Orangutans

I’ve gone on about this topic quite a bit already on my blog but in case anyone’s missed it – here is a brief summary.

Orangutans are one of our closest relatives and share 97% of the same DNA as us. They show significant intelligence and the ability to think and reason. They make tools to help get food and water and even make umbrellas when it rains very heavily. In fact recent research shows that orangutans are the most intelligent animal, other than humans.

The largest threat to the orangutan is palm oil. This  is becoming a common ingredient in everyday products such as margarine, chocolate, biscuits, toothpaste, cosmetics and biofuel. As its yields are high and profitable, large swathes of forests are being felled at an alarming rate to make way for palm oil plantations. 25 hectares are lost every minute.

The problem with palm oil is that it is not produced sustainably or with any environmental concerns. Not only is rainforest being cleared, but peatland being drained. As we all know trees and peat store carbon, so getting rid of these stores, releases vast quantities of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The natural rainforest stores 150-400 tonnes of carbon per hectare whereas the oil palm can only store 40-50 tonnes.

Many orangutans are left orphaned as their mothers are killed if they stray onto palmoil plantations looking for food or are simply in the way of a new plantation. Fortunately all hope is not lost and there are 2 great women and 2 great charities working hard to put these orangutans back in the wild.

Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation & Lone Droscher Neilson

Lone is the co-founder and public face of the Nyaru Menteng Rescue & Rehabilitation Centre. She began her work 10years ago with the dream of helping the hundred or so orangutans who were in need of immediate help. The centre has gone from strength to strength but the demand for space in the nursery, forest schools and islands has grown beyond imagining. Currently there are 600 orangutans in their care and one day the majority will be released back into the wild into specially found release sites.

Orangutan Land Trust – Michelle Desilets

Another inspiring woman involved with the battle to save the orangutan (who probably doesn’t get the credit she deserves) is Michelle Desilets and she also spared us her valuable time at Woburn.

Michelle’s interest for the great apes began at school when she watched films featuring Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey and Birute Galdikas and she remained fascinated by the apes’ behaviour. She learnt about them, their habitat and what challenge they faced.

Her dream to see apes in the wild became reality when she visited East and Central Africa, coming face to face with wild gorillas. In 1994 she visited Borneo when she volunteered at the Tanjun Puting National Park. Michelle returned later to look after the orangutan orphans that came in to the project.

In 1997, Michelle and her best friend Lone Droscher Nielson began to look into the possibility of building a centre in Central Kalimantan to give refuge and hope to the ever increasing numbers of orphaned orangutans. They sought advice from Dr Willie Smits and secured financial backing. With this support the Nyaru Menteng Orangutan Reintroduction Project began.

Michelle didn’t get complacent or stop working. She has continued to be active and a leader of international campaigns to help the orangutan, including campaigns about repatriating smuggled orangutans, illegal trade and supporting sustainable palm oil.

She has now been working in orangutan conservation for more than 15 years and she was the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation UK. Now she has set up the Orangutan Land Trust, an organisation that is making it possible to secure and protect both future release sites for orangutans and their existing habitat. These are some of the other activities carried out by OLT:

• Funds forest rangers / anti-logging operations
• Supports alternative livelihoods and sustainable uses of foorest in exchange for their protection in cooperation with local communities
• Supports fire-fighting efforts in orangutan habitat
• Supports reforestation and regeneration activities
• Works with palm oil companies to set aside more than the required conservation areas
• Creates wildlife corridors
• Develops education, outreach and empowerment to communities living in orangutan habitat areas
• Lobbies local and national authorities to protect orangutan habitat.

Here’s some of the ways how the Orangutan Land Trust is funded:

• Carbon funding/offset agreements
• Fees paid into Orangutan Friendly Palm Oil logo
• Fundraising events
• Grants from government & grant-giving agencies
• Sponsorship from corporations and other groups, including zoos
• And obviously public donations

If you would like to be in at the start of what looks to be another amazing project set up by Michelle, then visit the website at www.forests4orangutans.org to see what you can do.