Blood Oil | Teen Ink

Blood Oil MAG

December 17, 2012
By polerpress BRONZE, Merritt Island, Florida
polerpress BRONZE, Merritt Island, Florida
2 articles 0 photos 0 comments

Imagine that you and your mom are homeless because your house burned down. You wander through a barren town and down alleyways searching for food. Suddenly, a man appears and kills your mom before you can stop him. Then he kidnaps you and holds you hostage, and no one helps you.

Too often this is the plight of the orangutan.

Orangutans live on the island of Borneo, north of Java, Indonesia. They are Asia's only great ape, which might lead you to think that they are highly protected. Wrong. Orangutans are critically endangered.

Borneo – the third-largest island in the world – includes Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei. Its major export is palm oil, a common ingredient in many products, not just food. To the workers in Borneo, palm oil is more important than the orangutan.

Palm oil comes from the oil palm, which are farmed on vast plantations to keep up with worldwide demand. Acres of rainforests are demolished to make room for these palm oil plantations. Acres of orangutan habitat are being destroyed for this oil. After the palm fruit is harvested, the plantation must be burned to the ground to release nutrients back into the soil – a necessary step because Borneo has very poor soil. Frequently, the burning is uncontrolled, and fires spread into surrounding forest where orangutans live. About nine orangutans are killed every day because of palm oil. In the past two decades, 50,000 orangutans have been killed.

Who is using palm oil? Well, if you have ever eaten popcorn, granola bars, Pop tarts, or Nutella, you have unknowingly supported the destruction of the rainforest and the death of orangutans and other species in Borneo.

We have a choice. We can simply continue eating our palm oil–filled snacks, or we can take a little extra time to figure out which foods contain palm oil, then choose alternatives. It's not hard. The alternative is a healthier choice anyway. The protection of orangutans and their environment is crucial. Borneo has the oldest rainforest on the planet, and at this rate humans will destroy it all in only a few decades. If our demand for palm oil continues, orangutans will be extinct by 2015, and their home will be totally destroyed in 20 years. If that happens, as thoughtless consumers, we will only have ourselves to blame.



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This article has 4 comments.


on Apr. 28 2014 at 10:05 am
AloneandFree SILVER, Williamston, South Carolina
5 articles 0 photos 40 comments

Favorite Quote:
Rise above the storm and you will find the sunshine.<br /> -Mario Fernandez

wow..thank you for writing that I love animals so i guess i wont be eating any of that again i dont want them to be exstinct.

on Apr. 24 2014 at 10:57 pm
jadeheavens BRONZE, Penticton, Other
2 articles 0 photos 1 comment

Favorite Quote:
&quot;A pessimist is a person who has had to listen to too many optimists.&quot;<br /> Don Marquis

Thank you for writing this article about protecting the environment, and doing such a great job!

on Apr. 22 2014 at 11:24 am
SecretFlame PLATINUM, Portland, Oregon
20 articles 1 photo 373 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;I have a life. I just choose to ignore it.&quot;<br /> -one of my friends

Well done, very well done. It's short and concise and paints a very accurate image of the problems that are going on in Borneo. Great article!

on Apr. 10 2014 at 5:42 pm
TeaFlavoured BRONZE, Budapest, Other
3 articles 0 photos 4 comments
This is wonderful it really makes you think about what we are consuming and how its effecting different habitats and wildlife! Really good information and interesting to read