orangutans news from mongabay.com

Sarawak to protect population of rarest orangutan sub-species

2013-04-10T17:13:00Z

After facilitating large-scale logging and conversion of extensive areas of rainforest habitat, the government of Sarawak says it will protect a population of up to 200 of the world’s rarest Bornean orangutans recently identified during field surveys by conservationists, reports the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).

Conservation scientists: Aceh's spatial plan a risk to forests, wildlife, and people

2013-03-22T15:44:00Z

A group of biologists and conservation scientists meeting in Sumatra warned that potential changes to Aceh's spatial plan could undermine some of the ecological services that underpin the Indonesian province's economy and well-being of its citizens. After its meeting from March 18-22 in Banda Aceh, the Asia chapter of the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation (ATBC) issued a declaration [PDF] highlighting the importance of the region's tropical forest ecosystem, which is potentially at risk due to proposed changes to its spatial plan.

New palm oil concession imperils orangutan population in Borneo

2013-01-28T21:38:00Z

Three conservation groups warn that a proposed palm oil plantation puts a significant Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) population at risk in the Malaysian state of Sabah. The plantation, which would cover 400 hectares of private forest land, lies adjacent to Kulamba Wildlife Reserve, home to 480 orangutans.

Complaint filed with palm oil body over orangutan rescue case

2012-11-29T14:45:00Z

Conservationists have filed a complaint against an Indonesian palm oil company for allegedly clearing an area of forest that contained orangutans. Earlier this month, the Sumatran Orangutan Society (SOS) filed a complaint against PT Sisirau for allegedly breaching the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil's rules on sparing high conservation value forest. PT Sisirau is a member of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), a multistakeholder body that sets criteria for more environmentally responsible palm oil production.

Great apes suffer mid-life crisis too

2012-11-19T20:44:00Z

Homo sapiens are not alone in experiencing a dip in happiness during middle age (often referred to as a mid-life crisis) since great apes suffer the same according to new research in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). A new study of over 500 great apes (336 chimpanzees and 172 orangutans) found that well-being patterns in primates are similar to those experience by humans. This doesn't mean that middle age apes seek out the sportiest trees or hit-on younger apes inappropriately, but rather that their well-being starts high in youth, dips in middle age, and rises again in old age.

Borneo may lose half its orangutans to deforestation, hunting, and plantations

2012-11-13T14:55:00Z

Borneo will likely lose half of its orangutans if current deforestation and forest conversion trends continue, warns a comprehensive new assessment by an international team of researchers. The study, published in the journal PLoS ONE, overlays orangutan distribution with land use regulations in Malaysian and Indonesian Borneo. Borneo has suffered high rates of deforestation, logging, and forest conversion for industrial plantations in recent decades, endangering the world's largest surviving populations of orangutans.

Rehabilitated orangutans in danger if industrial project proceeds in Borneo

2012-10-22T14:35:00Z

The proposed extension of an industrial area in East Kalimantan, Indonesia will likely mean the end of a population of rehabilitated orangutans who reside there, according to the Indonesian environmental group Peduli Teluk Balikpapan. The Kariangau Industrial Area (KIK) will comprise 5,130 hectares of land currently covered by hardwood forests and mangroves when completed, including one third of orangutan habitat in Sungai Wain forest—a crucial portion that is not within the boundaries of the Sungai Wain Protection Forest and therefore not under any governmental protection.

Is your Halloween candy linked to rainforest destruction?

2012-10-11T19:22:00Z

A campaign by the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo hopes to raise awareness about the link between Halloween candy and deforestation in Indonesia and Malaysia. Employing the images of Critically Endangered orangutans, the zoo urges consumer to only buy candy containing eco-certified palm oil by the Round Table on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).

Dollar General drops APP due to rainforest destruction concerns

2012-10-11T00:59:00Z

U.S. retailer Dollar General has stopped sourcing paper products from controversial brand Asia Pulp and Paper (APP), according to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) which has targeted 20 companies for selling APP-sourced tissue and paper towels. APP has been under fire for years for deforestation on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, the last home to the Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae), Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii), and Sumatran elephant (Elephas maximus sumatranus), each of which is listed as Critically Endangered by the IUCN Red List.

