Beauty under threat: 11 stunning and terrifying images of Indonesia's rainforests

Posted by Angela Glienicke — 26 February 2014 at 2:31pm - Comments
All rights reserved. Credit: © Ulet Ifansasti / Greenpeace
Orangutans at a feeding station run by Orangutan Foundation International

Who would think that when you are trying to get rid off your dandruff you could be eliminating the orangutans and tigers too? When I look at these images of forest destruction and biodiversity I’m once again reminded that even your shampoo could harbor a dirty secret.

A year long investigation shows that Procter & Gamble, who make Head & Shoulders, is sourcing palm oil from companies connected to forest devastation. These photos document Indonesia's beauty and what is at stake if we don't protect the tigers' and organutan's habitat. Join me in asking Procter & Gamble to source their palm oil only from sustainable sources.

A few trees are all that remain of a once large area of orang-utan habitat inside the PT Wana Catur Jaya Utama palm oil concession in Mantangai, Kapuas district, Central Kalimantan. PT  WCJU is a subsidiary of BW Plantation who supply Procter & Gamble with palm oil for products like Head & Shoulders.
©Ulet Ifansasti/Greenpeace

A solitary rainforest tree remains standing in a recently planted palm oil plantation on former orang-utan habitat inside the PT Karya Makmur Abadi Estate II palm oil concession. PT KMA II is a subsidiary of the Malaysian Kuala Lumpar Kepong Berhad (KLK) group who also supply palm oil to Procter & Gamble.
©Ulet Ifansasti/Greenpeace

A Greenpeace investigation with FNPI documents an orangutan skull beside an oil palm plantation owned by PT Bumi Langgeng Perdanatrada, a subsidiary of BW Plantation Group, near Tanjung Puting National Park in Central Kalimantan.
©Greenpeace

A semi-wild Sumatran Tiger (Panthera Tigris Sumatrae) is seen at the Tambling Wildlife Nature Conservation rescue centre, which is part of the South Bukit Barisan National Park.
©Paul Hilton/Greenpeace

The Tambling Wildlife Nature Conservation area is part of the South Bukit Barisan National Park. The forest is located on the southern tip of Sumatra Island.
©Paul Hilton/Greenpeace

A palm oil plantation and company buildings inside the PT Karya Makmur Abadi Estate II palm oil concession. PT KMA II contains important areas of mapped orang-utan habitat and is a subsidiary of the Malaysian Kuala Lumpar Kepong Berhad (KLK) group.
©Ulet Ifansasti/Greenpeace

A stump of a Ramin tree is seen at the palm oil plantation owned by PT Bumi Langgeng Perdana (PT BLP) in Central Kalimantan. The Ramin tree is one of internationally protected tree specie regulated under UN Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).  
©Ulet Ifansasti/Greenpeace

Firefighters try to extinguish fires on recently cleared peatland in the PT Rokan Adiraya Plantation oil palm plantation near Sontang village in Rokan Hulu, Riau, Sumatra. ©Ulet Ifansasti/Greenpeace

Head & Shoulders Classic Shampoo and other products containing palm oil. Procter & Gamble, which makes Head & Shoulders, sources its palm oil from companies Greenpeace investigations show are linked to deforestation, peatland and habitat destruction, and social conflict in Indonesia.
©Donang Wahyu/Greenpeace .

Tree roots at the Tambling Wildlife Nature Conservation area, which is part of the South Bukit Barisan National Park. The forest is located on the southern tip of Sumatra Island.
©Paul Hilton/Greenpeace

Huts in peatlands (wetlands) in the Kampar peninsula. The Kampar peninsula is the last large intact area of peat swamp forest in Riau with some of the deepest peat in Indonesia, the rest has been destroyed by the agriculture and logging industries.
©Greenpeace/Novis

These forests are teeming with life, and host at least one-fifth of all plants and animals on the planet. Together, we can protect what remains of Indonesia’s rainforests, the Sumatran tigers’ home and give our global climate a fighting chance. Let’s do whatever it takes. Tell the makers of Head & Shoulders: Stop using dirty palm oil now - before it’s too late.

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