Swinging with Orangutans

In November, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo’s Palm Oil Awareness Team  traveled to Indonesia and Malaysia. In past blog posts, we've highlighted the team's journey. During their time in Bukit Lawang, part of the "Our Showers were cold but the water was clean..." post, the team was fortunate enough to see wild orangutans up close. The short clip below is a montage of their footage from this exciting experience.

Ketambe

The next destination of our journey was Ketambe.  We wanted to see this area in part because the AZA’s (Association of Zoos and Aquariums) Ape TAG Conservation Initiative is supporting a project called KREDI (Ketambe Restoration and Ecotourism Development Initiative) in this area.  This project was initiated by OIC (Orangutan Information Centre).  As the “hornbill flies” the distance between Bukit Lawang and Ketambe is not far at all.  However, since we had to drive the long way around Gunung Leuser National Park, this drive took about 10 hours, and much of it was very bumpy on mountain switchbacks.

 

Forest trekking with our guide Jhon Kanedi (this was his real name!) was a great experience but after about three hours the steep, muddy conditions were taking their toll on some of us.  We found nests and traces of orangutans, heard gibbon calls, and saw Thomas’s leaf monkeys, then it started to rain (go figure…it IS the rainy season!).

Our next order of business was to visit a fledgling reforestation site.  There are huge challenges in this area due to farmers from the next village encroaching on the National Park land.  OIC has been working with the community for two years, trying to get farmers’ support and commitment to stop encroaching on park land.

In meeting with village leaders later that evening, we learned that they would like to expand ecotourism in the area so that there is more sustainable income and less pressure to encroach on the forest.  Although they have a long way to go, it is good that they are working in that direction. 

We stayed at the Friendship Guest House.  There was a very friendly cat who kept us company at meal times – which made us home sick for our own pets at home.  The food was excellent, but the accommodations were somewhat challenging and basic.

On the way back to Medan we experienced our first (and only) flat tire in over 40 hours of driving on this trip.  We drew a huge crowd of local children who seemed amused and interested in the predicament of these western tourists. 

Although the drives to and from Ketambe, which is in the province of Aceh, were not very comfortable, the scenery was beautiful.  It was the only place we did not see miles and miles palm oil plantations, instead we saw quite a bit of intact forest.  We also saw an incredible amount of corn grown on mountainsides (that can’t be fun to cultivate). 

One interesting thing we saw was two goats tied up to two cows, and the goats were leading the way down a mountain road.  Unfortunately we saw several cases of macaques being kept as pets.  The strangest situation was a baby macaque clinging to a dog, which was balancing on a dog crate on the back of a motorcycle. 

After spending the night in Medan, we met with Panut Hadisiswoyo, founding director of OIC.  He did a presentation for us showing some of OIC’s great projects, including HOCRU (Human Orangutan Conflict Resolution Unit) and the education programs which have reached 10,000 children in Indonesia.

We are currently in Kuala Lampur, we will fly to Hong Kong next, then Los Angeles, then Denver…we are all looking forward to our own beds, our favorite American foods and drinks. 

Our showers were cold but the water was clean...

Our next stop was Besitang, we visited Putri Hijau, a small holder palm oil plantation (2000 hectares).  It was a good opportunity to compare with the certified sustainable palm oil plantations we had seen last year.  Their production yield is quite a bit lower than larger plantations, and working conditions were different.  We spoke with a woman who spreads fertilizer and the plantation manager.  They were happy to show us around the plantation, and we saw the workers’ accommodations as well – these were very basic, like most of the homes we saw in other parts of Indonesia.

Adjacent to the small holder is a reforestation site started by OIC (Orangutan Information Centre) two years ago.  Unfortunately due to unclear boundaries, the small holder had encroached on the Gunung Leuser National Forest in 1995.  After this was discovered OIC took on daunting task of removing oil palms and reforesting 200 hectares.  In December 2011 OIC will be removing 4000 additional oil palms to make more room for reforestation.

Next we drove to Medan and met with Musim Mas.  Dr. Gan Lian Tiong, their head of sustainability; they had a presentation prepared to tell us about their operations and sustainability initiatives.  They are very well informed on the issues; Musim Mas was the first Indonesian palm oil company that was certified by RSPO.  By the end of 2012 they plan to have all of their plantations and mills certified by RSPO, and also have methane capture established on all of the mills.

Then we drove to Bukit Lawang, a well-established ecotourism site that we had visited last year.  Our Ecolodge was well adapted for western guests, our showers were cold but the water was clean.  We hiked to a feeding platform in the rainforest and waited a while…we knew there was the possibility we would not see orangutans.  Then one by one three different females and their babies, so a total of six orangutans, came to the site.  Two young females, under four years old, did not come to the platform but chose to stay in the trees and play with each other.  It was so fun to watch them interacting and wrestling – mostly while they hung by their feet. 

