Wednesday, October 29, 2008

A Safe Sanctuary for Ah Meng’s Cousins

Amidst the carnage in the world’s financial markets, it’s good to know that some people are still worried about things other than money. In Malaysia, conservationists are going to purchase land from palm oil producers so that they could create a forest sanctuary to protect Borneo's orangutans, pygmy elephants and other endangered wildlife.

The idea is to create a safe area for the animals and also help stave off the demise of the orangutans, whose numbers have dwindled sharply in recent years. Research show that about 5,000 orangutans have been lost every year since 2004 and the reason for this is mainly due to illegal logging and the rapid spread of palm oil plantations in Malaysia and Indonesia. Conservationists believe that buying 222 acres of tropical jungle land in Sabah from palm oil operators will solve this problem.

I’m not sure if it will solve the problem, but I think this is a great idea. The purchased territory will link two sections of a wildlife reserve that is home to a vast array of other animals, including an estimated 600 orangutans. A safe sanctuary could be just what the doctor ordered for Ah Meng’s cousins in the wild.

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