Tasmanian conservationists marked the occasion of World Orangutan day today by demonstrating outside the head office of Ta Ann, a Sarawak logging and palm oil company.
Huon Valley Environment Centre’s spokesperson Jenny Weber states, “Ta Ann have been proven to be responsible for clear-cutting vast swathes of Orangutan habitat in Sarawak. In 2013 Ta Ann’s CEO and chief shareholder Hamed Sepawi stated that the ‘palm oil industry in Sarawak, and in neighbouring Indonesia, was far more sustainable than given credit for. Further he claimed that oil palm plantation is reforestation and not deforestation of tropical rainforest.”
“The evidence against the palm oil industry for its part in the mass slaughter of orangutan and other endangered species is as overwhelming as it is compelling,” Jenny Weber said.
“Today we will pay tribute to the people in Borneo Malaysia and Indonesia who are on the frontline of protecting and rescuing this species. Here in Tasmania we will remind people that Ta Ann has a shameful record of responsibility for sending the Orangutan to the brink of extinction,” Jenny Weber said.
“In Malaysia and Indonesia, palm oil is now the primary cause of permanent rainforest loss. Unchecked expansion has pushed palm oil plantations into the heart of some of the world’s most culturally and biologically diverse ecosystems and palm oil is among the biggest threats driving iconic wildlife species like the Critically Endangered Sumatran orangutan and the Endangered Borneo orangutan to the brink of extinction in Indonesia and Borneo Malaysia,” Jenny Weber said.
“Ta Ann is a large palm oil company in Sarawak, and along with other logging companies, they are responsible for the rampant deforestation that has endangered Borneo orangutans. Reports suggest that Sarawak has about 3,000 orangutans left and their prospects for survival look bleak. Sarawak has lost more than 90% of its primary forests to logging and has the fastest rate of deforestation in Asia,” Jenny Weber said.
“World Orangutan Day is a massive gathering of people from all over the world to celebrate the orangutan and the people that protect them. We must not sit around watching this magnificent species being driven to extinction by deforestation linked inextricably to the rapid spread of palm oil plantations in both Malaysia and Indonesia,” Jenny Weber said.
“World Orangutan Day offers a chance to focus worldwide attention on the palm oil industry and its destructive habits, taking a moment to consider what we can do to save the orangutan from extinction,” Jenny Weber said.
“Ta Ann are now entrenching their role in the loss of endangered species habitat here in Tasmania, whilst being giving millions of dollars by the Australian government. Under a Federal Labor or a future Liberal Government, Ta Ann who are directly responsible for the plight of the Orangutan, are being bestowed a role in the Australian logging industry. This is shameful, and we will not accept it,” Jenny Weber said.
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