The “Orangutan Diplomacy” programme suggested in May has been revised with an in-situ approach. Plantation and commodities minister Johari Abdul Ghani said that the decision to shift from the initial plan was made after consulting various parties, such as NGOs and environmental activists. He said that while many parties accepted the idea of the ‘Orangutan Diplomacy’ proposal, a few were against it. “After discussions with stakeholders in the palm oil industry, an in-situ approach will be adopted, where all conservation activities will be carried out in their natural habitats, whether in forests or forest patches within palm oil plantations, known as High Conservation Value (HCV) areas. “It’s true, we should keep the orangutans in their natural habitat. We need to protect the orangutans,” he said during the launching of the World Orangutan Day in Sandakan yesterday. He said that the orangutans will be free to move about to forage and breed without any interference from humans,...
Stories and more...