Clash of Values

There is difficulty in resolving value conflict. The palm oil industry is both a source of jobs to its people and also a leading cause of deforestation. The crop has become a major source of income especially for those in the rural parts of Sumatra. Similarly, this applies to the illegal poaching and pet trade of orang-utans, which generates revenue for the locals.Therefore, it is evident that the jobs created by the palm oil industry and the illegal poaching and trade of orang-utans are very important for the survival of the rural people. It can be said that these people adopted a utilitarian value where they see the “resource” as something which has a practical and material value.

On the other hand, the conservation projects undertaken generally adopt the moralistic and ecologistic value which is the strong opposition to animal and nature exploitation and the concern for the environment as a system respectively. The driving message behind these projects would be to reinforce the fact that mistreating the forests and orang-utans will have devastating consequences on the orang-utan population. And that there is a need to understand that the environment operates as a whole and balance is required between the orang-utans and its habitat.

As a result, there are clashes in the values between the locals and in what the conservation projects are trying to achieve. With these contradicting values, it will be a challenge to come up with a solution which is favourable to all parties because of differeing goals.