Over a hundred thousand orangutans killed by palm oil
Over a hundred thousand orangutans killed by palm oil
In order to make room for the cultivation of palm oil, the orangutans of Borneo have seen, in little more than 15 years, their population of about 150,000 individuals.
The population of these animals is decimated every day by hunters and farmers, who kill them (with machetes) when they venture into the plantations. But their trespassing is now increasingly determined by the wild deforestation that is practiced to make way for the cultivation of oil palm. This process is likely to become exponential, when the reduction of their natural habitat results in the need for these animals to find nourishment.
According to the latest surveys, the number of orangutans left in Borneo seems to be now estimated at between 70 and 100 thousand (with a halving between 1999 and 2015).
If the process continues in this direction, there could be a further loss of 45 thousand copies over the next 35 years and perhaps even more because, in addition to the loss of habitat, killings must be taken into account.
The orangutans are in fact hunted with brutal killing and this typical animal of Malaysia and Indonesia is now considered “critically endangered” by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
The implementation of agriculture, once again unsustainable and strongly desired by the multinationals, is demolishing the forests of Borneo with the loss in some areas of local populations of oranges up to 75%.
But there is more, and on this there are no studies in this regard: the hydrogeological and climatic conditions, due to this human folly, will fall right on the inhabitants of the place. Farming techniques and the use of pesticides will trigger a domino effect on soil and on an agro ecosystem with ecological and social consequences that are difficult to quantify today.
What we have to wait before local governments and intergovernmental organizations intervene. Where are these topics in electoral programs and campaigns?
Guido Bissanti