The EU and some European countries plan to classify palm oil plantations as forest  so that, according to a recent document,   rain forest will be destroyed to make way for 'sustainable forestry'. 

 The felling of the rain forests for biofuel would no longer be a breach of the criteria which at present protect sustainable forests.   Environmentalists are outraged by this move.

"Continuously forested areas are defined as areas where trees have reached, or can reach, at least heights of five metres, making up a crown cover of more than 30 percent" as defined by this paper.  The areas can be forest, forest plantations and other plantations such as oil palms. The changeover from quick-growing copses into agricultural crops can however be a breach of the criteria.

In short, variety-rich rain forests which nourish thousands of people may be cleared and converted into "organic" diesel, while human cultivation like tree plantations may not be converted into rapeseed or corn fields. Neither rich animal and plant life nor ecological criteria play a role.  Big and green = forest is how it goes .  

 Environmentalists are shocked.  “Speeding up the expansion of palm oil plantations to provide cars and lorries with petrol in Europe will have catastrophic results for the climate, the biodiversity and the people living in the forests”.   Adrian Bebb from Friends of the Earth is convinced that if the new EU Commission wishes to deal with the problem of climate change and the loss of biodiversity, this change of criteria must never become law.

Over the past two years the EU has been working on the regulations set out to control the use of "organic fuels " which, in 2008, were under critical scrutiny. Rising food prices – the slogan “Food versus Fuel “ and a reported increase of the greenhouse gas emissions  has put more pressure on the Union. The fact that only palm oil plantations should remain unaffected is no accident, say observers.

Using an aggressive PR campaign of articles, web pages, blogs and by the creation of Pro-palm oil organizations like World Growth there has been an attempt to play down the catastrophic ecological consequences of  palm oil production and to gain favor with the EU.

Both the EU Observer and Mongabay.com suggest that the lobby efforts of the Malaysian Palm Oil Council and the Indonesian Palm Oil Association (GAPKI) have been successful in putting their case forward.  Obviously the Malaysian Palm Oil Council had asked the lobbyists of GPlus to turn the mood in Brussels and the European towns.

The EU committee usually does not comment on information which has leaked out, however a speaker said to the EU-Observer that the new commission has not yet taken a stand on this point.  A decision will not be made until March, but since the leak, discussion between different departments of the EU has escalated. 

Sources: EU-Observer, Mongabay, Lars Dittmer, BOS-Deutschland

Translation: Elizabeth Pankhurst

 An emergency at the BOS Foundation in Indonesia – the orangutan Corporal was brought to the team with severe body burns

 The young orangutan was given to the BOS staff on December 16, 2009 – in a horryfying condition. Large chunks of his left arm were cut off, the flesh was slashed and hung in pieces from the bone.

The people who had brought him were from the neighbouring town of Samarinda. The accident had not been reported immediately – it can be assumed that the animal had suffered several days  before he was taken to the station. At the time the young orangutan was given to the care of BOS, his injured arm had started to rot. The dead skin had started to spread all over the remains of his arm.

The arm had to be taken off at once. The BOS medical team was supported by doctors from the army hospital in the area. The operation went well, but still the doctors worried about the post operation phase, in which orangutans, due to the pain, tend to be aggressive.

So did this young male – it bit the doctors and aggressively refused any treatment by the team. Yet the little orangutan was brave, therefore he was swiftly named Corporal. At times two team members had to hold him during his medication. Also his feeding was problematic – Corporal could not eat by himself, but also rejected to be fed by BOS staff.

Unfortunatly it got worse. A few days later his right hand also showed signs of decay. Within few hours the whole balm was affected. A second amputation was inevitable. This time a specialist supported the team. Corporal lost his second arm up to the ellbow.

The whole team hopes that Corporal will live – it is likely that he will depend on the team for the rest of his life, if so. Let's hope that he is brave and will find his ways to lead a life worth living, like Kesi – she has only one hand left.