Support grows to end bear bile farming

My latest article for The Scavenger, Support grows to end bear bile farming, was published online last month. I look at the horrendous practice of bear bile farming, the brilliant work Animals Asia Foundation (AAF) are doing to close down the industry, and also detail the rising tide of support for a ban in China.

This is an issue very close to my heart - I spent three months as a volunteer at the AAF Moon Bear Rescue Centre in Chengdu, China, in 2006. It was a life-changing experience.

I was lucky to have some fantastic interviewees for the article: Jill Robinson (CEO and Founder of AAF), Anne Lloyd-Jones (Australian Director - AAF), and Martin Guinness (Director of new film Cages of Shame).

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Support grows to end bear bile farming

Prominent Chinese personalities, students, academics, members of the public and the media are joining the growing chorus of voices speaking out against bear bile farming – an incredibly cruel practice where bears are kept in tiny metal cages for years on end, their bodies cut open to drain their bile for use as a health remedy. Animals Asia Foundation is at the forefront of rescuing these bears, who have physical and mental scars, and placing them in sanctuaries where they can begin to enjoy life after countless years of confinement and agonising pain. Susannah Waters reports.

24 May 2012

I once witnessed a moon bear walk on grass for what was believed to be her first time. She was recovering at the Animals Asia Moon Bear Rescue Centre in China after countless years on a bear bile farm.

The wide outdoor space La Jana was introduced to initially elicited fear from this enormous individual, who had spent the majority of her life in a tiny metal cage. It was astonishing to observe a huge bear become nervous at the sensation of grass underfoot. Luckily, unease soon turned to curiosity and she began to relish her time in the sun.

During my time as a volunteer at the rescue centre, what I found most striking about La Jana was her gentle attitude toward humans: she radiated peace. Her behaviour indicated that she didn’t harbour any ill will towards the people who now worked around her, despite a history of human indifference to her suffering.

Animals Asia Foundation (AAF) is the organisation at the epicentre of the fight to end bear bile farming. The progress AAF has achieved to date is impressive: it has closed down 43 Chinese farms, and has overseen the conversion of 20 mainland China provinces to bear farm-free status. The organisation has rescued 381 bears from these factories of misery in China and Vietnam.

Life in the shadows


For 19 years, AAF Founder and CEO Jill Robinson has been unwavering in her commitment to abolish bear farming. Robinson, who refers to the practice as “barbaric mutilation of an endangered species”, says that images from her first glimpse into a bear farm in 1993 still haunt her.

“But today, nearly two decades later, I see bears suffering in exactly the same way on these disgusting farms in China and Vietnam”, she tells The Scavenger.

Bear bile’s use in Traditional Chinese Medicine gave rise to facilities which operate with the sole aim of extracting the substance from live bears. Extraction techniques cover a spectrum of brutality. The deplorable free-drip method – comprising a gaping hole cut into a bear’s abdomen to facilitate the flow of bile – is the only legally-sanctioned method in China, but crude catheters inserted into gall bladders or the torturous metal jacket are still often used.

Farmed bears are often confined in cages so small they can barely move.

The suffering of farmed bears is all-encompassing. The bile extraction process is not only agonising, but also leaves bears vulnerable to disease and premature death. Mental trauma and consequent stereotypical behaviours are rife among farmed bears, who are denied any semblance of a normal life.

Official figures suggest that 7,000 bears are presently incarcerated in bear farms across China. However Anne Lloyd-Jones, Australian Director of AAF, suspects the number is higher. “There could be more than 14,000 bears on farms in China, but no one really knows for sure. The figure could actually be closer to 20,000”, she says.

Nevertheless, AAF remains confident that bear farming’s days are numbered. Robinson believes that it will ultimately be reflected upon with “utter shame that our species could have been responsible for such physical and psychological torture of another sentient, intelligent mammal”.

An inspiring journey

A new film Cages of Shame underscores the determination of AAF to eradicate bear bile farming and cease the trade in its associated products.

Martin Guinness’s award-winning film follows a team of AAF staff traversing thousands of kilometres to free 10 bears from years of bondage on a Shandong farm. The trip was fraught with a series of challenges, including frequent traffic gridlock and the ever-present anxiety over the bears’ health.The goal was to transport the bears safely to AAF’s Moon Bear Rescue Centre in Chengdu, where staff would work to repair their damaged bodies and fragile mental health. Almost 300 bears have passed through the sanctuary’s gates since 2000.

Guinness, who first saw a flyer about the plight of the moon bears six years ago, hopes to increase public awareness of bear farming.

“It touched me so much, I knew I had to try and do something”, Guinness says. “Obviously, being a filmmaker, I thought of making a documentary film to spread the word”.

