Sun bear

EDU 524 Janneke Briggs-Verhoeven

start

The Sun Bear

All about the sun bear

• Sun bears get their name from the marking on their chest which is said to look like a sun rising or setting.

• Sun bears are the smallest bears in the world.

• Sun bears have very long tongues to help them get honey out of bee hives.

• Sun bears live in the rain forest in South East Asia.

• Sun bears are vulnerable: high risk of extinction in the wild.

The sun bear is in danger...

People all of the world use palm tree oil. It is used in a lot of products. The sun bear's rain forest habitat is being cut down to plant palm trees for the palm oil business. This is called deforestation.

Poachers hunt sun bears and kill the mother so they can keep the baby as a pet. Sometimes they are sold as pets.

Poachers hunt and kill sun bears for their claws and other body parts. They believe these partys have special powers but scientists found that that is not true.

Let's listen to a story...

What can we do?

In your group, brainstorm a list of things we can do to help the sun bear.

Get your questions ready!

Let's talk to Dr. Wong!

'I am determined to help Bornean sun bears. The challenge is huge, and I cannot do this alone. I need help, support and allies. Every voice counts and together we can make a difference."

But...

Always consider multiple perspectives!

Multiple perspectives on the Palm Oil Industry

Role Play

Get in teams of 4. Choose a card with your role: sun bear, palm oil boss, palm oil worker, Dr. Wong Act out meeting each other, tell each other how you feel, can you come to a compromise?

What do you experts think?

sustainability

Sustainability means that we as humans interact with the world in a way that makes sure that there will be enough resources left for the future. For the palm industry that means we will try to find a way that will cause as little harm as possible for the rain forest and will help make sure the workers can take care of their families.

Palm Oil and Sustainability

• Products that can contain palm oil.

• Look for the logo!

Watch your teacher's adventure with the sun bear

Assessment

Interactive question

Interactive Question

Design a poster to tell people what we can do to help the sun bear as well as the people of Borneo.

• Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Center. https://www.bsbcc.org.my/home

• Ecology, Environment & Conservation. (2018). 'Deforestation-free' palm oil not as simple as it sounds. https://link-gale-com.lopes.idm.oclc.org/apps/doc/A542014745/GBIB?u=canyonuniv&sid=bookmark-GBIB&xid=956abf82

• Guharajan, R., Mohamed, A., Wong, S. T., Niedballa, J., Petrus, A., Jubili, J., Lietz, R., Clements, G. R., Wong, W.-M., Kissing, J., Lagan, P., & Wilting, A. (2021). Sustainable forest management is vital for the persistence of Sun Bear Helarctos Malayanus populations in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. Forest Ecology and Management, 493, 119270. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foreco.2021.119270

• Mohd Hanafiah, K., Abd Mutalib, A. H., Miard, P., Goh, C. S., Mohd Sah, S. A., & Ruppert, N. (2022). Impact of Malaysian palm oil on sustainable development goals: co-benefits and trade-offs across mitigation strategies. Sustainability science, 17(4), 1639–1661. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-021-01052-4

• Motlag, J. (2013). Palm oil for the west, exploitation for young workers in Malaysia. The Atlantic. https://pulitzercenter.org/stories/palm-oil-west-exploitation-young-workers-malaysia

• Spott. (n.d.). Social impact. https://www.spott.org/palm-oil-resource-archive/impacts/social/

References

• In South East Asia

Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Center

In the United States,in California, in Altadena.

Mary Jackson Multilingual STEAM Academy

Where will they live? What will they eat?

What do the animals who live in the rainforest think about their trees being cut down for the industry?

What do the workers at the Sun Bear Conservation Center think about the forests being cut down?

• What does this mean for their work in taking care of sun bears without a home?

Immigrant children move with their families. They stop going to school because they need to work for the palm industry so their family has money for food. What do these children think?

• How is their life different from yours?

What do palm oil industry workers think about the business?

• How does the palm oil industry help them?
• What is it like to work there?