(PRLEAP.COM) The campaigns, demonstrations, petitions and other actions initiated by Profauna Indonesia and other NGOs since 2004 finally met with success when 48 endangered orangutans arrived at Jakarta airport on 22 November 2006 on board an Indonesian military aircraft.

The illegal smuggling of these gentle creatures to Thailand and their cruel and inhumane treatment once they had arrived there has received great national and international interest and has become even higher profile when the Indonesian First Lady officially received them on behalf of the Indonesian Government and people.

Many commercial organisations tried to claim the credit for this success, even though they did not contribute to the campaign to demand the orangutans’ repatriation. A spokesperson for ProFauna commented, “We find it difficult to understand how organisations such as commercial zoos and tourist attractions and palm oil producers which are largely responsible for destroying much of the natural habitat in which they live can seriously seek to associate themselves with this achievement by appearing at the reception as the sponsors”.

Strong evidence has associated the decimation of orangutans in the wild and the destruction of their habitat with the palm oil industry. Far from protecting orang utans, plantation workers are instructed to take measures to scare orangutans away from their historical feeding grounds and have been known to injure or brutally kill them.

Until Indonesia’s existing laws on preservation of habitat forest are more strictly enforced and, where necessary, further tightened, the seemingly inevitable extinction of orang utans in the wild in the next few years will continue unabated in the name of profit for those rich people who, in the name of economic development of exploitation of forest, in reality have no care for our environment or our heritage.

We have recovered 48 captive animals. They will now be taken to the orangutan rehabilitation centre in Kalimantan to start their rehabilitation program. The next challenge is, can the Indonesian government give protection and ensure their future is secure in their own homeland and in their natural habitat. Only when legislation and laws are enforced to curb deliberate forest fires, illegal poaching and border control can the future of Indonesian national treasures be effectively protected.