The orangutan is the national treasure of Indonesia. Are they?
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has pledged that his last three years in office will be spent safeguarding Indonesia's rainforests.
President Yudhoyono says, "We must change the way we treat our forests so that they are conserved even as we drive hard to accelerate our economic growth." At what price does the accleration of economic growth come at? How many more orangutans must be lost for the continuing economic growth of Indonesia?
President Yudhoyono says, "I do not want to later explain to my granddaughter Almira that we, in our time, could not save the forests and the people that depend on it. I do not want to tell her the sad news that tigers, rhinoceroses, and orangutans vanished like the dinosaurs." But the orangutans are being maimed, mutiliated, tortured, abused, mistreated, murdered and eaten. What is Almira being told about what is happening to the orangutans right now?
Indonesia is losing about 1.1 million hectares of its forests each year. How exactly are the rainforests being conserved?
When will the rainforests be saved? What will Indonesia do to save the orangutans? What will Almira be told?
Are we to say goodbye to the orangutans forever or will the words to your granddaughter ring true that you made a serious commitment to save the rainforests of Indonesia and the orangutans for future generations? Will Almira see the orangutans in the wild?
