W

e write to respond to your Nov. 2, 2011 article titled “Orangutans killed for meat in Kalimantan”. The journalist reporting on this issue has inaccurately interpreted the facts and the findings we presented to the media. We take exception in particular to the article’s title.

Your reporting misconstrues the issue and it complicates efforts to solve the existing challenges in orangutan conservation.

Overcoming those problems requires strategic decisions and policies on land use, species protection, and sustainable development. The intention of the survey is not to point fingers on who takes the blame for the disappearing orangutan.

We reported the findings of a 17-month study in Kalimantan in which a consortium of 19 non-government organizations interviewed 6,972 people in 698 villages in Kalimantan. The goal of the survey was to better understand the social factors that underlie the threats to remaining wild orangutan populations in Kalimantan.

Among other things, we enquired about conflicts that occur between people and orangutans. The resulting answers showed that such conflicts are most frequent in areas of rapid deforestation. This forces orangutans and people in to closer interaction, and pushes the former into people’s gardens and into plantations. This sometimes leads to the killing of orangutans.

Orangutan killing can also occur when people go hunting in forests, normally seeking favored species such as pigs and deer, but when such species are not encountered, and instead orangutans were found, this can lead to orangutan killing.

These facts differ significantly from the tenet of your article. Your statement that “691 Borneo orangutans were slaughtered in Kalimantan – most of which were eaten by residents” significantly misrepresents the nuanced findings that we reported. In addition, your statement about people in Kalimantan “harvesting orangutan meat to make traditional medicine” is plainly untrue.

There is no famine in Kalimantan and people are not killing orangutans in desperation because there is nothing else to eat or because there is a demand for orangutan-based medicine.

Orangutan conservation, as stipulated by Indonesian laws and policies, is the responsibility of all Indonesians. It requires that government, companies, and people work together to maintain Kalimantan’s and Sumatra’s forests where orangutans and many other species reside. It also requires that people understand that killing orangutan is illegal and should no longer be an option.

The media play a major role in creating better environmental awareness among Indonesia’s people. We hold The Jakarta Post coverage on environment issues in high regard and hope it continues to play this role through accurate and constructive reporting.

Sri Suci Utami Atmoko, Perhappi
Niel Makinuddin, TNC
Erik Meijaard, PNC