As promised, here’s a post on Orangutan Outreach, which director Richard Zimmerman pointed out to me in a comment to an earlier post.
The primary purpose of Orangutan Outreach is to preserve orangutans in their native habitat, and to rehabilitate orangutans held captive illegally. There’s more to it than that, of course, but that is why I refer the reader to their website.
If I’ve read correctly, the main threat to orangutan survival is posed by palm oil production. Palm oil is an ingredient of dozens of household products, as well as the basis for certain biofuels. The production of palm oil has lead to deforestation on a breathtaking scale in many countries, the displacement of millions of people, and the threat of extinction of orangutans, probably among others. The Orangutan Outreach page has information on what everyone can do to reduce this threat.
The page has a staggering wealth of information, pretty much all of which on topics I had never heard of. As I read over it, I began to reflect that, in this day and age, there is no excuse for this kind of ignorance. The continued existence of humanity is under threat from dozens of directions. All these issues can be remedied if action is taken, and all stem in some way from human activity. Further, information on all of these problems is freely available online.
I can easily think of one reason why ignorance of these issues persists. Reading about a small subset of these issues, for instance, has filled me with paralyzing fear. What can one person do in the face of all this? The answer is simple: one can do what one is capable of doing. If we all did that much, ensuring a bright future for humanity would be simple.
That’s enough confused babbling for today. Everybody head on over to Orangutan Outreach right now!
Tags: biofuels, Conservation, endangered species, indonesia, orangutan outreach, orangutans, palm oil
Allusions of Grandeur 
May 7, 2008 at 6:24 am |
Thanks so much for the kind words and helping us spread the word about the evils of palm oil.
One person can make a difference! Just do the right thing and tell all your friends!
Greenpeace just had an incredibly successful campaign against Unilever (a palm oil giant) and publicly shamed them into changing their policy.
This Sunday (Mother’s Day in the US) Orangutan Outreach is partnering with around 25 zoos across North America to celebrate MOM– Missing Orangutan Moms. Our goal with the campaign is to teach people about the devastating effects palm oil is having on orangutans– not to mention 1000s of other species– along with the entire rainforest ecosystem, which is to say, the whole planet!
It may seem like a daunting task…. but together we can affect change!
Thanks again….. Best, Rich
Richard Zimmerman
Director, Orangutan Outreach
http://redapes.org
Reach out and save the orangutans!