{"id":18112,"date":"2018-08-22T11:52:49","date_gmt":"2018-08-22T11:52:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/?p=18112"},"modified":"2022-08-03T08:59:33","modified_gmt":"2022-08-03T06:59:33","slug":"emma-thompson-if-we-want-to-save-orangutans-from-extinction-we-need-to-save-their-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/story\/18112\/emma-thompson-if-we-want-to-save-orangutans-from-extinction-we-need-to-save-their-home\/","title":{"rendered":"Emma Thompson: \u201cIf we want to save orangutans from extinction we need to save their home\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The first time I saw an orangutan in real life, I nearly peed with fright. I heard a great commotion in the trees above me and there he was, swinging through the branches, his huge plate-shaped face staring down at me. <\/span><\/p>\n\n

\"Orangutan
A wild female orangutan, Rosa, looks for fruits on a tree at Gunung Palung National Park, a protected area in Kalimantan
\u00a9 Jurnasyanto Sukarno \/ Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

It was a terrifying experience, which is just how it should be. These creatures are wild animals and our lives were never supposed to become so closely entwined with theirs. As I stood, rooted to the spot, he came lower to get a better look. His expression was so human-like I felt he could have begun talking at any moment. If he had, I\u2019m quite sure he would have said, \u201cWell done. No really, the mess you\u2019ve created is quite incredible\u2026 and you guys are supposed to be the intelligent ones.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n

We met \u2013 this orange-haired, long-armed character and me \u2013 in a sanctuary in Kalimantan. So our encounter wasn\u2019t how it should have been at all. Sanctuaries are where the lucky ones end up, but it\u2019s far from ideal. They\u2019re limited to an area of forest too small for their usual range, reduced to relying on humans to survive. But it\u2019s a thousand times better than the treeless wasteland they\u2019re most often rescued from. <\/span><\/p>\n\n

Orangutans on the brink of extinction<\/b><\/h2>\n\n

Natural rainforest, the primary habitat of orangutans, is being destroyed throughout Indonesia<\/a> and replaced with oil palms by greedy plantation companies. Their fruits are harvested to make cheap vegetable oil that ends up in over half the products on our supermarket shelves.  <\/span><\/p>\n\n

Rescued orangutans, robbed of their home, their independence, and frequently their family, are cared for by the most remarkably dedicated of people but resources are slim. Sanctuaries are overcrowded and rescues are stressful and upsetting for all concerned.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

\"Orangutan
A keeper hugs an orangutan living at Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation in Nyaru Menteng, Central Kalimantan
\u00a9 Bjorn Vaugn \/ BOSF \/ Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

For each animal that survives, many more die. Rescue work is vital but it\u2019s a last resort and a losing battle unless the problem is tackled at the source. There are no two ways about it – if we want to save orangutans from extinction we need to save their home.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

Palm oil can be made without destroying rainforests<\/b><\/h2>\n\n

Greenpeace is working hard to make brands clean up their palm oil supply chains<\/a>. By forcing big brands to buy palm oil only from companies that can prove they\u2019ve no links to deforestation, we can finally create lasting change within the industry.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

Brands must take responsibility <\/b><\/h2>\n\n

Nearly a decade ago, some of the biggest brands on the planet, including Unilever, Nestle and Mondelez (now parent company of Cadbury\u2019s), among others, promised to end their part in tropical deforestation<\/a> by 2020.  Now, they have less than 500 days left to make that promise a reality. <\/span><\/p>\n\n

Despite now having \u2018no deforestation\u2019 policies, which is a huge step forward from a decade ago, no large company has managed to reject suppliers still guilty of producing \u2018dirty\u2019 palm oil (by which we mean oil grown on newly deforested land).<\/span><\/p>\n\n

\"Deforestation
Deforestation for palm oil in Central Kalimantan
\u00a9 Kemal Jufri \/ Greenpeace\u00a0<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

What they\u2019ve done instead, is to rely on the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil<\/a> (RSPO), an industry body responsible for certifying the \u2018clean\u2019 stuff. But time and time again the RSPO has been exposed<\/a> for turning a blind eye to producers and traders breaking the rules. <\/span><\/p>\n\n

In June, Greenpeace linked the world\u2019s largest palm oil trader, Wilmar, an RSPO board member and supplier to all the brands named above, to the destruction of rainforest totalling twice the size of Paris. This can\u2019t go on. <\/span><\/p>\n\n

Forests are the lungs of the planet<\/b><\/h2>\n\n

In the last 16 years, 100,000 orangutans have died<\/a> mainly due to deforestation. Some are shot dead by frightened farmers after straying out of the drastically diminished forest on to agricultural land. Others starve due to loss of habitat, fall as the tree they\u2019re clinging to is bulldozed to the ground, or suffocate and burn in forest fires deliberately started to clear land for planting. <\/span><\/p>\n\n

\"Orangutan
A stranded orangutan clings to a solitary tree in a palm oil clearing in West Kalimantan
\u00a9 Alejo Sabugo \/ International Animal Rescue Indonesia<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

As well as orangutans, Sumatran tigers, rhinos and elephants have all dramatically declined. And people are suffering too. Conflict over land is causing violence, human rights abuses are rife<\/a> and Indigenous Peoples are losing their homes. In the last 25 years a forest area the size of the\u00a0 UK<\/a>\u00a0has been lost in Indonesia. This undermines all our efforts to tackle climate change and affects us all. <\/span><\/p>\n\n

For too long, big brands and the palm oil companies they buy from have been getting away with murder \u2013\u00a0 I mean that quite literally. And for too long our response to orangutans has been, \u2018ohhh, the poor things\u2019 as we\u2019re shown photographs of them orphaned, thin and at death\u2019s door. But change is possible \u2013 we can make it so.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

\n<\/lite-youtube>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n

Watch Rang-tan<\/b><\/h2>\n\n

When Greenpeace asked me to narrate a new short film<\/a> – an animation designed to underline the problem and highlight the power we all have to help our ginger-haired cousins – I didn\u2019t hesitate. It\u2019s just the start of a new global campaign<\/a> to tackle this problem once and for all.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

500 days may not seem long but my hope is that by collectively making a noise, demanding answers and forcing change, we can stop feeling sorry for these beautiful creatures. Instead, we can feel that exhilarating mixture of fear and fascination as witnesses of these iconic beasts living truly wild once more.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\n

Emma Thompson is an Oscar-winning actor, activist and screenwriter from London, United Kingdom<\/em><\/p>\n\n

Guest authors work with Greenpeace to share their personal experiences and perspectives and are responsible for their own content.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For too long, big brands and the palm oil companies they buy from have been getting away with murder \u2013\u00a0 I mean that quite literally. And for too long our response to orangutans has been, \u2018ohhh, the poor things\u2019 as we\u2019re shown photographs of them orphaned, thin and at death\u2019s door. But change is possible \u2013 we can make it so.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":18113,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_planet4_optimize_post_is_variant":false,"_planet4_optimize_experiment_name":"","_planet4_optimize_variant_name":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"p4_og_title":"","p4_og_description":"","p4_og_image":"","p4_og_image_id":"","p4_seo_canonical_url":"","p4_campaign_name":"not set","p4_local_project":"not set","p4_basket_name":"not set","p4_department":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70],"tags":[84],"p4-page-type":[59],"class_list":["post-18112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nature","tag-forests","p4-page-type-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/32"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18112"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18112\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":55039,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18112\/revisions\/55039"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18112"},{"taxonomy":"p4-page-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/international\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/p4-page-type?post=18112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}