He joined the AAF to document their trip to liberate the group of bears. “Naturally, my hope was to initially spread the word to let people know”, Guinness says. “Of course, the end intention is to free all the bears being held in cages.”

Lloyd-Jones believes that Cages of Shame is an important film as it not only exposes the “horrors” of bear farming, but also demonstrates the rising tide of support for a ban in China.

“It shows how many wonderful Chinese people went out of their way to help us rescue those 10 bears. While there is a lot of animal cruelty in China – as there is in Australia and elsewhere – there is also a large number of people who deeply care about animals and want bear farming to end as much as we do”, she says.

Guinness reveals the bear rescue had a profound impact on him. “I was also touched by the emotions of the vets and veterinary nurses, who are used to seeing animals in pain. But, in some cases, they were in tears seeing the state of the caged bears.”

The compassion and fortitude displayed by the staff is perhaps one of the most powerful features of the film.

Explosion of support

Bear bile has traditionally been used as an antidote to inflammation and heat-related afflictions in humans, including high temperatures and liver disease.

But its use as a health remedy has been scrutinised by medical practitioners in recent years. Evidence is mounting that this substance, often derived from very ill bears, presents a grave risk to human health.

Bears languishing on farms often succumb to an array of health conditions such as regular infections, multiple diseases and even cancer. In addition, the unsanitary method of the bile’s collection and containment, and the administering of drugs such as antibiotics to bears, make for a toxic – and sometimes deadly – concoction.

Lloyd-Jones maintains that science is on their side. “Not only is bear farming cruel, but we can prove that the bile extracted is tainted and the bears coming from farms are sick”, she says. She claims that the alternatives to bear bile are cheaper and cruelty-free, and are very effective in treating the conditions bear bile is prescribed for.

Over 50 herbal substitutes for bear bile are listed in the Chinese pharmacopeia, and numerous synthetic alternatives exist.

Robinson reveals that many Traditional Chinese Medicine doctors are among those now rejecting bear bile. AAF has had great success in encouraging pharmacy shop owners to relinquish their bear bile supplies and pledge to become bear bile-free.

Support is pouring in from multiple corners. Prominent Chinese personalities, students, academics, members of the public and the media are joining the growing chorus of voices speaking out against bear farming.

Robinson says that this “new movement of people rising up” against the “hideous” practice of bear farming is what sustains her faith that it will one day be consigned to history.

Day to day, she is inspired by seeing the “beautiful, forgiving rescued bears” at the rescue centre, “enjoying their freedom with the choice of swimming in pools, playing with friends in the grass, or sleeping under the sun”.

The legacy of those lost

Sadly, La Jana’s time in the sun was fleeting. Although finally free of the cage and the catheter, the bear bile industry had not yet softened its grip on her.

Cancer began to ravage her liver, and started to consume this sweet bear whose own body never truly belonged to her.

She did get to experience some beautiful moments of freedom before her passing, like those lazy afternoons on the grass. I also recall times when several of us spoiled her with an endless feast of fruit in the knowledge she didn’t have much time left on this earth.

Although underweight and growing weaker by the day, her sparkling soul continued to shine through.

Liver cancer is frighteningly prevalent in farmed bears. Many of the lucky bears who are cared for in the tranquil surrounds of the rescue centre carry a heavy burden of illness from their oppressive former lives.Although the battle is not yet won, fortunately for the other bears currently suffering in silence on farms, AAF's indomitable spirit is absolutely unyielding.

“No matter how long it takes, we have to stop bear farming and we know we will. It’s just a matter of time”, insists Lloyd-Jones.

Robinson’s optimism is also unshakable. “We are finally turning the corner and people are no longer willing to accept this systematic torture and exploitation of the bears”, she says.

She is confident that her team’s work and tenacity will “relegate bear farming to the history books of shame and see as many bears as possible free from their torture traps, enjoying their first glimpse of spring”.

I don’t doubt it for a second.



Jill Robinson, Founder and CEO of Animals Asia Foundation, will be speaking at a series of events in Australia and New Zealand in early June. For event information, see: www.animalsasia.org/roadshow

Animals Asia has been holding screenings of Cages of Shame in Australia, the US and the UK. For more information on the film, visit: http://www.cagesofshame.com/

Susannah Waters is associate editor at The Scavenger. Susannah volunteered at the Animals Asia Moon Bear Rescue Centre for several months in 2006.

Photos: Jill Robinson during the Shandong bear rescue in April 2010 (photo courtesy of AAF); ex-farmed bears relaxing and playing at the Moon Bear Rescue Centre (both photos: writer’s own).

The perils of speaking about Thai elephant exploitation

My latest piece, The perils of speaking about Thai elephant exploitation, was inspired by the recent raids of authorities on two leading wildlife sanctuaries in Thailand.

