Page 150 - Grasp English B2 (Student Book)

12 Bionomics

Check the back of your packet of crisps, your shampoo or that tasty bar of chocolate. Chances are
these three products contain palm oil, and not many people are aware of how the palm oil industry is
affecting the habitat of orangutans and other forest animals in Borneo.

As the rainforest where these beautiful creatures live is steadily being cut down to make room for palm
oil plantations, orangutans are coming closer and closer to extinction. Although they will occasionally
eat birds’ eggs and insects, orangutans are mainly herbivores and survive on a diet of fruit and leaves
which they find in the forest. Furthermore, orangutans spend almost all their time in trees – finding food,
resting and even sleeping – and so the effects of deforestation are devastating.

Other animals of Borneo are endangered due to the effects of deforestation. The Bornean bay cat,
a nocturnal predator of the forest, is only found on the island and it is believed that there may be less
than 2,500 of them still alive today. Another feline, the Bornean clouded leopard, is also only found on
the island and uses the trees to hide from other predators. The Bornean slow loris is also under threat
because of habitat loss, although these creatures are also often illegally hunted and sold on the exotic
pet market in Asia.
Borneo has one of the highest deforestation rates in the world, and as well as affecting the area’s
wildlife, cutting down trees has other negative effects on the environment. These include air pollution
as much of the area has been burned in order to clear it. This has led Indonesia to become the world’s
third-largest carbon dioxide producer after China and the United States. As we know, carbon dioxide
levels in our atmosphere are having a terrible effect on our ecosystem, and are adding to the climate
emergency we currently face. Although in more recent years, some companies have been trying to
produce sustainable palm oil crops, a lot of the forest areas have already been cut down and, living on
an island, the endangered animals have no opportunity to migrate to a new habitat.

C. Read the text. Answer the questions.

1. Why is the habitat of orangutans being deforested?
2. What do orangutans usually eat?
3. Which other Bornean animals are also under threat of extinction?
4. Why has Borneo’s deforestation produced a huge amount of carbon dioxide?
5. How are some companies trying to improve the situation?

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