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Malaysia launched its controversial \u201corangutan diplomacy<\/a>\u201d scheme Sunday in an effort to entice countries to continue importing palm oil despite the known risks it poses to the animals\u2019 habitat and survival.<\/p>\n The program allows importers to \u201cadopt<\/a>\u201d orangutans in the country. The government will also try to limit deforestation, a frequent consequence of palm oil plantations, Malaysia\u2019s commodities minister said Sunday.<\/p>\n Animal welfare activists had decried the original proposal to send orangutans abroad; experts believe that fewer than 105,000 orangutans live in the wild exclusively on the Malaysian island of Borneo.<\/p>\n Malaysia and other Southeast Asian countries have tried to present a cleaner sheen on palm oil products since the European Union banned products linked to deforestation<\/a>. The palm oil industry generates more than $39 billion per year<\/a> in global GDP and employs 3 million people worldwide, a million of whom live in Malaysia, and it is used in everything from lipstick to pizza.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n