The Thai tourism industry generates massive profits from selling elephant-related activities to tourists. The tourism industry conceals the dark reality behind these activities: the brutal abuse that elephants are subjected to in order to "prepare" them for a life of providing elephant rides, painting pictures for tourists, playing football, etc.

Public ignorance is part of the tourism industry's agenda, therefore those who speak up against the abuse of elephants have faced intimidation and threats. There is strong indication that the recent wildlife sanctuary raids were an effort by Thai officials to cover up their own involvement in the illegal trading of elephants within the country, by hushing those speaking out.

Jerry Nelson who runs blog "Asian Elephant Stories" reposted my article on his blog.

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The perils of speaking about Thai elephant exploitation

13 March 2012

Recent raids on two wildlife charities in Thailand have caused outrage in wildlife protection circles. These incidents have been interpreted as an attempt to intimidate and silence wildlife conservationists speaking out about illegal elephant trading within the country. Suspicions as to the complicity of Thai authorities in the trade of elephants are well-founded, and are likely to be behind efforts to muzzle campaigners, Susannah Waters reports.

Elephant riding has long been championed by tourist operators within Thailand. The Tourism Authority of Thailand promotes it with a dizzying excitement: it claims elephant riding is an “integral part of all tourists’ visits”, that “there are few experiences in Thailand more iconic”, and that “riding atop one of these intelligent yet gigantic creatures is often the highlight of one’s trip to Thailand”.

The activity is presented as an exhilarating, not-to-be-missed experience of a lifetime.

Not surprisingly, absent from the over-hyped descriptions of promised tourist thrills is the reality of abuse, over-work and exploitation of tourist elephants. Missing from the glossy tour leaflets is mention of the phajaan training ceremony, the brutal sustained abuse young elephants are forced to endure in preparation for a lifetime of carrying tourists, performing in animal shows, and even painting pictures for tourist amusement.

A blow-by-blow of the phajaan doesn’t make for light reading. The confining and beating with metal hooks and sharp implements, the deprivation of sleep and food, and the ultimate breaking of the spirit to transform Thailand’s “intelligent yet gigantic” creatures into mere shells of submission, consequently renders them more malleable to an industry with a lot to gain.

And also a lot to hide. The cruel training ritual inflicted on all domestic and tourist elephants is the industry’s dirty little secret.

As is the illegal poaching and trading of elephants within the country, alleged to have links to Thai government officials and prominent businessmen.

Complicity and cover-ups  

Recent weeks have seen two leading Thai wildlife charities subjected to raids by Department of National Parks (DNP) officials. In February, the Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand (WFFT) faced several days of raids resulting in the violent removal of 103 animals from their sanctuary in Phetchaburi. At the time of writing, only three animals had been returned.

Founder of WFFT, Edwin Wiek, had penned a letter to a Thai newspaper only days earlier, in which he outlined the issue of baby elephants being poached from the wild to supply Thai elephant camps. He estimated that over half of all young elephants in tourist camps were “wild-caught”.

Wiek suggested a cover-up had taken place over the recent deaths of six elephants within two national parks. Despite claims by a government official they were likely slaughtered for “bush-meat”, Wiek believed a more realistic scenario was they’d been killed to obtain their babies for tourist elephant camps.

In addition to detailing the huge financial incentives driving the demand for wild-caught baby elephants, Wiek alleged that “influential people” buttressed elephant trafficking and that bribing of officials was standard. 

There is strong indication that the ensuing harassment of WFFT’s sanctuary just days later was no coincidence, and was directly linked to Wiek’s explosive claims rather than DNP’s stated need to urgently sight legal documentation for the animals under WFFT’s care. 

In strikingly similar circumstances, shortly after Elephant Nature Park (ENP) founder Sangduen ‘Lek’ Chailert was interviewed on Thai TV about the illegal elephant trade, the DNP converged on her park’s Chiang Mai grounds.

The elephant rescue and conservation group was raided three times by the DNP in February, ostensibly to seize illegally kept wild elephants. Upon finding none during the first two raids, officials conceded that there were no wild elephants housed among the park’s herd of rescued elephants.

Yet, DNP officials returned to the park several days after Chailert joined Wiek and elephant conservationist Antoinette van de Water for a Bangkok press conference, where they discussed the illegal elephant trade.   

Staff and volunteers staged a protest as officials again entered the park, but no confiscations or arrests were carried out – despite a tip-off that they would. However, DNP have pledged to return, purportedly to chase up documentation for several elephants at the park.

In a video discussing the raids, Chailert questioned why the 16 elephant camps in the region were not also being scrutinised.  

Punishing the protectors

The harassment of wildlife campaigners in Thailand is not without precedent.

