Belantikan Hulu Region is home to an estimated 6,000 orangutans, the largest population outside of a protected area. Working with our partners Yayorin, a local Indonesian N.G.O. and with funding from UNEP/EC we have established the Belantikan Conservation Programme. This programme is designed to help conserve this important region though engagement of the local people, district Government and the logging concessions.
Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve, Central Kalimantan, is a release site for orangutans that have been rehabilitated or for wild trans-located orangutans. Increasing numbers of orangutans are arriving at rehabilitation centres as their forest habitat is destroyed. We have established orangutan release sites and patrol posts throughout Lamandau, with the support of the Australian Orangutan Project. The release of orangutans into Lamandau creates a visible reason to increase the protection of these threatened forests. For example, in 2007 we successfully stopped a proposed 8,000 hectare oil-palm plantation that would have wiped out part of the reserve's buffer zone.
The Orangutan Foundation with Yayorin (Yaysan Orangutan Indonesia) and the Indonesian Government’s Agency for the Conservation of Natural Resources are working on an EC-funded programme to promote the conservation and sustainable management of the lowland forests of south Central Kalimantan with a particular focus on the reserve and its surrounding areas. The project encompasses habitat protection, community empowerment and reforestation.
Tanjung Puting National Park, Central Kalimantan, is home to more than 4,000 orangutans making it one of the largest populations in Borneo. Since 2000, we have provided support to the National Park authorities to help them to promote and protect this globally important protect area. This includes operating Pondok Ambung Tropical Forests Research Station and the provision of research grants to Indonesian students. We help support the running of guard posts and monitoring and patrols that protect the valuable forests and wildlife. With Steppes Discovery we run Orangutan Conservation Tours to Borneo three times a year. These unique tours spend a considerable amount of time exploring the wonders of Tanjung Puting National Park and the surrounding area.
Sebangau National Park has the largest orangutan population in Borneo. We are working with the Centre for International Cooperation in Management of Tropical Peatland (CIMTROP) to protect the globally important peat swamp from fire, to prevent illegal activities and increase the capacity of local communities.
The Orangutan Foundation is the UK representative of the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Project (SOCP). SOCP is a multi-faceted programme tackling all aspects of the conservation of the critically endangered Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii). Our recent support has focused on their projects in Aceh’s west coast swamp forests.
