Illegal logging inside protected areas and unsustainable logging in the natural habitats of orangutans continues to pose a major threat to their survival. As of 2007, more than 50% of orangutans reside out of protected areas in forests controlled by timber, palm oil and mining companies.

By definition, illegal logging includes all harvesting, transporting, processing, buying and selling practices that violates national laws. It also involves cutting of canals and trails in order to make way for foot and boat access deep into the forest for easier clearance of trees. This allows for increased human encroachment into the forests and higher incidences of illegal hunting.

Unsustainable logging of forests

Source: GRID-Arendal

Illegal logging is driven by global demand for timber from Indonesian industries, which greatly surpass the supply that can be met from the legal and licensed harvest. It accounts for tens of millions of cubic metres every year and approximately more than 73% of all logging in Indonesia. To meet this large demand, loggers turn to unsustainable logging of the forests.

Financial problems are also associated with investments in the Indonesian industrial forestry sector. Unless the debts surrounding the timber industry are resolved, the forests will continue to be used unsustainably in order to earn back returns for these investments.

Illegal logging in national parks

Source: Numbat News

Many Indonesian timber mills are also devised to process significantly larger volumes of timber than the amount that can be sustainably harvested from Indonesia’s forests. This means that timber companies will have to search for cheap and readily available wood sources in order to earn a profit. In doing so, illegal logging has extended into protected areas where timber is still available in commercial volumes.

Satellite images have confirmed that illegal logging now occurs in 37 of the 41 national parks of Indonesia, where several of these parks are homes to orangutans. As more mature forests are lost, the incentive for loggers to invade protected areas will continue to grow.

Essentially, this paints a dire picture for the future of the orangutans. With their homes damaged and lost to logging, these orangutans will have nowhere to go, and often, die due to hunger and poaching.