Antoinette van de Water, founder of elephant conservation group Bring the Elephant Home (BTEH), has worked to protect elephants for a decade in Thailand. Fresh from the Bangkok press conference and the protests at the Elephant Nature Park (a group she has worked closely with for years), she tells The Scavenger that she is proud of the work BTEH has achieved for the benefit of elephants.

But she admits her efforts have sometimes come at a personal cost. 

Two years ago, a media storm erupted in reaction to revelations about the forced breeding of elephants in van de Water’s book, The Great Elephant Escape. She was accused of lying and fabricating the information, and of insulting Thailand. 

In statements to the media, so-called elephant “experts” tried to discredit van de Water, denied that forced breeding happens, and declared that she should be deported from Thailand.

“I received some serious warnings. I don’t get scared easily, but this made me feel at least a bit uncomfortable in Thailand”, reveals van de Water. “Even organisations I used to work together with didn’t speak out to defend me. It’s all about the political position, and this is more important than animal welfare, I learned”.

During her 10 years in Thailand, van de Water has witnessed elephant abuse first-hand, including the cruel training of baby elephants. From experience, she knew how problematic it was to raise these issues publicly and that she risked getting “in a lot of trouble”.

Her frustration grew as it became clear it would be difficult to fight “the corrupted powerful gang of people” at the heart of the elephant trade.

Van de Water has found this aspect of working in Thailand so frustrating that she now feels better placed to advocate for elephants away from Thailand, and has made the difficult decision to leave.

“I am not giving up; I will stay active for animals, including Thai elephants. But I feel that I can do more, and be much more appreciated, in another part of the world”, says van de Water.

She believes that the raids at ENP and WFFT happened because Chailert and Wiek have been “very outspoken” in the Thai media about the recent elephant killings.

“I believe they [the DNP] did this to intimidate these NGOs and to save face”, claims van de Water.

Abused by the system

The relentless marketing of elephant activities to tourists falsely depicts these experiences as harmless to elephants, and often places them in a “get back to nature” context.

Suffice to say that there is nothing natural about the enforced enslavement of elephants for tourist entertainment.

Elephant riding and related activities serve to entrap elephants in a cycle of abuse while simultaneously depleting their numbers in the wild. Thus, the paying tourist becomes an accessory to elephant exploitation.

Wiek alluded to this in his controversial letter, stating that “people who ignore what is occurring effectively support the killing and torture of wild-born elephants”.

But with strong and sustained attempts to hush critics such as Wiek, unfortunately many tourists are none the wiser about elephant abuse. The industry which reaps immense profits from appropriating elephants has a vested interest in maintaining the ignorance of tourists.

Worryingly, Thai officials are allegedly involved in facilitating the traffic and poaching of elephants.

Van de Water says that she has encountered ample evidence of this.

Last year, her group was informed of some seriously injured elephants in Surin province. Upon arrival they discovered a severely injured young adult elephant with a tusk missing and deep cuts across her entire body. They were initially told by a mahout that he’d rescued her, but the truth was uncovered later that night: the group of mahouts had been shooting wild adult elephants in order to steal babies from the herd.

The injured elephant was captured and immediately forced into torturous phajaan training. The plan was to then sell her to the tourism industry.

Van de Water’s group asked how the mahouts could sell an elephant without any documentation. All captive-born elephants over the age of 8 are required to be registered.

“They just laughed about this question: easy! One way is to use the papers of a domesticated elephant that died already. But even easier: powerful people will just make the papers”, recounts van de Water.

Because elephants under 8 years of age don’t require paperwork, wild-caught babies are often simply passed off as the offspring of domestic elephants.

Van de Water claims that at the annual Surin Elephant Round-up, organised by the Surin government, there are scores of baby elephants. She detests the event - which features choreographed elephant shows and “performances” including football games – but attends to maintain a watchful eye. Once she collaborated with Animal Planet on the filming of a behind-the-scenes documentary there.

Physical signs of the abuse of baby elephants are clearly visible at the festival, van de Water says. “When you have a closer look at the babies, you will see incredible abuse. Head completely covered with wounds, of a baby not even a year old”.

Her conversations with mahouts at the event have been illuminating. Many admitted that they bought wild-caught young elephants, and disclosed that “very powerful and influential” people assisted with arrangements.

Van de Water asserts that the recent national park elephant deaths, which prompted Wiek’s letter to the media, did have Department of National Parks involvement. This is known within Thailand, she says, and they most certainly were motivated by the prospect of big money.

“Unless the forestry department makes a big change to get rid of corruption and start to really enforce laws, I’m worried a lot about wild elephants…. Even though many elephants die, they will still have elephants to expose: playing football, painting pictures, carrying tourists.  A sad image of the future of Thai elephants, no? But this is the direction Thailand is taking”, van de Water laments.

