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Study: Orangutan populations declining sharply

By MICHAEL CASEY, AP Environmental Writer
Sat Jul 5, 6:05 AM ET

Orangutan numbers have declined sharply on the only two islands where
they still live in the wild and they could become the first great ape
species to go extinct if urgent action isn't taken, a new study says.

The declines in Indonesia and Malaysia since 2004 are mostly because
of illegal logging and the expansion of palm oil plantations, Serge
Wich, a scientist at the Great Ape Trust in Iowa, said on Saturday.

The survey found the orangutan population on Indonesia's Sumatra
island dropped almost 14 percent since 2004, Wich said. It also
concluded that the populations on Borneo island, which is shared by
Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia, have fallen by 10 percent. Researchers
only surveyed areas of Borneo that are in Indonesia and Malaysia.

In their study, Wich and his 15 colleagues said the declines in Borneo
were occurring at an "alarming rate" but that they were most concerned
about Sumatra, where the numbers show the population is in "rapid
decline."

"Unless extraordinary efforts are made soon, it could become the first
great ape species to go extinct," researchers wrote.

The number of orangutans on Sumatra has fallen from 7,500 to 6,600
while the number on Borneo has fallen from 54,000 to around 49,600,
according to the survey on the endangered apes, which appears in this
month's science journal Oryx.

"It's disappointing that there are still declines even though there
have been quite a lot of conservation efforts over the past 30 years,"
Wich said.

Indonesia and Malaysia, the world's top two palm oil producers, have
aggressively pushed to expand plantations amid a rising demand for
biofuels which are considered cleaner burning and cheaper than petrol.

Wich and his colleagues said there was room for "cautious optimism"
that the orangutan could be saved, noting recent initiatives by
Indonesian leaders.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono announced a major
initiative to save the nation's orangutans at a U.N. climate
conference last year, and the Aceh governor declared a moratorium on
logging.

Coupled with that are expectations that Indonesia will protect
millions of acres of forest as part of any U.N. climate pact that will
go into effect in 2012. The deal is expected to include measures that
will reward tropical countries like Indonesia that halt deforestation.

"There are promising signs that there is a lot of political will,
especially in Aceh, to protect the forest," Wich said, adding however
that much more needs to be done.

Michelle Desilets, founding director of Borneo Orangutan Survival
Foundation UK, praised the study for offering the first comprehensive
look at the species population.

"What matters is that the rate of decline is increasing, and unless
something is done, the wild orangutan is on a quick spiral towards
extinction, whether in two years, five years or 10 years," Desilets
said in an e-mail.

In their paper, the researchers recommended that law enforcement be
boosted to help reduce the hunting of orangutans for food and trade.
Environmental awareness at the local level must also be increased.

"It is essential that funding for environmental services reaches the
local level and that there is strong law enforcement," the study says.
"Developing a mechanism to ensure these occur is the challenge for the
conservation of the orangutans."

The study is the latest in a long line of research that has predicted
the orangutans demise.

In May, the Center for Orangutan Protection said just 20,000 of the
endangered primates remain in the tropical jungle of Central
Kalimantan on Borneo island, down from 31,300 in 2004. Based on that
estimate, it concluded orangutans there could be extinct by 2011.