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Malaysia swings away from shipping apes abroad in orangutan diplomacy rethink
- Malaysia had said it would send the great apes as gifts to palm oil-purchasing countries in a scheme modelled on China’s ‘panda diplomacy’
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Malaysia is inviting countries that buy its palm oil to adopt orangutans but leave them in their natural habitat, local media reported, tweaking a plan that originally sought to send some abroad.
In a scheme modelled on China’s “panda diplomacy”, Malaysia announced in May that it would send the great apes as gifts to palm oil-purchasing countries, sparking an outcry among conservationists.
Orangutans are critically endangered, according to the WWF, with habitat loss due to logging and agricultural expansion – particularly palm oil plantations.
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On Sunday, Plantation and Commodities Minister Johari Abdul Ghani said any gifted orangutans will stay in Malaysia.
“We have decided to keep our orangutans in their own natural habitat,” he told reporters after launching a World Orangutan Day celebration organised by the Malaysian Palm Oil Green Conservation Foundation at the Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre in Sandakan.
“All conservation activities will be carried out in forest areas or forest patches in oil palm plantations with high conservation value,” he said, according to the official Bernama news agency.
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