My name is Patricia "Patty" Cuthbert and I have been fundraising for International Animal Rescue’s Orangutan Project as well as trying to raise awareness about the plight of the critically endangered Orangutan since 2015. It was in 2015 that I came upon a story on the internet about an infant Orangutan, later named Gito, who had been found inside a cardboard box soaked with his own urine, sufferin
g from malnutrition and almost unrecognizable due to severe neglect. I was completely and utterly moved by the story and I needed to know more, I couldn’t let it go. I started doing a bit of research and I discovered that Orangutans are critically endangered because of habitat loss due to deforestation for agricultural purposes, primarily palm oil. The rainforests in Indonesia and Malaysia are being cleared by chain sawing the trees down, bulldozing to clear the land as well as setting the forests on fire. Animals either burn to death, are buried alive, die of starvation and the ones that actually manage to survive all of this destruction are left homeless and completely vulnerable. Since there is nowhere else to go the Orangutans will make their way onto the oil palm plantations where they are now considered an agricultural pest. Plantation workers will kill them and are actually encouraged to do so. Babies are still clinging to their mothers when the mothers are killed, if they survive, they are usually taken and illegally kept as pets living in horrifying conditions. Orangutans that no longer have the protection of the rain forest canopy are also killed by poachers and their babies sold into the illegal pet trade. The rate of deforestation is equal to the loss of 20 football fields every minute. 20 orangutans a day disappear from the planet. And we do know with certainty that 2-3000 Orangutans are killed every year. In the case of the story of Gito, the baby orangutan that was found, we can be certain that this baby’s mother would have been killed by poachers, he would have been taken from his murdered mother and sold to someone as a pet where he would have been kept in poor if not deplorable conditions. Thankfully he was rescued by IAR and was treated for the many ailments resulting from the abuse he endured. Not only do these orphans suffer physical trauma but also emotional, they’re incredibly sensitive animals, so much like humans that they are traumatized and require intensive care to ensure their survival. The plight of the orangutan in Indonesia and Malaysia has reached a critical stage, with the survival of the species under serious threat. Animals are suffering and dying because of the systematic destruction of the rainforest, primarily for palm oil production. 85 % of palm oil comes from Indonesia and Malaysia and it can be found in more than half of what we buy at the grocery stores…things like cleaning supplies, cosmetics, processed, packaged food like oreo cookies, Nutella, eggo waffles, poptarts, frozen foods, micro popcorn all the fast foods, luxury products that we have come to rely on to make our busy lives a bit easier. Palm oil is the ideal crop in that it’s cheap to grow, it produces more product than any other oil yielding crop and is ideal for widespread use and the demand continues to grow because it is the most versatile of all vegetable oils. This is because palm oil can be processed to form a wide range of products with different melting points, consistencies and characteristics. It’s important to point out that this mass deforestation is affecting not only orangutans but thousands of species of animals and plants. There are human rights violations happening, indigenous peoples have their land stolen from them by the big palm oil corp, child labor is happening and clearing out these rain forests is one of the leading causes of climate change. We talk a lot about climate change here in Canada but it seems rare that we ever talk about our role as consumers in deforestation. Scientists have told us that deforestation in tropical rainforests adds more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere than the sum total of all the cars and trucks on the world’s roads. It’s the big corporations like Pepsi co, Dove Unilever, Nestle that are buying the palm oil to use in the many products that they then sell to us. The RSPO, or Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, is the global certification body for “sustainable” palm oil. All too often so-called “sustainable” certification groups cut corners, fail to live up to their mandate, and refuse to enforce their own standards? The situation of deforestation and conflict palm oil is a very complex, and a multifaceted issue, there is no single answer to the problem but what we can be doing as consumers is encouraging governments, corporations, industry and all types of stakeholders to do their part in ensuring that palm oil is produced sustainably. Name brands care about their reputation and what consumers think of them. That's why consumers have immense power. We can demand brands improve their behavior, and if enough of us speak out, these corporations will listen. Reach out to the companies that are manufacturing your favorite foods, email, and write letters saying that you are no longer willing to bring palm oil into your home if it means rainforests are being cleared and animals are suffering and dying as a result. We have so much here in this part of the world in terms of quantity and choices and there are devastating consequences to us having the things that we do. I think we have a huge responsibility here as consumers because of our role in what’s happening and the impact we have on other, more vulnerable parts of the world. International Animal Rescue is an animal welfare organization who are working in West Kalimantan Borneo to rescue and care for baby orangutans that have been taken from their mothers to be illegally sold as pets as well as adult Orangutans that have spent their entire lives in captivity, chained up or imprisoned in tiny cages. Baby orangutans spend the 1st 7-8 years of their lives with their mothers learning how to survive in the rainforest, they’re completely dependent so once these babies become orphaned it’s now up to humans to become surrogate mothers and this is a very long term, costly commitment. The team also comes to the aid of orangutans left stranded when their forest home is destroyed and translocates these vulnerable animals to safe areas of protected forest. Any Orangutans that can no longer survive in the wild will be given a permanent home at the center. They are committed to rescuing and rehabilitating as many orangutans as possible and giving them a second chance to live safely in their natural environment. The goal is always to get these animals back into their natural habitat but tragically it’s disappearing. IAR relies solely on donations to run their operations. As a volunteer fundraiser, I have done community yard sales, many raffles, participated in the Guelph Santa Claus Parade, I host an annual Orangutan Pub Night. I have hosted the screening of the documentary "Red Ape" at the Gorge Cinema and I have a friend who knits hats and scarves that I sell in the fall. I also have a donated collection of preowned costume jewelry that I am hoping to sell. I am always trying to come up with new ways to raise awareness and raise money in the communities that support me. In 2018 I spent 2 months in Borneo Malaysia volunteering at a rescue, rehabilitation facility for displaced orangutans. It was an amazing experience to actually meet these animals and be in their presence, they are highly intelligent, observant, inquisitive, mischievous and emotional, they have the ability to reason and think. That experience has heightened my passion and desire to continue advocating for them. I look forward to meeting many new people who would like to join me in this very important mission to help save this incredible species.