Photos: camera traps capture wildlife bonanza in Borneo forest corridor

2012-09-10T17:56:00Z

Camera traps placed in a corridor connecting two forest fragments have revealed (in stunning visuals) the importance of such linkages for Borneo's imperiled mammals and birds. Over 18 months, researchers with the Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) and the Danau Girang Field Centre (DGFC) have photographed wildlife utilizing the corridor located in the Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary in Malaysian Borneo.

Panda vs. orangutans: With native species at risk, Malaysia's panda bear project a boondoggle

2012-07-20T18:50:00Z

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak's plan to spend nearly $16 million (50 million Malaysian ringgits) to lease two baby pandas from China for ten years is a waste of money and resources at a time when its own native species are suffering from a range of threats, warned a leading Malaysian conservationist in an open letter.

Scientists propose a new way forward on orangutan conservation

2012-07-16T17:18:00Z

Orangutans are in dire need of a revised conservation approach, according to a new study in the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. While the plight of the species is widely recognized within the conservation community—receiving international attention in the form of scientific research, funding, and NGO efforts—the authors argue that "there has been frustratingly little progress."

Pictures: mama and baby orangutan saved from palm oil developers

2012-05-19T04:24:00Z

A mother orangutan and its baby were rescued from an area of forest that was being bulldozed for an oil palm plantation in Sumatra, reports the Orangutan Information Centre (OIC), which participated in the translocation of the red apes.

Noel Rowe: all the world's primates "in one place"

2012-05-14T13:53:00Z

Spanning the gamut from mouse lemurs to mountain gorillas, All The World’s Primates is a comprehensive database of primate species. Founded in 2004 by Noel Rowe and Marc Myers and designed primarily to aid scientists and college students in primatology research, ATWP is also readily accessible to anyone who would like to know a little more about primates. The database is continually updated when new species are discovered; from its inception in 2004 until 2010, 58 new species had been added to the site. In addition to discoveries made by primatologists in the field, All The World’s Primates compiles information from the latest genetic studies. The site also includes photos and videos of many species, and was recently expanded to include a visual key for identification.

Picture: Orangutan rescued from peat forest endangered by palm oil, fires

2012-04-18T18:56:00Z

Conservationists today rescued an adult male orangutan from a pocket of forest in Tripa, an area of deep peat that is at the center of battle over Indonesia's commitment to reducing deforestation.

Green groups may call for boycott of Indonesian palm oil over forest destruction in Sumatra

2012-04-11T21:47:00Z

Environmental groups are escalating their battle over an area of peat forest in Tripa, Sumatra that has been granted for oil palm plantations.

Governor of Aceh who signed palm oil permit: plantation in Tripa "morally wrong"

2012-04-05T22:36:00Z

The former governor of Aceh, Irwandi Yusuf, told The Sydney Morning Herald today that an oil palm plantation he approved was "not wrong legally, but wrong morally." Irwandi, who is currently seeking re-election, signed off on the hugely controversial plantation in deep peat forest last August, but the issue came to a head this week as satellite images showed a dozen fires burning in the concession area known as Tripa. Environmental groups, which are running an online campaign, warn that the burning is imperiling an important population of Critically Endangered Sumatran orangutans (Pongo abelii).

Featured video: the battle for Tripa is about people too

2012-04-05T18:32:00Z

Environmentalists have largely focused on the plight of orangutans as fires burn in Aceh, Sumatra to clear rainforest for a hugely controversial palm oil plantation, however as the video above highlights, local people will also feel the impacts of the destruction of forest for palm oil.

Environmentalists, orangutans lose court case over palm oil

2012-04-03T16:50:00Z

Environmentalists were handed a set back in a dispute over a palm oil plantation granted in a protected peat swamp that is home to a population of critically endangered orangutans, reports the Aceh Globe and the Sydney Morning Herald.

Fires raging in peat forest at center of legal case in Indonesia

2012-03-27T09:06:00Z

Fires are burning in a peat forest that is the center of contentious court case.

Palm oil case against 'Green Governor' in Indonesia heats up

2012-03-22T00:43:00Z

Environmental activists have launched an urgent appeal calling for a 'just decision' in a court case that has pitted Aceh's 'Green Governor' and palm oil developers against efforts to save endangered orangutans in a Sumatran peat forest. In letters directed toward judges weighing the case in Sumatra's Aceh Provice, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the country's REDD+ authority, the World Bank, and the Governors' Climate and Forests Task Force (GCF), a coalition of conservation groups says the outcome of the case could have substantial implications for efforts to conserve Indonesia's remaining forests and peatlands.