The cry of elephants in the ‘land of smiles’

The weight of evidence suggests that the recent raids on WFFT and ENP were a form of punitive action, aiming to silence and constrain wildlife conservationists. The message is loud and clear: speak out and suffer the consequences.

But elephants don’t have the luxury of time on their side. Their situation grows ever more precarious by the year. With as little as 1500  wild elephants remaining in Thailand, the urgency for conservationists to inform the public is stronger than ever.

Elephants’ continued survival depends on these dedicated campaigners to advocate for their rights in Thailand. A successful suppression of wildlife campaigners would condemn Thai elephants to an even more perilous existence.

But the world is watching, and in recent weeks WFFT and ENP have been inundated with messages of support. Protests are being organised at Thai embassies around the world to demand the return of confiscated animals to WFFT’s sanctuary.

Although it is an uphill battle, the tenacity and hard work of many to end the illegal trade and exploitation of elephants is unlikely to waver.

“No matter how much they will try to intimidate us, the truth will come out. We have too many supporters to let this happen again”, insists van de Water.  

See the Elephant Nature Park and Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand websites for the latest developments.  

Related reading:

Wildlife tourism in Thailand: Cruel and exploitative?

Photos: Abused elephant in Kanchanaburi province, group of elephants at Elephant Nature Park; abused elephant in Surin; all courtesy of Bring the Elephant Home.

Published on whydev.org: "As long as the razor wire exists: Voices of refugees"

My article "As long as the razor wire exists: Detention dehumanises asylum seekers" was published on the whydev.org site this week.

This piece was originally published on The Scavenger in April last year. I wrote this article in late 2010 for a university assignment. It was inspired by the harmful - and persistent - rhetoric of politicians on the topic of refugees. I felt that Australians were being given a very distorted and one-sided view of the issue via the media and the government. I was compelled to write a piece which looked at this multifaceted issue from the perspective of refugees themselves, and from those who work closely with them.

The version which has gone up on whydev.org has been updated with some recent stats and info. In promoting my article across social media, whydev.org have said:

• "It's rare that we hear about effects of detention on asylum seekers from the source. This is a must read from Susannah Waters".


• "Want to know about the effects of detention on refugees? @agualily goes straight to the source in this post".


• "Compelling new post by @agualily on whydev".

[agualily is my Twitter username]

I really appreciate whydev.org's interest in my article, and I am really thrilled to have my work on their site.

Shortlisted for 2011 Voiceless Media Prize

On 30 November 2011 I attended the 2011 Voiceless Awards Event, as I was shortlisted in the Print/Online category for the Voiceless Media Prize. The prizes recognise the most influential and accurate reports on animal protection and ethics.

I was shortlisted for three of my articles: Ducking Progress: Victoria's Duck Hunting Season, Horse Racing: The Hidden Cruelty Revealed, and Shark Fin Soup: A Recipe for Extinction.

Although I didn't win it I had a brilliant night. Great venue with amazing food and wine, plus I had the opportunity to meet some fantastic people.

Christine Jackman won the Print/Online prize for The Claws Come Out in The Weekend Australian Magazine. Her article discussed the difficulties of animal law, which still considers an animal to be a form of personal property.

Sarah Ferguson and Michael Doyle of Four Corners (ABC) very deservedly won the Broadcast prize for A Bloody Business, an expose of the live cattle trade with Indonesia.

Prisoners in their own bodies: Medical experiments on chimps

My latest article for the Scavenger, Prisoners in their own bodies: Medical experiments on chimps.
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Prisoners in their own bodies: Medical experiments on chimps

03 October 2011

A recent video of a group of chimpanzees being introduced to the outdoors after years of medical research touched the hearts of many. But while these chimpanzees are now awakening to the outside world, countless others are still suffering unspeakable torture out of public view, writes Susannah Waters.

They move towards the golden wall of light suddenly exposed by the sliding metal door. Crowding around the exit, they don’t immediately venture beyond the doorframe, instead taking turns to peek out into the vast expanse of brightness.  

They then take the plunge and converge on the grass, to bask in the precious sunshine. 

The recent footage of a group of ex-laboratory chimpanzees being released onto the sunny playground of a sanctuary in Austria, after enduring decades of invasive medical research, was simultaneously heart-warming and heart-wrenching. The video featuring the primates appeared prominently across the mainstream media, and was also popular on YouTube.

Vision of the chimpanzees cautiously inspecting the open door, glancing around at each other, and hugging before their first steps into the outdoors no doubt resonated with many, because the apes’ emotions were plain for all to see. Their apprehension and excitement was palpable. It wasn’t difficult to recognise the curiousity, the wonder, and the sheer joy they were displaying on their long overdue excursion into the sun.

