Displaced by Palm Oil: Indonesias last Orangutans

Globally, the demand for palm oil is on the increase. Indonesia is market leader in global palm oil production. Palm oil is used for food, cosmetics and as biofuel. The rain forests are destroyed to grow more oil palms. Palm oil plantations are replacing four-fifths of the rain forest in Indonesia. Orangutans are one of many victims of massive deforestation. Orangutans, an entirely Asian species in the family of great apes, roam Indonesian rain forests on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo. During the past decade, orangutan populations in the wild have decreased by approximately 50%. Human activities, especially the unchecked burning of rain forests to clear land for palm oil plantations, have resulted in a critical loss of habitat, driving orangutans to the brink of extinction in Indonesia.

Sandra Hoyn (b. 1976) is an independent photojournalist based in Hamburg, Germany. She studied photography at the University of Applied Sciences Hamburg, graduating in 2005. She started working for magazines, NGOs and on her personal photo projects, focusing on social, environmental and human rights issues.