Investigation links APP to illegal logging of protected trees

2012-03-01T18:59:00Z

A year-long undercover investigation has found evidence of Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) companies cutting and pulping legally protected ramin trees, a practice that violates both Indonesian and international law. Found largely in Sumatra's peatswamp forests, the logging of ramin trees (in the genus Gonystylus) has been banned in Indonesia since 2001; the trees are also listed under Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and thus require special permits to export. The new allegations come after APP, an umbrella paper brand, has lost several customers due to its continued reliance on pulp from rainforest and peatland forests in Sumatra.

National Geographic linked to rainforest destruction

2012-03-01T18:32:00Z

A new report by Greenpeace has found a direct link between National Geographic Society (NGS) products and rainforest destruction in Indonesia that threatens tigers and orangutans. An analysis on National Geographic books found Sumatran rainforest fiber from Asia Pulp and Paper (APP), a brand whose suppliers have been linked to rainforest destruction in Sumatra, and, in the most recent Greenpeace report, alleged illegal logging of protected rainforest trees. One of the world's largest non-profit science and educational organizations, National Geographic is known worldwide for its magazines, documentaries, and award-winning photos. The organization also has a long-standing history of championing environmental and conservation issues. However, National Geographic says it has not sourced APP paper for "several years."

Busted: orangutan trafficker prosecuted and sent to prison in Sumatra for the first time

2012-02-23T18:40:00Z

For the first time in Medan, North Sumatra, an orangutan trader has been prosecuted and sent to prison for trafficking in the endangered apes, reports the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).

Wild orangutans to watch film about orangutans

2012-02-22T15:52:00Z

Born to be Wild 3D, an IMAX documentary in part about the plight of orphaned and injured Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus), will soon be aired in the rainforest that inspired it. Producer Drew Fellman is setting up a screen in the rainforest to screen the film for orphaned orangutans. "They came to be like members of the crew," Fellman told the Associated Press.

The camera trap revolution: how a simple device is shaping research and conservation worldwide

2012-02-14T14:21:00Z

I must confess to a recent addiction: camera trap photos. When the Smithsonian released 202,000 camera trap photos to the public online, I couldn’t help but spend hours transfixed by the private world of animals. There was the golden snub-monkey (Rhinopithecus roxellana), with its unmistakably blue face staring straight at you, captured on a trail in the mountains of China. Or a southern tamandua (Tamandua tetradactyla), a tree anteater that resembles a living Muppet, poking its nose in the leaf litter as sunlight plays on its head in the Peruvian Amazon. Or the dim body of a spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta) led by jewel-like eyes in the Tanzanian night. Or the less exotic red fox (Vulpes vulpes) which admittedly appears much more exotic when shot in China in the midst of a snowstorm. Even the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca), an animal I too often connect with cartoons and stuffed animals, looks wholly real and wild when captured by camera trap: no longer a symbol or even a pudgy bear at the zoo, but a true animal with its own inner, mysterious life.

Feared extinct, obscure monkey rediscovered in Borneo

2012-01-20T00:30:00Z

A significant population of the rarely seen, little-known Miller's grizzled langurs (Presbytis hosei canicrus) has been discovered in Indonesian Borneo according to a new paper published in the American Journal of Primatology. Feared extinct by some and dubbed one of the world's 25 most threatened primates in 2005 by Conservation International (CI), the langur surprised researchers by showing up on camera trap in a region of Borneo it was never supposed to be. The discovery provides new hope for the elusive monkey and expands its known range, but conservationists warn the species is not out of the woods yet.

Featured video: plight of orangutans highlighted with new rock song

2012-01-17T18:39:00Z

An Indonesian rock band, Navicula, is highlighting the plight of orangutans in their native country through a new song entitled, aptly, "Orangutan." The band has created a music video for the song, including footage of a documentary, Green: The Film that follows a starving female orangutan named Green. The band "dedicated the song to encourage people to do more in orangutan conservation, to protect this endangered species."

