http://www.smh.com.au/environment/conservation/orangutans-backyard-under-threat-20090519-bdr2.htmlOrang-utan's backyard under threat
May 19, 2009
A massive new logging operation in Indonesia could devastate the backyard of an Australian-born orang-utan released into the Sumatran wilderness, conservationists have warned.
Temara was released into Sumatra's Bukit Tigapuluh National Park in 2006 after growing up at Perth Zoo.
The 16-year-old is the only Australian zoo-bred orang-utan ever released into the wild.
But conservation groups, including WWF, believe companies Asia Pulp and Paper and Sinar Mas Group were recently granted a licence to fell much of the remaining natural forest that surrounds the national park - about 300,000 hectares.
If the companies' plans to convert the forest into pulp and paper plantations go ahead, it will severely weaken the national park's ecosystem, they say.
It will also devastate a population of about 100 orang-utans, many of them reintroduced, that Temara was sent to be with.
Leif Cocks, president of the Australian Orang-utan Project, says Temara won't herself be threatened because local villagers have been trained and employed to monitor her and ensure she's safe.
"But she's gone up there to assist in the establishment of a population of orang-utans, and most of these animals have settled into what we call the buffer zone around the park, where they are vulnerable," Cocks said.
Peter Pratje from the Frankfurt Zoological Society said it had taken scientists decades to discover how to successfully reintroduce critically endangered orang-utans from captivity into the wild.
"It could take [Asia Pulp and Paper] just months to destroy an important part of their new habitat," he said.
"These lowland forests are excellent habitat for orang-utans, which is why we got government permission to release them here beginning in 2002.
"The apes are thriving now, breeding and establishing new family groups."
The unprotected forest is also essential habitat for an estimated 100 of the last 400 critically endangered Sumatran tigers left in the wild. And it is home to about 50 endangered Sumatran elephants.
Green groups want the national park extended to cover unprotected areas.
The Australian Orang-utan Project has written to the Australian Government, asking for its help to protect the area.
"We're after the long-term sustainability of the ecosystem and the future welfare and ongoing economic prosperity of the local communities," Cocks said.
"These goals shouldn't be compromised by the short-term greed of large companies for the profit of a few."
It's estimated that almost half of Sumatra's natural forests have been cleared in the past 22 years, legally and illegally.
AAP
