Malaysia Palm Oil Under Attack

DPM refutes allegations Malaysia killing orangutans to clear forests for plantations
KUALA LUMPUR: The motive behind the accusation by Western environmental activists that Malaysia and Indonesia killed thousands of orangutans to clear forest for oil palm plantations is merely to jeopardise the industry, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said.
The Deputy Prime Minister said that the only intention of the environmentalists was to destroy the industry.
“The fact is that we have a very good track record in preserving our forests. We have gazetted large areas of land as forest reserve.
“We even have forest reserve, especially for the conservation of the habitat of the orangutans, which are an attraction to the people as well as tourists”,” he told reporters after launching the inaugural Smart School International Conference 2007 on Monday.

On the next course of action, he said the palm oil industry and Plantation Industries and Commodities Ministry must work together to counter the unfounded claims.
"They must identify efforts to overcome the unhealthy tactics used by certain parties whose intentions are merely to reduce the world’s confidence on palm oil as a good product suitable for the global market,” he said.
Najib said there had been one or two incidents, which did not satisfy the Government such as the Lojing case in Kelantan.
“But generally even at the international level, Malaysia is far better off than many countries, including Europe, in forest conservation,” he added.
Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Peter Chin Fah Kui was reported as saying on Sunday that Malaysia and Indonesia would work together to counter the latest attacks by Western environmentalists.

tunku : the western are so envy of our resources which they can't produce.palm oil for example has achieved great responds from the consumers around the world with billions of dollars business which is jeopardizing their soya business,hence they are using these environmental activists whom the paid to accused us killing orangutans to clear our forest for palm oil plantation.what najib said is true, we are better than some western countries in preserving our forest. About 50% our our land is covered by forest.this is a propaganda to kill the palm oil business.Malaysia is as concerned as other nations with environmental degradation and the urgent need to arrest this process of decline in order to preserve the environment as we develop. We are always mindful that our actions taken to reap the benefits from our natural resources will indelibly have widespread and diverse impact on the environment as well as our future generations' ability to continue to enjoy those resources which nature has so bundantly bestowed on us. Thus Malaysia is committed to manage her forests in a sustainable manner not just for economic reasons but also for maintaining environmental stability and ecological balance. To achieve this, Malaysia is committed to maintaining her land area under forest cover. With a land mass of 32.9 million hectares, the natural forest base is 18.9 million hectares.As for orangutans we have many of the rehabilitation centre such as the world’s largest and oldest Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre is located at Sepilok, which is a 20-minute drive from Sandakan. An area of 11,000 acres of virgin equatorial rainforest has been set aside as forest reserve and orang utan rehabilitation centre. Here, you can experience a close encounter with the “Wild Man of Borneo.”
There are 19 orang utans on the 35-acre Pulau Panjang,Bukit Merah Laketown which is dedicated to the primates. They roam freely on the 5-acre rehabilitation and preservation facility while visitors will have to walk through a 100 metre "cage tunnel" in order to see them up close! This time around, it's not the animals that are being caged up!
You can also take a peek at the nursery and see adorable baby orang utans (complete with diapers) at the infant care unit. These babies are monitored 24-hours a day and are provided with the best medical care to ensure their well being.
Part of this program's objectives is to increase the population of the Orangutan,
which is in line with the natonal wildlife conservation of this endangered species.
Semengoh Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre was established in 1975 for the rehabilitation of confiscated and surrendered wild animals. It is located about 20 km south of Kuching and is situated within the beautiful Semengoh Nature Reserve.
This is a temporary home for various endangered wildlife of Sarawak, especially orang utans that were rescued from captivity and hornbills.
Semengoh Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre has received 915 animals up to 1999.
Not to mention in Batang Ai,Sarawak(24040 ha),Lanjak-Entimau Wildlife Sanctuary,Sarawak (168,758ha) which homes thousands of orang utan. There is Belum State Park in Perak . Taman Negara in Pahang and few others.
Malaysia has launched a Palm Oil Wildlife Conservation Fund with an anticipated outlay of Ringgit Malaysia 20 million (about $5 million). In fact, palm oil plantations occupy only four million hectares of Malaysia's land area, while overall green cover including untouched forests and agriculture areas occupy 76 per cent of the country's landmass of 32 million hectares.
So you morons, know your facts before you attack, we have more orangutans than you so called PAID environmental activists.