A day in the life...

We are often asked how things work on a daily basis for the Orangutan Foundation. What work is involved? How does this then help conserve Bornean forest and protect orangutans? Focusing on the London office, here is an insight into working for our conservation charity... The team We have four full time staff in the UK and fifty eight full time staff in Central Kalimantan, Borneo. The team in the UK work to provide daily support, management and to raise all funds for all the Foundation's work on the ground in Borneo. Within the UK and internationally, we work to educate and inform about conservation of orangutan populations, and how we work to contribute to their and their habitats protection.

The day Every day we receive calls and emails from anyone and everyone about orangutans and conservation. In a recent day, we had all of the following keeping us busy...

  • Requests from media groups - T.V. and film groups interested in interviews and footage from us about these great apes.
  • The Director and staff work together on helping the Indonesian office prepare for a meeting with the Indonesian government, to discuss progress over the past three years, and to lay out work plans for the next few years. This kind of planning and governmental interaction is vital for our work to continue.
  • Members on the phone about new fundraising events and telling us when they'll be popping in with their latest updates. Members do a fantastic job raising awareness and funds for the Foundation - thank you to all our dedicated ambassadors.
  • ... and that doesn't even include all the sales calls!

Our supporters are out there explaining our mission and how we are achieving great progress at our field sites - we help the general public understand what we do and how we do it. Our work focuses on five key areas - please click here or see below for more information - and each day we may focus on any of the five areas to ensure the best possible outcome for the areas with which we are able to help. We work with many different groups, including several primate conservation groups and the Indonesian Government. Communication with all our collaborators and stakeholders is imperative to this kind of work - without cooperation and working as a team, everything is slower and more difficult to achieve.

Facilitating funds to be sent to the team in Indonesia is of course one of the most important thing the Foundation does - these are the funds that make all our work possible. We rely on you kind donations, fundraising (via any and all weird and wonderful events), memberships (for those who want to be a part of the Foundation) and grants to fund all our work. We ensure our communications tell the story of exactly how all funds get used...

  • to conserve areas of forest via regular walks&boat rides ('Patrols') around the perimeter of protected areas of forest. With this human presence and source of education to local communities, encroachment and illegal activity in these areas decreased and since remained negligible since this system started.
  • to relocate and release orangutans into protected areas.
  • to support the education of local communities, facilitating families to practice sustainable agricultural techniques. We support teaching and training people in occupations that have the benefits of self-management or working in smaller, environmentally aware teams.
  • to raise awareness - clear, international outreach, communicating the need for conservation.
  •  to scientifically study the forest and species in these habitats, contributing to understanding how to help these forests last.