24th Session of UNEP’s Governing Council / Global Ministerial
Environment Forum 5-9 February 2007
Nairobi, 6th February 2007-- The tropical forests of South
East Asia, important for local livelihoods and the last
home of the orangutan are disappearing far faster than experts
have previously supposed according to a new Rapid Response
report from The UN Environment Programme.
The report says that natural rainforests of Sumatra and
Borneo are being cleared so rapidly that up to 98% may be
destroyed by 2022 without urgent action. The rate of loss,
which has accelerated in the past five years, outstrips
a previous UNEP report released in 2002 at the World Summit
for Sustainable Development (WSSD) Then, experts estimated
that most of the suitable orangutan habitat would be lost
by 2032.
The illegal logging, driven by global demands, accounts
for tens of millions of cubic metres annually and an estimated
more than 73% of all logging in Indonesia. Approximately
20% of the logs are smuggled directly out of Indonesia,
the remaining is used to support an extensive international
and local wood industry, and then exported to the international
markets by well-organized, but elusive commercial networks.
New satellite imagery reveals that the illegal logging
is now entering a new critical phase: As the demands grow,
the industry and international market are running out of
cheap illegal timber and are now entering the national parks
where the only remaining timber available in commercial
amounts is found.
Satellite images confirm, together with data from the Indonesian
Government, that illegal logging is now taking place in
37 out of 41 national parks, and likely growing. “At current
rates of intrusions, it is likely that some parks may become
severely degraded in as little as three to five years, that
is by 2012”, says the new study “The last stand of the orangutan:
State of emergency.”
Overall the report is concluding that loss of orangutan
habitat is happening at a rate up to 30% higher than previously
thought. The report, compiled by a wide range of experts,
is being launched at UNEP’s 24th Governing Council/Global
Ministerial Environment Forum. Here, close to 100 environmental
ministers and state secretaries are meeting under the theme
of globalization – environmental risks and opportunities
Indonesia is active in fighting illegal logging and has
worked with a series of international programmes and initiatives
to reduce the logging. However, says the report, while many
of these initiatives are valuable, they require the assistance
of the international community to stop the demands for illegal
timber, and they are also mainly long/term in effect. In
response, the Indonesian government has on several occasions
in recent years directly used support from the Navy and
Army to arrest, confiscate timber and drive companies out
of the parks.
Recently, the Indonesian government has launched perhaps
one of the most promising initiatives in recent years, namely
the training of specially equipped ranger units (SPORC)
to protect the parks.
Achim Steiner, UN Under Secretary General and UNEP Executive
Director, said: “Globalization is generating unprecedented
wealth and lifting millions out of poverty. But in this
case, the illegal logging is destroying the livelihoods
of many local people dependent upon the forests while it
is also draining the natural wealth of Indonesian forest
resources by unsustainable practices. The logging at these
scales is not done by individual impoverished people, but
by well-organized elusive commercial networks“.
“National Parks form a cornerstone in the 2010 target to
reduce the rate of biodiversity loss and are also so valuable
for eco-tourism and in generating new livelihoods. Their
protection is vital to these international goals and to
the entire concept of protected areas”.
He called on governments and the international community
to assist the Indonesian authorities with the equipment,
training and particularly funding needed to enforce and
patrol their national parks from illegal loggers.
H. E. Rachmat Witoelar, Indonesia’s environment minister
and outgoing president of UNEP’s Governing Council, said;
“We are currently in an unequal struggle over illegal logging,
which in the medium to long-term could be won through certification
processes. Such processes can help global consumers choose
between sustainably produced wood and palm-oil products
and those produced illegally and unsustainably”.
He said that the government was acting in the short term
with counter measures including through the development
of Ranger Quick response Units to counter illegal forest
destruction. “However, the challenge of policing and enforcing
Indonesia’s vast parks is immense and rangers have currently
little access to ground vehicles, boats, arms, communications
or aerial surveillance such as planes or helicopters. In
35 of our national parks we have over 2000 rangers but they
have to patrol an area of over 100,000 km2”
The scale of illegal logging, including into national parks
is likely to increase not only in Indonesia, but also in
other parts of Asia, Africa and Latin-America. “The situation
is now acute”, says Christian Nellemann, leader of the Response
team. “The recent Indonesian initiatives on law enforcement
will require the necessary scale, financial and logistical
support in order to stop the extent of this illegal logging.
If successful, the Indonesian experiences gained in the
coming years may substantially improve our ability to protect
national parks and fight illegal logging in other parts
of the World“.
The report is prepared by GRASP, the Great Ape Survival
Partnership lead by UNEP and UNESCO in collaboration with
a wide range of NGOs.
Note to Editors:
Bornean and Sumatran orangutans are classed as Endangered
and Critically Endangered and are listed on Appendix 1 of
the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered
Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
Recent estimates suggest there are between 45,000 and 69,000
Bornean and no more than 7,300 Sumatran orangutans left
in the wild.
The orangutans share their habitat with a wild range of
other threatened and ecologically important species including
the Sumatran tiger, Sumatran rhinoceros and Asian elephant.
UNEP and the UN Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation
(UNESCO) have launched the Great Apes Survival Project (GRASP)
in response to growing concern over the plight of the orangutan,
chimpanzee, bonobo and gorilla.
The report “Last stand of the orangutan: State of emergency”
can be downloaded at www.grida.no or at
www.unep.org/grasp/docs/2007Jan-LastStand-of-Orangutan-report.pdf
or www.globio.info including high and low resolution graphics
for free use in publications.
Nick Nuttall, UNEP spokesperson,
