|
Oil Boom Threatens the Last Orang-utans |
 |
|
Tuesday, 23 June 2009 19:21 |
|
A famous British company, Jardines, is profiting as the lowland forest - which shelters the few remaining orang-utans - is razed to make way for massive palm oil plantations, reports Kathy Marks in Tripa, Indonesia. Perched halfway up a tree near a bend in the Seumayan River, a young orang-utan lounges on a branch, eating fruit. In the distance, smoke rises from an illegal fire, one of dozens lit to wipe out the virgin rainforest and replace it with oil palm plantations. It's burning season on Indonesia's Sumatra island, where vast tracts of vegetation are being torched and clear-felled to meet the soaring global demand for palm oil. The pace is especially frenzied in the peat swamp forests of the Tripa region, one of the final refuges of the critically endangered orang-utan - and a company owned by one of Britain's most venerable trading groups is among those leading the destructive charge. Read the whole article at The Independent website...
|