Indonesia grants exemption from logging moratorium for 3.6m ha of forest

2011-12-21T01:58:00Z

Indonesia exempted 3.6 million hectares of forests and peatlands from protected status under its two-year moratorium on forest concessions, according to a revised version of its moratorium map released near the end of climate talks in Durban. The new Indicative Map includes 10.7 million hectares of peatlands, down from 15.5 million hectares in the previous version of the map that defines areas off-limits for new concessions. Some 1.2 million hectares of previously unprotected "primary forest" has been added to the moratorium area, resulted in a net decline of 3.6 million hectares under the moratorium, according to analysis by Daemeter Consulting, an Indonesia-based forestry consultancy.

Palm oil, pulp companies commit to zero-tolerance policy for orangutan killing

2011-12-06T23:55:00Z

Two Indonesian plantation companies have signed an agreement to train workers not to kill or injure orangutans and other protected species. The agreement was brokered by the Indonesian government between Orangutan Foundation International (OFI), a non-profit with operations in Central Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo, and two major plantation firms: PT Smart, one of Indonesia's largest palm oil producers, and PT Lontar Papyrus, which supplies wood-pulp to Asia Pulp & Paper (APP). Both companies are holdings of the Sinar Mas Group. Under the terms of the deal, OFI will assist the companies 'in delivering a best management practices training program on orangutans and endangered species for its employees, affiliates and pulpwood suppliers.'

Eat like an orangutan to save rainforests

2011-11-30T22:18:00Z

One doesn't have to be a scientist or a government official to help save the world's vanishing rainforests, one can also be a chef. World-renowned chef Andre Chiang has added a new item to his menu called Orangutan Salad, reports the Wall Street Journal, which he hopes will raise awareness for the endangered apes at his Singapore eatery, Restaurant Andre. The new salad gives restaurant-goers the chance to enjoy all the subtle, earthy tastes of a typical orangutan meal, including ferns, tree fungi, figs, berries, orchid leaves, and durian flowers.

Orangutans in Indonesian Borneo doomed to extinction?

2011-11-14T04:04:00Z

A new study finds orangutans in Indonesian Borneo in unprotected areas are being killed at a rate faster than what population viability analysis considers sustainable. Conflict between orangutans and humans is worst in areas that have been fragmented and converted for timber, wood-pulp, and palm oil production, but hunting is occurring in relatively intact forest zones away from industrial development.

How fruit defines Borneo

2011-08-01T15:57:00Z

Among conservationists and biologists, the mega-island of Borneo is a sort of Mecca. Its rich plant and animal biodiversity, as well as high degree of endemism (unique species found nowhere else) make it a naturalist's dream. There is one aspect of this biological richness which applies to the wellbeing and happiness of all of Borneo’s residents, human and animal, in a very direct way: fruit. From wild forest berries to juicy cultivated rambutans, fruit permeates the ecology, landscape and culture of Borneo. On the island there are over 70 wild fruit trees species and around 45 cultivated species that are consumed by people (1). Science has certainly not yet documented all the fruit consumed by wildlife, but we know that the total must be over 500 species.

WWF partnering with companies that destroy rainforests, threaten endangered species

2011-07-25T00:06:00Z

Arguably the globe's most well-known conservation organization, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), has been facilitating illegal logging, vast deforestation, and human rights abuses by pairing up with notorious logging companies in a flagging effort to convert them to greener practices, alleges a new report by Global Witness. Through its program, the Global Forest and Trade Network (GFTN), WWF—known as World Wildlife Fund in the US and Canada—has become entangled with some dubious companies, including one that is imperiling orangutans in Borneo and another which has been accused of human rights abuses in the Congo rainforest. Even with such infractions, these companies are still able to tout connections to WWF and use its popular panda logo. The Global Witness report, entitled Pandering to the Loggers, calls for WWF to make large-scale changes in order to save the credibility of its corporate program.

Google Earth animation reveals Indonesian forest targeted for destruction by pulp and paper companies

2011-05-14T23:02:00Z

A new animation created using Google Earth offers a tour of an area of forest slated for destruction by logging companies. The animation, created by WWF-Indonesia and David Tryse, with technical assistance from Google Earth Outreach, highlights the rainforest of the Bukit Tigapuluh landscape in Sumatra, the only island in the world that is home to Sumatran tigers, elephants, rhinos, and orangutans. All of these species are considered endangered or critically endangered due to habitat destruction or poaching.

