Sumatran Orangutan Society - Helping to save the critically endangered Sumatran orangutan
Last updated 30/06/2008 09:14:32
The Sumatran orangutan has been classified as "Critically Endangered" by the IUCN, the World Conservation Union.
The population of wild Sumatran orangutans has declined drastically from over 12,000 in 1994 to less than 7,000 today. There are less than 900,000 hectares of orangutan habitat remaining on the island of Sumatra.
The Sumatran orangutan population is declining by as many as 1000 per year. Current estimates suggest that they could become extinct in the wild in less than 10 years. The major threats to the survival of orangutans are habitat loss and the illegal pet trade.
The decline of the orangutan in Borneo and Sumatra in recent years symbolises the devastation of one of the world's biodiversity hotspots - the lowland rainforests of Southeast Asia.
Across the orangutans' entire range, conversion of forests to oil palm plantations is occurring on a massive scale, logging continues even within protected areas, and planned road networks threaten to fragment the habitat of the last viable populations. These factors are responsible for the loss of over 80% of orangutan habitat over the last 20 years.
Indonesia has one of the highest tropical forest loss rates in the world. The rate of deforestation is showing no sign of slowing down: around 15 years ago an average 1.7 million hectares was cleared annually in Indonesia, increasing to 2 million hectares by 2000.
Orangutans are a "keystone" species for conservation. They play an important part in forest regeneration through the fruits and seeds they eat. Their disappearance may represent the loss of thousands of species of plants and animals within their rainforest ecosystem.
The world's remaining primary forests are essential to human wellbeing, and the key to a healthy planet is biodiversity - saving orangutans helps to conserve the countless other mammal, bird, reptile, amphibian, insect, plant and other species that live in the Indonesian rainforest.