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Cases / Oil, gas and coal operations · Indonesia · 1999–2015

About 150,000 orangutans lost in Borneo; RSPO palm saved only 21 km² of forest

Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
What the record lacks: 1 none on record · 2 insufficient · 1 not measured See the gaps

Most of the roughly 150,000 orangutans lost in Borneo between 1999 and 2015 were lost inside forest, according to Mongabay (2018). A Queensland study found certified and uncertified plantations no different on orangutan loss, fire or village welfare.

What?
About 150,000 orangutans were lost in Borneo from 1999 to 2015, mostly inside forest, while RSPO certification saved about 21 km² of forest over 2001–2015.
Where?
Borneo; the certification study covers Indonesian Borneo ABC News
When?
Orangutan loss 1999–2015; certification study covers 2009–2014; RSPO forest estimate 2001–2015 Mongabay
Who?
Gained
  • Certified palm growers — Gain market access through certification; the forest they protected was small
Lost
None on record
Harmed
  • Orangutans in Borneo — About 150,000 lost from 1999 to 2015, most inside forest through hunting Mongabay
Why?
Hunting inside forest accounted for most of the loss, according to Mongabay (2018). Mongabay
How?
Comparison of certified and uncertified plantations in Indonesian Borneo, 2009–2014 ABC News
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

About 150,000 orangutans were lost in Borneo between 1999 and 2015; most of the loss was inside forest through hunting, and only about 9% was on fully cleared land (Mongabay, 2018).

A 2018 University of Queensland study found no significant difference on any measure between certified and uncertified plantations in Indonesian Borneo from 2009 to 2014 (ABC News, 2018).

RSPO certification's relative effect is put at about 33% less deforestation, but certified areas covered less than 1% of the forest remaining on plantations, and the forest saved over 2001–2015 was 21 km² (PNAS study).

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

    Insurers

    No insurer decision on record.

    What we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.

    Nature

    • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

    Record

    • Insufficient Reported but not verified: an estimate of about 45,000 extra orangutans lost through plantation-linked loss, which is a forecast.
    • Insufficient Reported but not verified: the Swiss–Indonesian trade-deal and Japanese biomass items linked to certified palm; the sources for these could not be checked.
    • None on record The sources reviewed do not give orangutan counts for Borneo after 2015.

    Did the harm stop?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Who paid?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Sources

    Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations— Communities and civil society— Researchers

    Press and investigations

    Connected cases

    Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
    Terms used on this page

    Science and environment

    Biomass, root-to-shoot ratio, carbon fraction
    Biomass is the dry weight of living plants per hectare. The root-to-shoot ratio adds the weight of roots. The carbon fraction is the share of that weight that is carbon, about 47% in tropical forests.
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