🧭 Walking the Middle Path: Orangutan Rights, Palm Oil, and the Ethics of Eating

Over the years, I’ve learned that when it comes to conservation, ethics, and how we live on this planet, the truth is rarely black and white. Working with orangutans has taught me that life is full of quiet complexity—long pauses, subtle choices, and deep connections not always seen at first glance. That’s how I approach challenging issues like animal rights, palm oil, and vegetarianism: not with rigid ideology, but with curiosity, compassion, and a willingness to sit with uncertainty.

In today’s world, where outrage can travel faster than nuance, I feel it’s important to explore these overlapping issues mindfully, acknowledging multiple perspectives without collapsing into self-righteousness or inaction. So let me offer a personal reflection on three topics that often stir emotion: the moral status of great apes, the ecological and economic impacts of palm oil, and the ethics of what we eat. These issues are linked—by forests, by values, and by our shared future.

🧡 Orangutans and Great Ape Rights: Expanding Our Circle of Care

I’ve spent decades in the presence of orangutans—watching, learning, teaching sign language, and often just listening. It’s clear to me they are not mere animals in the traditional sense, but beings with intelligence, emotional depth, and agency. The idea that they deserve legal rights—protection not just as a species, but as individuals—is not radical. It’s overdue.

Still, the world’s legal systems are slow to evolve. Many people can sense the moral force behind ape personhood but are unsure how to implement it within current laws and institutions. That’s okay. Change takes time, and bridging science, ethics, and law is no small task. What’s important is that we continue the conversation—with open hearts and rigorous minds.

🌴 Palm Oil: Between Forests and Families

The palm oil story is often told as a tragedy of lost rainforests and displaced orangutans—and there’s truth to that. The rapid expansion of oil palm plantations has fragmented some of the last remaining habitats for wild apes in Southeast Asia. But the full story is more complex.

Millions of smallholder farmers rely on this crop to feed their families. In Indonesia and Malaysia, palm oil isn't just a commodity—it’s a pathway out of poverty. That doesn’t mean we ignore the damage. It means we advocate for better practices, not blanket condemnation.

Rather than boycotting palm oil outright, I support Certified Sustainable Palm Oil (CSPO) through the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) and encourage companies to trace and improve their supply chains. We need to work with local communities, not against them, to protect what remains of the forest—and restore what has been lost.

🌱 Vegetarianism: A Personal and Practical Path

Like many others who care deeply about animals, I’ve reflected on what it means to eat ethically. Vegetarianism, far from being a trend, is rooted in centuries of philosophical and spiritual reflection. Some of history’s greatest minds—Pythagoras, Leonardo da Vinci, Gandhi—chose this path not just for health, but out of reverence for life.

While I respect this tradition, I also recognize that dietary choices are shaped by culture, access, and values. Not everyone can or wants to follow the same diet, and that’s okay. What matters is that we each make thoughtful choices in alignment with our principles and capacities.

As someone on my own path, reducing harm where I can—choosing plant-based meals more often, supporting local and sustainable agriculture—is part of my broader conservation ethic. Not perfection, but intention, is the key.

🌍 A Way Forward: Humility, Dialogue, and Shared Stewardship

I don’t pretend to have all the answers. What I do have is a deep commitment to seeking understanding—between people and species, between progress and tradition, between hope and the hard realities we face.

If we are to move forward as a global community, we need more than slogans. We need listening, learning, and a willingness to sit with complexity. That’s how ecosystems heal, how trust is built, and how change—real, lasting change—begins.

Let’s walk this path together.