Take Action for Forests: 3 campaign alerts from Sumatran Orangutan Society
1) Save Tripa, Save Orangutans
Thanks to the worldwide outcry for the Indonesian government to put an end to the destruction of the Tripa peat swamp forests, home to hundreds of orangutans, one company has been kicked off the land – a fantastic result. But there are still five more companies operating in Tripa, clearing protected forests and putting orangutans at risk! Please sign a new petition, calling on Indonesia’s National Police to build on all the progress made so far and put an immediate end to the destruction. 2) Urgent campaign on European biofuels policy The President of the European Commission wants to reduce biofuel use in our petrol tanks, but is under a huge amount of pressure from the biofuels industry to change his mind. Please sign this petition to urge him to stick to his guns! Burning food crops (including palm oil) for fuel is a huge new source of demand which will lead to even more rainforests being trashed. Please sign and share widely. 3) UK bioenergy policy The UK Government’s Chief Scientific Advisor, Professor Sir John Beddington, has said, “Cutting down rainforest to produce biofuel crops is profoundly stupid.” Yet the Government is proposing to increase the amount of biofuels being burned in UK power stations – and this is being subsidised through our fuel bills! As well as endangering rainforests and orangutans, and being worse for the climate than fossil fuels, this also pushes up the price of food worldwide. Please call on new energy minister, John Hayes, to abandon these dangerous subsidies. |
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Ponderings of a Perplexed Primate 
From Maria Rally:
Hi All,
I can’t thank you enough for signing this critical petition and wanted to give you some amazing news. As I write this (7:30pm New York Time, Tuesday October 23), a fiercely dedicated group of orangutan advocates is walking into an unprecedented meeting with palm oil magnates to state our collective demands for the enactment and implementation of genuine wildlife and rainforest protections.
They flew to Indonesia to take a stand for orangutans during this vital week, when such crucial decisions may be made that could seal the fate of so many voiceless creatures. A meeting like this is a first, virtually unheard of in the region, so while we need to keep our expectations measured, the fact that it’s happening at all is seminal.
Please join and support one or all of the groups run by this small band of dedicated crusaders who pour so much of their lives and personal funding into saving Indonesia’s precious ecosystem for nothing more than the love of its beauty and, above all, the future of the orangutan. An easy way to jump into the mix is on Facebook, of course. Look for Friends of Borneo, Orangutan Outreach, Friends of the Orangutans, and Orangutan Land Trust, for starters.
These people have inspired me and so many others to join their righteous cause and we can never have too many friends. Hope to see you there!
Maria Rally
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