Three decades of captivity had made this occasion particularly momentous. Ostensibly, the chimps were now (relatively) free.

But although now somewhat physically liberated, what could be the legacy of a lifetime of bondage to medical research?

The powerlessness of laboratory animals is all-encompassing. In his book Making a killing: The political economy of animal rights, Bob Torres posits that the bodies of lab animals transform into “an agent of their own suffering”; a mere tool to another’s ends. In this way, their bodies no longer belong to them, and represent their complete and utter subjugation.

The group of chimpanzees, many of whom were utilised for ultimately unsuccessful research into HIV, will no doubt bear mental scars long into the future.

This is largely because animal experimentation erodes the agency of the testing subject. All inherent value and autonomy of the individual is erased, via the hijacking of their body to serve as an instrument of scientific research. Personalities are suppressed, as individual expression is denied an outlet.

This is no secret. In fact, the premise upon which experimentation is built requires animal subjects to present a homogeneous mass, in order to afford uniformity of test results.

This transformation into anonymous beings serves the experimenters’ interests well, and facilitates the avoidance of ethical considerations.

Basic needs on every level are denied to those incarcerated in testing facilities – access to a normal living environment, a natural diet, the ability to satisfy impulse and instinct, to be amongst kin, and to mate. This denial of both the “self”, and the capacity to carry out behaviours intrinsic to the self, amounts to domination on a most monumental scale.   

The subjection of lab animals, therefore, transcends the physical and very much extends to their emotional lives. Their bodies may be an “agent” of their own torture, but so too become their minds. Thoughts and feelings, unable to flow freely and organically, are tightly tethered to - and dictated by - their state of imprisonment.

In the process of experimentation, a laboratory animal’s entire being is taken hostage.

The plight of those who are locked away, robbed of their very essence and exploited for profit, is rarely thrust under the media spotlight. This is largely because operations which exploit and harm animals do their utmost to ensure their actions are concealed from the public eye, in order to safeguard the bottom line. 

For example, the clandestine nature of animal testing facilities is an essential facet of the system’s continued survival. Public ignorance of the inner workings of these facilities is convenient for companies conducting animal testing; thus it is very carefully engineered.

Hundreds of thousands of non-human primates are appropriated for scientific research and testing each year, worldwide.

Currently only two countries – the United States and Gabon – continue to conduct experiments on chimpanzees. There are moves, however, to prohibit the use of great apes within research in the U.S. Bills recently introduced to the Senate and House of Representatives have garnered considerable support.   

The recent footage of the chimpanzees in Austria provided an opportunity to reflect on the countless animals languishing in testing facilities around the world - living beings enduring the wholesale violation of mind, body and soul, away from public scrutiny.

Newly released documentary Project Nim, centred on a controversial 1970s social experiment inflicted on a chimpanzee, has also given insight into the extent to which non-human primates have been sequestered by humans for research.

In her book Through a Window: Thirty Years with the Chimpanzees of Gombe, Jane Goodall, long vehemently opposed to research on primates, comments on the exploitation of non-human animals via vivisection.

“Surely it should be a matter of moral responsibility that we humans, differing from other animals mainly by virtue of our more highly developed intellect and, with it, our greater capacity for understanding and compassion, ensure that medical progress speedily detaches its roots from the manure of non-human animal suffering and despair”.

Primate vivisector John VandeBerg, nervous of the prospect of a U.S. ban on chimpanzee experimentation, has claimed "it will be a great tragedy for humanity if research with chimpanzees were stopped."

Conversely, it will be a great moral catastrophe for humanity if the exploitation of our closest living relatives is not brought to an end.

Photo of chimpanzee courtesy of Michael Elliott.

Indonesia’s forests: Paper trail to destruction

My most recent article for The Scavenger, "Indonesia’s forests: Paper trail to destruction", is about Indonesia's forests and the companies responsible for their demise. Deforestation is happening at an alarming rate in Indonesia, and it poses a massive threat to the livelihoods of local people and to native wildlife such as the orangutan and Sumatran tiger.

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Indonesia’s forests: Paper trail to destruction

13 August 2011

Indonesia’s vanishing natural forests and wildlife species are testament to deforestation out of control. Government inaction, corruption, illegal logging and the complicity of high profile companies have made for a toxic mix that not even a moratorium on logging can effectively address, writes Susannah Waters.

World records are often a source of pride and admiration, but one specific listing in the Guinness Book of Records, attributed to Indonesia, had a distinctly reprehensible quality. So prolific was the record-breaking exploit that it was inked onto the world-famous book’s pages in both 2008 and 2009. 

Indonesia’s achievement? The fastest rate of deforestation worldwide.

