palm oil has become the quick replacement for hydrogenated oils because it contains no trans fats. Meese, from the National Zoo, is quick to point out that this does not mean it’s good for you, noting its high saturated fat content.
What can consumers do to help?
Cutting out palm oil completely would not only have a negative economic effect on Malaysia and Indonesia, it would also be difficult considering the prevalence of palm oil in food and household items.
“Initially the push was not to use palm oil at all,” Meese says. “But people that live in Indonesia, that’s how they make their livelihood. You want people to benefit, but you also don’t want to disrupt the animal’s habitat. The key is to have that balance, not to not use foods that contain it at all, but to support companies that have taken initiative to have it sustainable in that habitat.”
In order to more easily allow consumers to spot companies using these sustainable practices, The Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil, a group that includes producers, buyers, retailers and financial organizations, released a set of criteria necessary for the sustainable production of palm oil in 2005. The World Wildlife Federation is urging companies to adopt these criteria.
