The magazine of the art-form of the photo-essay
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Oct 2014 back issue
by Sandra Hoyn
Globally, the demand for palm oil is on the increase. Indonesia is market leader in global palm oil production. Palm oil
is used for food, cosmetics and as biofuel. The last forests are destroyed to grow more oil palms. Palm oil plantations
are replacing four-fifths of the rainforest in Indonesia. Orangutans are one of many victims of massive deforestation.
Orangutans, an entirely Asian species in the family of great apes, roam Indonesian rain forests on the islands of
Sumatra and Borneo. During the past decade, orangutan populations in the wild have decreased by approximately
50%. Human activities, especially the unchecked burning of rain forests to clear land for palm oil plantations, have
resulted in a critical loss of habitat, driving orangutans to the brink of extinction in Indonesia.
Orangutan living in the Gunung Leuser National Park in Bukit Lawang. In Sumatra there are still about 6600
orangutans in the wild.
Penghijau lives as a nomad, Orang Rimba, between tradition and modernity in a palm oil plantation near the Bukit Tiga
Puluh National Park in Jambi, Sumatra, Indonesia. Approximately 3,500 Orang Rimba still live as hunter-gatherers in
the forests of Sumatra. But their habitat is threatened by illegal fires and deforestation.
A forest fire fighting team with military personnel taking a rest in the forest, Riau Province, Indonesia.
Burned forest. Massive forest fires rage in Riau province, Sumatra Island, Indonesia. Many of the blazes are
deliberately lit to make way for palm oil plantations.
Firefighters from the military preparing an operation against the forest fire.
Forest fire fighting team with military personnel pour water to douse the flames of forest spot fires in Riau Province,
Indonesia. Many of the blazes are deliberately lit to make way for palm oil plantations.
A member of the military fire fighting team standing on a burned tree on Sumatra Island. Indonesia is market leader in
global palm oil production. Palm oil is used for food, cosmetics and as biofuel. The last forests are being destroyed to
grow more oil palms. Palm oil plantations are replacing four-fifths of the rainforest in Indonesia. Orangutans are one of
many victims of massive deforestation.
Workers transporting oil palm fruit on a truck in Langkat, North Sumatra.
Palm oil plantation.
Orangutan living in the Gunung Leuser National Park in Bukit Lawang. There are still 6600 Orangutangs left in the wild.
Angelo, a 14-year-old male orangutan, is waiting for medical examinations in the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation
Programme center in North Sumatra. He was found with air gun pellets embedded in his body in a palmoil plantation.
A staff member at the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme examines a 14-year-old male orangutan found
with air gun pellets embedded in his body.
A baby male orangutan named Siboy at the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme (SOCP), which has helped
over 280 orangutans rescued from palm oil plantations, poachers and pet owners. Siboy was found for sale on a
market in Aceh before he was rescued. Some people keep baby orangutans as pets.
Orangutans hold the hand of a staff member from the center of the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme
(SOCP).
A firefighter pours water to douse the flames of forest spot fires in Riau Province, Indonesia.
Burned forest. Massive forest fires rage in Riau province, Sumatra Island, Indonesia. Many of the blazes were
deliberately lit to make way for palm oil plantations.