Counting orangutans: the best way to survey the great apes

2011-03-28T16:27:00Z

How do you count orangutans when they are difficult to spot in the wild given that they are shy, arboreal, and few and far between? To find a solution, biologists have turned to estimating orangutan populations by counting their nests, which the great apes make anew every night. In order to make the most accurate count possible, researchers have studied the different factors that could impact the success, or lack thereof, of nest-counters in mongabay.com's open access journal Tropical Conservation Science.

Rehabilitated orangutans need guards in Borneo, says activist

2011-02-19T10:58:00Z

1,200 orangutans set for reintroduction into the wild in Indonesian Borneo will be immediately at risk from poaching and illegal logging, warned an orangutan welfare group.

Teaching orangutans to be wild – orangutan rehabilitation

2010-12-15T23:56:00Z

Michelle Desilets, Executive Director of the Orangutan Land Trust, spoke with Laurel Neme on her 'The WildLife' radio show and podcast about the process of rehabilitating orphaned orangutans and teaching them to be wild. This is the second in a two-part interview. The first part covered orangutan biology, habits and the interconnected threats, from the pet trade to habitat loss and expansion of oil palm plantations, facing these creatures. This second part focuses on what happens to surviving orangutans.

Primatologists: the best hope for apes is the best hope for us

2010-12-15T19:05:00Z

Distinguished conservation luminaries, eminent primate experts, ape-suited bucket wielders, a group of African drummers and nearly 1,500 people gathered in London last week for an evening of talks to shine the spotlight on the plight of apes and the forests in which they live, sending a strong message to the climate negotiators hammering out a REDD+ mechanism in Cancun. Hosted by conservation heavyweight Sir David Attenborough, Hope 4 Apes was something of a reunion of the first Hope 4 Apes event that took place ten years ago to raise awareness of -- and funding for -- ape conservation.

The problem-solving ape: what makes orangutans special and why they are threatened

2010-12-13T03:30:00Z

Michelle Desilets, Executive Director of the Orangutan Land Trust, spoke with Laurel Neme on her “The WildLife” radio show and podcast about orangutans. In the first part of her interview, they discussed orangutan biology, habits and the interconnected threats, from the pet trade to habitat loss and expansion of oil palm plantations, facing these creatures. The second part covers the process of rehabilitating orangutans and teaching them to be wild.

Logging concession could extinguish endangered Sumatran elephant population

2010-11-30T23:05:00Z

Local conservationists are urging the Indonesian government to halt the destruction of a 42,000 hectare forest in the renowned Bukit Tigapuluh Forest Landscape for a pulpwood plantation. According to researchers, the forest concession—owned by PT Lestari Asri Jaya, a subsidiary of Barito Pacific Group—contains the last population of Sumatran elephants (Elephas maximus sumatranus) in the Bukit Tigapuluh and approximately 5% of the island's total population. In a letter being sent to the Ministry of Forests, conservationists write that the destruction of the forest "would immediately lead to local extinction of elephants in Bukit Tigapuluh". They argue that given its ecological importance, the PT Lestari Asri Jaya forest concession should be placed under permanent protection.

Reforestation effort launched in Borneo with nearly-extinct rhinos in mind

2010-11-18T17:17:00Z

The Rhino and Forest Fund (RFF) has partnered with the Forestry Department of Sabah in northern Borneo to launch a long-term reforestation project to aid Malaysia's threatened species with particular emphasis on the Bornean rhino (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis harrissoni), one of the world's most imperiled big mammals. The reforestation project will be occurring in and adjacent to Tabin Wildlife Reserve, which is surrounded on all sides by oil palm plantations.

RSPO to recognize secondary forests as conservation priority

2010-11-12T18:38:00Z

The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), a body that sets environmental standards for palm oil production, has passed a resolution to reconfirm that secondary and degraded forests can classified as High Conservation Value (HCV) areas. The designation could increase the area of forest conserved within oil palm plantations provided it has high conservation significance, such as serving as habitat for endangered species like orangutans, Sumatran tigers, and rhinos.

