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Malaysia’s ‘orangutan diplomacy’ pitches apes for palm oil, their greatest threat
Insights from New York Academy of Sciences, Food Navigator, and The Conversation
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The Malaysian government will entice countries to keep importing palm oil by giving them critically-endangered orangutans. Cultivating the ubiquitous ingredient, found in everything from chocolate to shampoo, has led to the widespread deforestation and destruction of the great ape’s habitat, exacerbating the threats to their survival as a species.
Modeled on China’s “panda diplomacy” program — where China gifts pandas to countries as a sweetener for doing business with Beijing — Malaysia’s plan is designed to safeguard the palm oil trade, as more western governments move to ban the product because of its ecological impact, and specifically, its impact on orangutans.
“This will be a manifestation of how Malaysia preserves wildlife and ensures sustainability of our forests, especially within the palm oil plantation landscape,” said Johari Abdul Ghani, Malaysia’s plantations and commodities minister.
The decision is not without controversy: Conservationist groups blasted the program as accelerating deforestation rather than helping the apes. The issue also highlights the growing ethical controversy around keeping great apes in captivity.
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Conditions for orangutans in captivity are improving, but ethical concerns remain
Orangutans in captivity used die younger than those in the wild, but as zoos and research centers have improved their habitats — and deforestation has limited orangutans’ natural habitat — “orangutans survivorship [in captivity] is not significantly different from the wild” anymore, according to researcher. But conservationists still face ethical dilemmas: Many projects lack money and resources, and some of the most well-funded are backed by the palm oil companies which facilitate deforestation, according to one University of Oxford researcher. And while captivity programs increasingly prioritize rehabilitation and release, there’s growing concern that releasing orangutans back into the wild could endanger them further.
Palm oil fuels debate about imperialism and protectionism
A EU law that goes into effect later this year bans the sale of products linked to deforestation. But leaders in Southeast Asia have criticized the legislation as “regulatory imperialism,” since many past colonial powers are responsible for setting up the first plantations. The rules, they argue, would only serve to impede economic development. The palm oil industry generates more than $39 billion a year in global GDP and employs some 3 million people worldwide, 1 million of whom are in Malaysia, according to the Malaysian Palm Oil Council. Malaysia’s environment minister has acknowledged deforestation is a concern, but ultimately argued the ban is a form of protectionism, since it will benefit EU farmers cultivating competing oilseed crops, like rapeseed and soybeans.
Meanwhile, China has restarted panda diplomacy with US
After giant pandas living in the US were returned to China last year after their leases expired, it underscored perhaps the lowest point in US-China relations in modern history, as Semafor reported. But relations have warmed somewhat in the last few months and Beijing recently announced it would loan a pair of pandas to the San Diego Zoo. This isn’t just an agreement among friends: it suggests “a bid by China to help repair its struggling economy,” economist Chee Meng Tan wrote in The Conversation. China’s economy has drooped as foreign investment has fled the country, and sending pandas specifically to California could help woo back big foreign business — particularly from Silicon Valley, he wrote.
