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Proboscis monkey group of at least ten at
dusk
Photo credit: Anna Nesbit
(Click on Photo to enlarge)
Proboscis monkeys, also called Bekantan,
received the nickname “monyet belanda”
(“Dutch Monkey”) for the resemblance first
noticed when Dutch colonizers arrived in
Borneo, characterized by large bellies and
noses. Up to 1999, proboscis monkeys were
listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN, but as
their population numbers have estimated to
decrease more than 50% (but less than 80%)
in the last 36-40 years, they have been
categorized as Endangered since 2000.
Proboscis monkeys are also a protected
species and their trade is restricted under
Appendix I of CITES. There are estimated to
be less than 20,000 proboscis monkeys
remaining in Borneo, but
due to their specific
habitat requirements, proboscis monkeys are
effectively restricted to forest strips
along rivers and the interlinking waterways
of swamp forests and coastal mangroves.
Although the total population size for
proboscis monkeys is an estimated 20,000, it
is comprised of many small, isolated
populations.
Although fires, hunting and illegal wildlife
trade all are threats to proboscis monkeys,
the major threat is habitat destruction.
Waterways are typically the first areas to
be disturbed by people, as they can provide
a source of fuel, shelter, food and income.
Deforestation
in Borneo is occurring at 1.7% a year,
although it can reach as much as 7.92% in
mangrove forests.
Even living in a
protected area does not guarantee survival
for proboscis monkeys. Despite an estimated
5,000 proboscis monkeys living in protected
areas, entire populations still lose their
habitat and die. Twenty years after
establishing the Pulau Kaget Nature Reserve,
in Indonsian Borneo (Kalimantan), 90% of the
island had been cleared for agriculture,
only providing narrow strips of forests
surrounding the clearings for proboscis
monkeys. This led to the remaining trees
dying from over-use by proboscis monkeys, as
they were forced to survive in these narrow
strips. The end result was that proboscis
monkeys began to die, forcing the remainder
of the population to be moved to unprotected
areas or zoos, where many died on route or
following arrival. Protected lowland forests
in Kalimantan decreased by 56% from 1985 to
2001, and by 2001, 53% of the remaining
protected lowland forests in Kalimantan were
overlapping with concessions and
plantations.
Fire is used throughout Borneo for shifting
cultivation and large-scale forest
conversion in plantations and land
clearance. The high rate of deforestation
occurring in Borneo is causing the land to
dry out, making normally controlled fires
much more severe, resulting in large fires
occurring approximately once every five
years. This frequency however is increasing
as degraded
forests and previously burned forests are
susceptible to more severe and damaging
fires, moving through previously burned
forests faster and more intensely.
A major cause for the
high levels of deforestation occurring in
Borneo, and the increase in fire severity
and frequency, is due to the demand of palm
oil worldwide. Palm oil is derived from the
seeds of oil palms, and is used in everyday
products, such as a vegetable oil in foods
(margarine, bread, chips, cereal, cookies,
chocolate, chewing gum, etc.), and other
products such as cosmetics, soaps, shampoos,
and toothpaste (it makes these products
lather!).
Indonesia and Malaysia
are the top producers of palm oil, and the
demand is only increasing. The increase in
demand cannot be met with the current number
of oil palm plantations, but only by
increasing the total area of plantations.
This would require existing forests to be
cut down, as land used for other plantations
(rubber, cocoa) has become limited and
expensive for oil palm conversions.
The amount of suitable
land available for oil palm plantations is
also declining and less ideal land is being
explored – such as draining deep peat swamp.
The movement into less ideal land increases
the difficulty in reaching sustainable
developments in the oil palm industry.
Palm oil is a massive
industry, which will not slow down or stop
any time soon. There has been positive steps
taken by the Indonesian government stating
that new plantations cannot be issued in
currently forested areas, and we need to
keep this pressure on governments (including
our own) so this is maintained. We need to
stick our noses into these issues to really
learn what is going on and how we can help.
Reducing the demand for unsustainable
palm oil is crucial so that our funny nosed
friends, the proboscis monkeys, will still
have a home in the next 15-20 years.
Take Action
- Read the ingredients of what
you are buying
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Other names for
palm oil (taken from
www.palmoilaction.org.au):
Sodium Laureth Sulphate (Can also be
from coconut)
Sodium Lauryl Sulphates (can also be
from ricinus oil)
Sodium dodecyl Sulphate (SDS or NaDS)
Palmate
Palm Oil Kernal
Palmitate
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Cosmetics
Elaeis
Guineensis
Glyceryl Stearate
Stearic Acid
-
Chemicals which
contain palm oil
Steareth -2
Steareth -20
Sodium Lauryl Sulphate
Sodium lauryl sulfoacetate (coconut
and/or palm)
Hydrated palm glycerides
Sodium isostearoyl lactylaye (derived
from vegetable stearic acid)
Cetyl palmitate and octyl palmitate (and
anything with palmitate at the end)
- Educate yourself more on
palm oil and the issues surrounding it.
There is plenty of information online, as
well as documentaries available to watch.
- Tell everyone you know about
palm oil!!! Most people don’t realize what
is happening!
- Write to your
supermarkets, or to food/
cosmetic companies and ask them where they
get their palm oil from and pressure them to
obtain it from a sustainable source. Palm
oil can also be listed as just vegetable
oil, so if unsure, still write the company
and ask if palm oil is included as
“vegetable oil”
-
Support organizations involved
in reconnecting forests, especially those
along rivers, as they provide an important
link for many different species.
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