We are off on our full day of driving to Ketambe, stay tuned…

Find out more about palm oil and orangutans on our palm oil crisis page and check back soon - we’ll send updates when we can!

Headed to Tangkahan

On Friday we flew from Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, to Kuala Lampur then on to Medan, Indonesia – on the island of Sumatra.  We had visited Sumatra in 2010 and spent a little time with Ian Singleton of SOCP, Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme.  We were able to meet up with Ian for dinner on our first night in Medan, and deliver some veterinary supplies and medications being donated by Seneca Park Zoo, Kansas City Zoo and Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.  These items will be used at SOCP’s orangutan rehabilitation center, Batu Mbelin.  Ian updated us on various things such as orangutan releases and law enforcement issues.

 

On Saturday we drove to Tangkahan and stayed at the Mega Inn, an ecotourism site.  We went to a scheduled Sumatran elephant bath.  We came away with mixed feelings about this program.  When we arrived we were not very surprised to see barbed wire and electric fence surrounding the elephants’ area…but we were surprised to see that all of the elephants were chained.  We were told that the mahouts unchain the elephants twice per day to walk them down a trail for their scheduled bath/swim in the river.

We met with the head of the tourism board in Tangkahan.  He told us how the ecotourism that has been happening in the area has really helped with the local economy.  We’ll be able to share more details when we have more time…

The next morning we took a hike through the rainforest along rubber tree collection trails.  The amazing highlight of this hike was hearing wild Siamangs and white-handed gibbons vocalizing for over an hour!  We did not see them but the calls alone were so cool to hear!  We saw Thomas’s leaf monkeys and long-tailed macaques.

We’ll send more updates when we can, need to load up in the van shortly!

McDonald's Joins Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil; Commits to Sourcing Sustainable Palm Oil

OAK BROOK, IL, Oct 19, 2011 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- McDonald's Corporation MCD +2.55% today announced its membership in the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). This membership represents significant progress in the company's commitment to source palm oil only from RSPO member companies by the end of this year, and to use only RSPO-certified palm oil in restaurants and pre-cooked chicken and potato products by 2015.

"Participating in multi-stakeholder engagements such as the RSPO is one way for us to put the power and leadership of McDonald's behind commitments to continue to source sustainable ingredients such as palm oil," said Francesca DeBiase, McDonald's vice president, Worldwide Strategic Sourcing. "Sustainability issues as they relate to food are often confusing to consumers, and we can help lead the way by educating our customers on how our food is sourced."

McDonald's uses palm oil primarily within Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa, and Latin America as a restaurant frying oil and as a par-fry for pre-cooking of products such as French fries, chicken patties and Chicken McNuggets.

McDonald's membership in the RSPO is an extension of its Sustainable Land Management Commitment (SLMC) announced earlier this year. The McDonald's SLMC requires that, over time, its suppliers will only use agricultural raw materials for the company's food and packaging that originate from sustainably-managed lands, ensuring the food served in its restaurants around the world is sourced from certified sustainable sources. The commitment is supported by an external, third-party evaluation process.

Based on a thorough analysis conducted in collaboration with World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to identify the top raw materials which have the most potential sustainability impacts, McDonald's SLMC actions initially are focused on Beef, Poultry, Coffee, Palm Oil and fiber for Packaging.

"We are extremely pleased that McDonald's is making significant headway in showing its commitment toward the sustainable sourcing of its food ingredients. The fact that one of the world's largest consumer brands commits to the growth and use of sustainable palm oil is an important reflection of the increasing demand for sustainable palm oil in consumer markets," said Darrel Webber, RSPO Secretary General. "McDonald's membership in the RSPO reinforces the growing commitment of U.S.-based companies to sustainable palm oil. Furthermore, McDonald's pledge to source only RSPO-certified sustainable palm oil by 2015 reflects the market transformation that is currently taking place worldwide. I am convinced that McDonald's commitment will inspire other global brands to follow suit."

More information about McDonald's SLMC can be found at:

http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/mcd/csr/about/sustainable_supply/sustainable_land_management_commitment.html .

McDonald's is the world's leading global foodservice retailer with more than 33,000 locations serving approximately 64 million customers in 119 countries each day. More than 80% of McDonald's restaurants worldwide are owned and operated by independent local men and women. To learn more about the company, please visit www.aboutmcdonalds.com and follow us on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/mcdonaldscorp ) and Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/mcdonaldscorp )

McDonald's Corp., McDonald's, Chicken McNuggets and World Wildlife Fund are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective companies.