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Indonesia Agrees to Close Lethal Loophole to Save Orangutans
Fidelis E Satriastanti | July 17, 2010

Though there are only 7,500 Sumatran orangutans left, Indonesian regulations don’t recognize the subspecies as endangered. (AFP Photo/Ho) Though there are only 7,500 Sumatran orangutans left, Indonesian regulations don’t recognize the subspecies as endangered. (AFP Photo/Ho)
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Sanur, Bali. The Indonesian government has pledged to amend existing regulations to support orangutan conservation efforts as part of a declaration drawn up at the conclusion of the International Workshop on Orangutan Conservation in Bali.

The meeting, which ended on Friday, called for a revision of the 1990 Natural Resources Conservation Law and a 1999 government regulation on plants and animal preservation, which conservationists and critics have called insufficient in helping end the illegal trade in the ape species.

The government has also said the hearings on the revisions would be open to the public.

Officials said the revisions should address at least one glaring gaffe in the 1999 regulation, which provides protection for endangered species, but does not recognize the Sumatran orangutan, one of two subspecies endemic to Indonesia, as being in that category.

However, the Sumatran orangutan is categorized as critically endangered in the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s famous Red List of threatened species.

The Bornean orangutan, meanwhile, is categorized by the IUCN as endangered.

Both subspecies are also listed in Appendix 1 of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which lists species threatened with extinction and affected by trade.

“For years those caught trading in or possessing Sumatran orangutans could never be charged because the animal isn’t considered a protected species,” said Abu Bakar Chekmat, head of the Aceh Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA).

“All that we’ve been able to do is call on people, from local administration officials to private citizens, to stop poaching orangutans because they’re a protected species, which is effectively a public lie because the legislation doesn’t back that reasoning.”

Abu added that poachers had long exploited this loophole to sustain their trade, resulting in diminished numbers of Sumatran orangutans in the wild.

There are an estimated 7,500 of the subspecies left, compared with 45,000 Bornean orangutans.

The largest wild population of Sumatran orangutans is in Aceh’s Leuser National Park.

Samedi, a member of the National Forestry Council, welcomed the government’s commitment to address the shortcomings in the regulations.

“The government must amend the stipulated punishment for trading in protected and unprotected species,” he said.

Herry Djoko Susilo, chairman of the Indonesian Orangutan Forum (Forina), said the government’s commitment was just one part of the conservation effort, which also included NGOs, experts and the private sector.

“We appreciate the commitments made by the various stakeholders, and we call on them to carry them out consistently.”

He added that Forina’s role in the conservation effort was to monitor the roles played by all of the stakeholders.