In the period from 2000-2009, Indonesia’s forests were being cleared at the staggering speed of around 2 million hectares a year. This represents a land mass roughly equivalent to 300 soccer fields every hour, and a 2% yearly decrease in total forested areas.

Unfortunately, the country’s eco-ravaging accolades do not stop there. This South East Asian nation also smashes records pertaining to native species. Although one of the five most species-rich nations on Earth, it has the highest documented rate of threatened mammal species, and comes third for overall threatened wildlife species.

With such alarming reductions of native flora and fauna annually, Indonesia has reached a critical tipping point. Its wildlife species are at unprecedented risk, and loss of biodiversity is on a dangerous – and seemingly unstoppable - trajectory.   

Papering over responsibility

In addition to the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation is one of the primary drivers of greenhouse gas emissions. The UN claims that deforestation and forest degradation account for around 20% of all worldwide emissions.

Covering an area of land only second in size to Brazil’s forests, Indonesia’s rainforests are of great global significance. Consequently, the country’s contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions as a result of logging is substantial.

Indonesian government estimates indicate that forest and peatland depletion there produces around 1.6 billion tons of CO2 per year – a volume which trumps India’s total annual greenhouse gas emissions. Indonesia is the world’s third largest emitter. 

The main threats confronting Indonesia’s forests are fuelled by lucrative commercial operations involving numerous local and international corporations, functioning both inside and outside the bounds of the law.

Indonesia is the world’s largest producer of palm oil, and its forest products such as wood, pulp and paper are highly prized on international markets.

A company infamous for its activities in the region is Asia Pulp and Paper (APP).

APP is a subsidiary of colossal Indonesian conglomerate Sinar Mas, and has regularly attracted strong scrutiny for its business practices. APP is the leading paper producer in Indonesia, and is one of the largest pulp and paper producers worldwide.

Deemed Indonesia’s “most notorious forest destroyer” by Greenpeace forests campaigner Ian Duff, APP’s hand in forest desecration is acknowledged as a mighty one. The company has been accused of triggering a spectrum of disastrous outcomes for local communities, the environment and wildlife.

The allegations levelled against APP are damning.

It has been denounced for generating extensive pollution, eroding livelihoods by expropriating agricultural and forest areas traditionally relied on by local communities, threatening local food security and skirting legal obligations.

Additionally, some of its timber affiliates are being investigated for illegal logging.

Despite APP’s assurances that it is moving towards more sustainable practices, its track record casts a long shadow of doubt on such claims.

Cheap packaging with a heavy price

The role of Western corporations in the demise of Indonesia’s forests, through their business connections to companies such as APP, is also particularly noteworthy.

Regardless of its unscrupulous conduct, APP is not struggling to whip up business. Just last month, supermarket chain IGA’s Australian operations were discovered to be purchasing toilet paper from APP, which is then sold in-store under IGA’s home brands. 

A recent exposé by Greenpeace unearthed APP’s dealings with American company Mattel.

Mattel is a corporation which knows a thing or two about world records. A phenomenal sales performance has Mattel firmly positioned as the largest toy company in the world, while its centrepiece product, Barbie, is the world’s highest-selling doll.

Mattel’s connections to Indonesia’s forest woes were recently thrust under the spotlight via an inventive media campaign by Greenpeace. Playing on a recent Mattel promotion announcing Barbie and Ken’s reunion, timed impeccably for Valentine’s Day, Greenpeace had Ken calling time out on their relationship over Barbie’s recent behaviour.

Greenpeace’s comical video featured an initially upbeat Ken being delivered the shocking news that Barbie was hacking down Indonesian rainforest to “wrap herself in cheaper packaging”.

Greenpeace alleges it has traced Mattel’s cardboard toy packaging back to the rainforests of Indonesia after an exhaustive investigation which employed forensic testing and mapping data. The group also uncovered company certificates verifying Mattel’s link to APP.

The same investigation also revealed Hasbro and Disney’s use of APP’s products.  

In a statement, Mattel responded that it had “launched an investigation into the deforestation allegations”. The company declared that it would require its packaging suppliers to “commit to sustainable forestry management practices.”

But Mattel’s words appear to be a mere green sheen, attempting to appease its customer base.

It is unfathomable that corporations such as Mattel and IGA would not be well versed in all dealings along the supply chain. Failing to examine suppliers’ business practices, before contracts have been signed and trade has commenced, would no doubt be considered a quintessential act of evading corporate responsibility. 

Palming off accountability

In similar circumstances to Mattel, last year Nestlé was accused by Greenpeace of driving orangutans ever closer to extinction due to the food giant’s extensive use of unsustainably sourced palm oil. A video produced by Greenpeace focused specifically on Nestlé’s Kit Kat chocolate bar.    

