Protect Indonesia's Forests and the Endangered Orangutan
In August, more than ten thousand DEN subscribers urged the United States to support global efforts to protect ramin, a disappearing tropical hardwood that shares its fate with endangered orangutans. Ramin's light, strong wood is used in baby cribs, picture frames and scores of other products sold in the United States and Europe. Wiped out in most of its range, ramin is now being harvested in Indonesian national parks that provide the only remaining refuges for critically endangered orangutans, Sumatran tigers and more than one hundred other threatened species. Illegal logging for ramin is destroying Indonesia's forests, threatening ramin and driving the orangutan to the verge of extinction. Without immediate action to bring the global ramin trade under control, the Sumatran orangutan could be extinct in as little as a decade. Countr! ies around the world have taken a stand to stop the illegal ramin trade and protect the world's vanishing orangutans. Sadly, the United States remains silent.
There is no more time for delay. The global trade in ramin must be reined in now, before it is too late. The United States must support ramin's protection under the global wildlife trade treaty, CITES, and ensure that the listing becomes effective immediately. More than two years ago, President Bush promised to act to stop illegal logging. Tell the White House that it's time to make good on that promise, and support the immediate control of ramin trade under CITES.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
Go to Alert #343 on the DEN Action Center and convince the government to make the right choice to stop the illegal trade in ramin and to preserve the future of orangutans. Send a message to the White House urging the administration to support the listing of ramin and products on CITES Appendix II – effective immediately! The key vote on this will happen in the coming days and we urgently need your support.
Please go to our DEN Action Center to take action today!
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