There are so many complexities to saving a species. Although I’d like to say it’s as easy as donating some money, or being a conscious tourist, it’s just never that simple. Orangutans are a great example of an extremely complex species to conserve. Unfortunately, they are victims of several industries using and abusing their habitat for monetary gain. The upside, if you choose to see it this way, is that it is within human control to save them. The downside is that it will take a shift in priorities and we have billions of people to get on board.

The Problem

The unfortunate truth is that we are all contributing to the demise of orangutans, even if we are not aware of our impact. The forests in many Southeast Asian countries are being destroyed for the palm oil industry to create products and food for human consumption. Orangutans live in the forests that are being bulldozed, burned to the ground, and left barren for planting oil palm trees.

As palm oil plantations continue to decimate the orangutan habitat, we’ve seen massive decreases in the orangutan population. Whether they are dying in forest fires, or they simply cannot find any food or water, this industry is a major contributor to the species going extinct. In fact, if we continue on this road, orangutans will likely be extinct in the wild within the next 50 years.

Last year I wrote an article about the palm oil industry where I primarily talked about how to find products that are not harming orangutans and the types of consumables to check for palm oil before purchasing. If you haven’t read that one yet, I would recommend doing that because today we’ll be talking less about the human consumption side and more about the orangutan side.

Habitat Destruction

It’s quite easy for those who aren’t near palm oil plantations to unknowingly purchase items made with the oil and ignore the destruction that is being caused by our consumer habits. However, by being uninformed we are taking lives every single day.

Orangutans are found in the rainforests of Borneo and Sumatra and today, there are about 50% fewer individuals than there were even 16 years ago. Currently, there are about 104,000 critically endangered Bornean orangutans left, 13,800 critically endangered Sumatran orangutans, and 800 critically endangered Tapanuli orangutans (the most endangered of all the great apes). The primary reason for their massive drop in numbers is due to habitat decimation to cultivate palm oil.

Unsustainable palm oil plantations utilize slash and burn techniques in order to clear the rainforest and make room for the crops. Of course, these forests are home to tigers, elephants, orangutans, rhinos, among so many more species! When the rainforest is set on fire, the animals are forced to flee from the flames to find a new home… if they make it out alive.

However, it’s a lot easier for a terrestrial (land) animal to flee than arboreal animals (those that live in the trees, like orangutans). Tigers can simply run away from the flames, but for primates that are in the trees it’s a bit more complicated. They simply are not as efficient moving on the ground and with trees burning and crumbling to the ground, they have no way out of the destruction. Many orangutans die from their tree falling to the rainforest floor or are simply burned in the flames.

But even for the orangutans that escape one fire, when will the next one be ignited? And in the meantime, where will they go? With unsustainable farming methods continuing as the global demand for palm oil climbs, orangutans are quickly running out of natural landscapes to create a home.

The Reality for Orangutans

Although it can be hard to face the harsh reality for many species, if we continue turning a blind eye and ignoring the things that are painful we will lose species like orangutans. The demand for palm oil continues to rise every single year, effectively killing between 1,000 and 5,000 orangutans annually. We are not the only species on this planet and until we can learn to coexist and not risk another life for our own gain, we will continue driving beautiful species like these to extinction.

One way you can continue to make a difference is by only buying products that are RSPO (roundtable on sustainable palm oil) certified. This will ensure that producers who are using sustainable farming methods are thriving which in turn will encourage those who are using slash and burn fires and paying no mind to wildlife to switch over to a more sustainable model. This is a situation where the items you consume can truly save a species.

So next time you head to the store, check your labels! Whether it’s food products, shampoo, or chapstick… you’d be surprised at just how many items contain palm oil.

If you want to help spread the word, share this infographic I made on your social media!