The footage features a bored employee in the dull surrounds of an open plan office taking a “break” from his mundane task of paper shredding. He opens a plastic Kit Kat wrapper to reveal an orangutan finger, which he then bites into as blood spurts on his computer keyboard and drips down his face.

The scene then cuts to vision of an orangutan and her baby in the sole tree within the desolate wasteland of a former rainforest.

Greenpeace unveiled Nestlé’s use of palm oil from suppliers operating in critical orangutan habitat in Indonesia. One supplier was named as Indonesia’s top palm oil producer, Sinar Mas - a company which has become synonymous with forest destruction on a monumental scale.  

Last year, an audit of the company discovered that it had been partaking in widespread illegal land clearing in areas of high conservation value.

Greenpeace’s video played a pivotal role in sparking a widespread social media movement, which led to Nestlé partnering with not-for-profit group The Forest Trust. Nestlé pledged to relinquish ties with “companies owning or managing high risk plantations or farms linked to deforestation". Whether they will achieve this remains to be seen.

Many prominent corporations still conduct business with Sinar Mas, despite its reputation as a palm oil pariah.

The list includes KFC, Wal-Mart, Hewlett Packard and Tesco. However, Kraft, Burger King and Unilever have all recently ceased trade with the firm.

The palm oil industry amasses US$40 billion globally a year, and Indonesia has captured around a third of this market. The impact of palm oil plantations on orangutan habitat is well known.

The Sumatran Orangutan Society says that on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, there is now “more than 4 times as much land cultivated with oil palms as there is orangutan habitat remaining”. Orangutans are projected to be extinct within 10-20 years if forest protection is not urgently prioritised.

However, the “people of the forest” are not the only species fractured by habitat loss as a consequence of palm oil.

The Asian elephant, Sumatran tiger, Sumatran rhinoceros and proboscis monkey have also been gravely affected by the proliferation of plantations. These species are all either endangered, or critically endangered.

There are possibly less than 400 Sumatran tigers remaining in the wild.

Progress or posturing?

In a seemingly momentous victory for the future of Indonesia’s forests, the country’s president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono recently announced a two-year moratorium on logging permits for primary forests and peatlands. The suspension was confirmed as part of a $1 billion climate treaty with Norway.

However, the deal has attracted sharp criticism.

It applies merely to new concessions, meaning that companies holding existing permits in primary forests and peatlands can continue to convert that land and even extend their permits. A raft of other major exemptions in the moratorium, plus the exclusion of secondary forests, are also said to undercut its overall potency.

Chris Lang from the REDD-Monitor, which tracks the debate around REDD (reduced emissions from deforestation and forest degradation), called the moratorium a "disaster” which possessed "gaping loopholes". Lou Verchot of the Center for International Forest Research claims the moratorium will have scant effect, as some companies secured massive concession rights before it was enacted, and because monitoring and enforcement in rural areas is weak.

Environmental groups have echoed these concerns.

In an illuminating turn of events, the moratorium’s conditions were breached on its very first day of existence in May. An environmental group reported the burning of peat forest within a moratorium zone in Kalimantan, carried out by a Malaysian rubber and palm oil plantation firm.

Furthermore, the moratorium’s inadequacies are fortified by a pre-existing problem: illegal logging. A 2007 report by the United Nations Environmental Program claims that illegal logging accounted for 73-88% of all timber sourced in Indonesia. Corruption is also endemic among sections of the Indonesian government, and authorities have been caught out illegally issuing plantation licenses for personal gain.

This means that until illegal logging and corruption are stamped out, any embargo on deforestation is doomed to failure.     

Action by the Indonesian government has been long overdue, but local people and native species deserve genuine and decisive measures rather than largely ineffectual, tokenistic gestures.

Taking care of business

At a time when environmental and climate concerns should be shaping future decisions, the world’s forests are still being plundered at an astronomical rate. Land the size of Costa Rica is levelled across the globe annually, releasing with it approximately 10 billion tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere.

Vast tracts of Indonesian rainforest are being bulldozed every single day to feed a hunger for an ever-increasing bottom line. Throw-away items are being produced at the expense of unique and threatened species, and to the detriment of the health and livelihoods of countless people.

And despite the tainted reputation of corporations such as APP and Sinar Mas, there is still no shortage of Western firms willing to do business with them.

According to the UN, it is the International Year of Forests - but how would we know it?

You’d be forgiven for thinking that it’s business as usual.

Find out more about the recent Greenpeace campaigns to stop companies sourcing products from APP, which is accused of the widespread destruction of Indonesian forest and threatening wildlife species – Mattel: Barbie It’s Over and IGA: Stop Wiping Out Tigers.

To support action on the unsustainable use of palm oil, and to find out the latest news concerning the palm oil issue, visit the Palm Oil Action Group.