Malaysia plans orangutan diplomacy in palm oil pitch | Environment News [Video]

Malaysia has said it plans to start an “orangutan diplomacy” programme for countries that buy its palm oil.

The Southeast Asian nation is the world’s second biggest producer of the edible oil after Indonesia, but critics say the mass development of the industry has fuelled deforestation and destroyed the habitat of critically endangered orangutans and other emblematic species in one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots.

Orangutans live only on the island of Borneo and the Indonesian island of Sumatra.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List estimates the orangutan population on Borneo, which is shared between Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia, will decline to about 47,000 by 2025 as a result of human pressures and loss of habitat. It estimates there are about 13,500 orangutans left in Sumatra.

Minister of Plantation and Commodities Johari Abdul Ghani said the orangutan programme was inspired by China’s panda diplomacy and would target countries buying palm oil to “prove” Malaysia’s commitment to conservation and biodiversity.

He said …