Apes in Space: Saving an Imperilled Orangutan Population in Sumatra

Deforestation rates in Sumatra are amongst the highest in the tropics. Lowland forests, which support the highest densities of orangutans, are particularly vulnerable to clearance and fragmentation because they are highly accessible. Consequently, many orangutans will, in the future, live in strictly or partially isolated populations. Whilst orangutans have been extensively studied in primary forests, their response to living in human-dominated landscapes remains poorly known, despite it being essential for their future management. Here, we focus on an isolated group of critically endangered Sumatran orangutans (Pongo abelii) that co-exist with farmers in a mixed agroforest system consisting of degraded natural forest, smallholder (predominantly rubber) farms and oil palm plantations. Over 24 months we conducted the first ever spatial assessment of orangutan habitat use in the human-transformed landscape of Batang Serangan, North Sumatra. From 1,204 independent crop-raiding incidents recorded, orangutans showed strong foraging preference for mixed farmland/degraded forest habitat over oil palm patches. The core home range areas of the eight adult orangutans encompassed only 14% of the available study area. Monthly home range sizes averaged 423 ha (±139, SD) for males, and 131±46 ha for females, and were positively influenced by wild and cultivated fruit presence, and by crop consumption. The average daily distance travelled was similar for both adult males (868 m±350, SD) and females (866 m±195), but increased when orangutans raided crops. These findings show that orangutans can survive, demographically, in certain types of degraded landscapes, foraging on a mixture of crops and wild fruits. However, the poor quality habitat offered to orangutans by oil palm plantations, in terms of low food availability and as a barrier to female movements, is cause for concern since this is the land use type that is most rapidly replacing the preferred forest habitat across both Sumatran and Bornean orangutan ranges.

http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0017210

16/02/2011
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The Cambodian government has approved a mine that environmentalists and locals fear will harm wildlife, pollute rivers, and put an end to a burgeoning ecotourism in one of the last pristine areas of what Conservation International (CI) recently dubbed 'the world's most threatened forest'. Prime Minister, Hun Sen, approved the mine concession to the United Khmer Group, granting them 20,400 hectares for strip mining in Cambodia's Cardamom Mountains. The biodiverse, relatively intact forests of the Cardamom Mountains are a part of the Indo-Burma forest hotspot of Southeast Asia, which CI put at the top of their list of the world's most threatened forests. With only 5% of habitat remaining, the forest was found to be more imperiled than the Amazon, the Congo, and even the forests of Indonesia and Malaysia.

http://news.mongabay.com/2011/0215-hance_cambodia_titanium.html

15/02/2011
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Wildlife law enforcement officials of the Nde Divisional Delegation of Forestry and Wildlife in the West Region, on February 4, 2011 tracked and rounded up a chimpanzee dealer while he tried to make business with his booty - a live baby chimpanzee. He was about to sell the little baby chimpanzee when wildlife law enforcement officials of the Divisional Delegation working in collaboration with the Forces of Law and Order and with the technical support of LAGA - an international organisation specialised in wildlife law enforcement, surrounded and netted him in.

http://www.laga-enforcement.org/

14/02/2011
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Plans for a controversial biofuel plant in Bristol have been given the go-ahead by the government.

An application by W4B to build the power station at Avonmouth was refused by city councillors in February 2010.

But Eric Pickles, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government has approved it on appeal.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-12439191

12/02/2011
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By Richard Black Environment correspondent, BBC News

A major palm oil producer is joining forces with environmental campaigners in a bid to ramp up forest protection.

The giant Indonesian company Golden Agri-Resources (GAR) has agreed to work within new standards aimed at saving forests that store a lot of carbon.

International environment group The Forest Trust (TFT) is partnering the company and will monitor compliance.

The palm oil industry has regularly been accused of destroying old-growth forest as demand rockets.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12397427

09/02/2011
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Chicago Sun-Times | February 2011

First the Lincoln Park Zoo sounded the alarm Monday concerning Careerbuilder.com's decision to use chimpanzees in its Super Bowl TV spot Sunday. Zoo officials said putting chimps in commercials makes the public think chimps aren't an endangered species, when, in fact, they are.

08/02/2011
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