International Orang-utan Day

The 19th August is International Orang-utan Day.

We all know, by now, that palm oil is in intensively farmed monocrop that is grown in the tropics. There are lots of people out there on social media calling for a boycott of this crop, as it rapidly increases in production in Borneo and Sumatra, the last refuges of orang-utans. Opinions are split, and the arguments on Twitter are heated and emotive. The only thing that seems certain is that it is a complex problem, without an easy solution. I've spent a lot of time reading the recent scientific papers, pondering, chatting to my colleagues and friends in the industry, and perusing the websites of organisations I trust. And the following is where I stand on the issue at the moment.

I think the best course of action for the consumer is to consider switching your products to those which include sustainable palm oil. I know some of you reading this would prefer to see a palm oil boycott, but the reality is that there is global demand for oil which will be met one way or another by the industry. Whilst we're waiting for the entire world to stop using oil crops(!), we might as well push to make what's currently in use as sustainable as possible.

As all of the alternative edible oilseed crops are less productive, a boycott would simply see a shift to an alternative which requires more land to produce.

The RSPO seem to be addressing several of the problems that have previously been highlighted with the initiative (I hear the phrases "sustainable palm oil doesn't mean anything" and "there are lots of problems with the RSPO" banded around in my line of work sometimes). It is also clear to me that a demand for sustainable palm oil (and I appreciate that a monoculture of any kind cannot be 100% sustainable) increases the motivation to improve the industry, which a boycott does not. Supporting initiatives such as the RSPO, whilst subjecting them to a healthy level of questioning and constructive criticism, pushes organisations to work together to find solutions that protect what we can whilst meeting the global demands for food and fuel.

I think it's great to make consumer choices that involve fewer processed products (which often contain oils such as palm), and choose locally sourced products for the good of the environment, and I'm in no way criticising anyone who is managing to sustain a palm-oil-free lifestyle, good on you! But I'm also supportive of any efforts to minimise the negative impacts of worldwide consumption on the environment, and aware that many of the alternative oils used in palm oil free products (and I'm talking here about something that contains an equivalent oil, not something like an apple!) are actually worse for our forests.

01 DEC 08

It's December 1st and this evening I get to open the first door of my CADBURY'S Advent calendar!!! It arrived from Mum last week, so Chloe and I each have a very squashed, slightly melted, but very Christmassy treat to lead us up to Christmas!

We returned back from our trip to Sukau last week, and since then have been writing up our field course reports from July. Yesterday afternoon, the monkeys that have been causing so much trouble at Zainal's house came to visit us outside the computer room. There were about twenty macaques sat on the grass, having an afternoon snack. Other wildlifey encounters incude Pumbaa the pig snuffling around the kitchen on a regular basis, and a particularly brave monitor lizard who had somehow made his way into the kitchen on Friday. Goodness knows how he got in, but he certainly left in a hurry!

In Sukau we discussed our work further and were able to go into the field to help collect the data. It was really nice to catch up with our new friends there again, including Haji who let slip to Boss Benoit about the existence of this webpage, so I'll have to be a bit more careful now... (Don't worry Benoit, your Centre's in good hands!) During our stay, we saw a large, flanged male orangutan and two mother and baby pairs. We were also lucky enough to see a group of elephants at a very close range. They weren't at all bothered by our presence after a little while and carried on munching away at the vegetation and destroying every small tree they came across. From the small clearing we found them in, they then headed for an oil palm plantation, where we witnessed them stripping several palms of their leaves and demolish an electric fence. Eventually they moved on from the plantation, but they certainly made their mark. I don't know why anyone ever used the phrase 'Bull in a china shop', 'Elephant in an oil palm plantation' is much more appropriate! By the time they'd left us, I was bright orange with the contents of an oil palm kernel (as the 'Orangutan Warrior') and we were all drenched due to the heavy rain. We looked a comical assortment of people as we headed back to the river, with Marc carrying the bags in a black binliner over his shoulder, much like a tramp, Haji tripping over various remnants of elephant-damaged vegetation, Chloe soggier than my washing (which I can never seem to get dry out here) and me in orange war-paint. It was one of the best afternoons I've had since arriving though, and every time we spot the elephants they go up another notch on my favourite animal scale. Of course, the orangutans are still safely at the top, especially after seeing Maria and Jenny's tiny babies this week! They're ever so funny to watch as they explore the branches near 'Mum' whilst she's sat nibbling nonchalently on whatever fruit she can find, and amazingly the regular characters seem to get on with their day whilst completely ignoring the presence of researchers on the ground below!

Unfortunately this computer is giving me awful trouble typing so I'm going to have to call it a day. I hope everyone's well, and as rumour has it that internet may be slowly snaking its way to Danau Girang, I may be able to write again soon!

Love from Rachel x

11 NOV 08

It's Rememberance Day. We've observed our minute's silence, which to me doesn't seem quite enough time to contemplate anything, but nevermind. Anyway, just thought I'd post a reminder before heading back to the jungle, as here the world carried on turning over 11am. Of course that was expected, as I'm pretty sure Rememberance Day isn't marked at all in Malaysia, but regardless of the extent of a nation's involvement in the first and second world wars, there are enough conflicts going on in the world today to spend 60 seconds thinking about them.

This was highlighted again for us this morning whilst trying to book our next visa renewal trip. The recent executions for the Bali bombings have left us with large doubts about travelling to Indonesia during the Christmas period, especially as violence between Christian and Muslim groups is present in several Indonesian provinces. The Philippines are also suffering from internal conflicts at the moment, and there are problems on the border between Thailand and Cambodia. It's so easy to forget problems further than the eye can see, and whilst these conflicts are closer to 'home' at the moment, the newspaper I bought this morning has refreshed my knowledge of what's going on in Iraq, Afghanistan, Georgia, Congo, Zimbabwe... When you put these on top of the loss of human life in past conflicts, a mere 60 seconds is nothing to spare from a busy day.

...I don't get annoyed with people who ask me why I bother to 'remember' on this day, I just wonder why they don't too.

On a quick orangutan note, here is the governmental response to a Downing Street Petition to have all products including palm oil in the U.K. labelled so that consumers can make informed choices about their shopping. http://www.number10.gov.uk/Page17322
It's worth a look. Also, since when did 'United Biscuits' become one of the largest companies in Britain? It's in a list along with Tesco and Asda!!! Very odd!

The jungle awaits, and so I'll write whenever I'm next near an interwebbing machine.
Take care and keep in touch,
Rach x