Saving the best for last: a journey into the final phases of orangutan rehabilitation

2010-11-08T19:13:00Z

Rehabilitation is a powerful word these days. Fashionable, too. In wildlife conservation, rehabilitation can serve functions ranging from augmenting threatened animal populations to desperate attempts to save species from permanent extinction. At its base, rehabilitation consists of handling, preparing and releasing wild animals that have been in some way negatively affected by humans. Rehabilitation programs cover the globe (from cottage-scale sparrow and raccoon rescues in suburban parks to well-established raptor protection programs, wolf rehabilitation and public education about these wild predators in Colorado, semi-touristy rehabilitation centers in Thailand housing everything from gibbons to elephants, vet hospitals dedicated to flu-ridden bobtail lizards in Australia, and sexy lion and cheetah hubs in southern Africa which breed endangered serval cats). The motivations behind these programs are also diverse, but the umbrella goal is unified: to aid the continued survival, so often precarious, of animals valued by people.

Corporations, conservation, and the green movement

2010-10-21T17:32:00Z

The image of rainforests being torn down by giant bulldozers, felled by chainsaw-wielding loggers, and torched by large-scale developers has never been more poignant. Corporations have today replaced small-scale farmers as the prime drivers of deforestation, a shift that has critical implications for conservation. Until recently deforestation has been driven mostly by poverty—poor people in developing countries clearing forests or depleting other natural resources as they struggle to feed their families. Government policies in the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s had a multiplier effect, subsidizing agricultural expansion through low-interest loans, infrastructure projects, and ambitious colonization schemes, especially in the Amazon and Indonesia. But over the past two decades, this has changed in many countries due to rural depopulation, a decline in state-sponsored development projects, the rise of globalized financial markets, and a worldwide commodity boom. Deforestation, overfishing, and other forms of environmental degradation are now primarily the result of corporations feeding demand from international consumers. While industrial actors exploit resources more efficiently and cause widespread environmental damage, they also are more sensitive to pressure from consumers and environmental groups. Thus in recent years, it has become easier—and more ethical—for green groups to go after corporations than after poor farmers.

Environmentalists must recognize 'biases and delusions' to succeed

2010-10-18T19:30:00Z

As nations from around the world meet at the Convention on Biological Diversity in Nagoya, Japan to discuss ways to stem the loss of biodiversity worldwide, two prominent researchers argue that conservationists need to consider paradigm shifts if biodiversity is to be preserved, especially in developing countries. Writing in the journal Biotropica, Douglas Sheil and Erik Meijaard argue that some of conservationists' most deeply held beliefs are actually hurting the cause.

Orangutans can survive in timber plantations, selectively logged forests

2010-09-23T04:01:00Z

Selectively logged forests and timber plantations can serve as habitat for orangutans, suggesting that populations of the endangered ape may be more resilient than previously believed, reports research published in the journal PlosONE. The study, conducted by a team of researchers led by Erik Meijaard of Jakarta-based People and Nature Consulting International, found roughly equivalent population densities between natural forest areas and two pulp and paper plantation concessions in East Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo.

Gazprom, Shell and Clinton Foundation back rainforest carbon deal in Borneo

2010-08-24T20:29:00Z

A forest conservation project backed by Shell, Gazprom Market and Trading and the Clinton Foundation on the island of Borneo has won approval under a carbon accounting standard, reports Reuters.

APP refutes Greenpeace charges on deforestation, though audit remains absent

2010-08-12T20:20:00Z

Asia Pulp & Paper, which has long been a target of green groups for deforestation and threatening imperiled species, is touting a new audit the pulping company says finds allegations made by environmental NGOs, including Greenpeace and WWF, are "baseless, inaccurate, and without validity". Conducted by the international accounting and auditing firm Mazars, the audit itself has not been released; however Mazars has signed off on the validity of a 24 page document entitled "Getting the Facts Down on Paper".

Orangutan populations collapse in pristine forest areas

2010-08-12T05:53:00Z

Orangutan encounter rates have fallen six-fold in Borneo over the past 150 years, report researchers writing in the journal PLoS One. Erik Meijaard, an ecologist with People and Nature Consulting International, and colleagues compared present-day encounter rates with collection rates from naturalists working in the mid-19th Century. They found orangutans are much rarer today even in pristine forest areas. The results suggest hunting is taking a toll on orangutan populations.