FORESTS
The protection of low-lying tropical forests (prime orangutan habitat) is crucial to this great ape’s survival. There are many other benefits too. Conserving rainforest protects thousands of unique and precious species and safeguards crucial carbon stores that are sequestered in the ecosystem.
Habitat Protection PROGRAMME
We actively protect over 500,000 acres of tropical forest, home to 5,000 critically endangered orangutans, in Tanjung Puting National Park and the Lamandau Wildlife Reserve.
Guard posts and patrols
We operate two guard posts in Tanjung Puting National Park and ten guard posts in Lamandau Wildlife Reserve, with construction of an eleventh underway.
What do the guard posts and patrols do?
Our guard posts enable us to keep track of who enters protected habitat and deter any illegal activity. Visitors and their belongings are recorded to detect poaching.
The guard posts also contain fire-fighting equipment, and our staff receive fire-fighting training to respond to forest fires as the first line of defence. Forest fires can be massively destructive, killing wildlife and destroying standing forests. If you would like to sponsor one of our guard posts, please contact us.
Staff also carry out regular patrols on foot and by river to monitor activity in the rainforest.
From £2 an acre, you can sponsor crucial forest habitat for the benefit of orangutans and countless other species.
Reforestation PROGRAMME
In the Lamandau Wildlife Reserve, the Orangutan Foundation run a Forest Restoration Programme. Since 2015, we have planted over 292,300 saplings in degraded areas of rainforest.
Before becoming a Wildlife Reserve, Lamandau was made up of logging concessions which has left much of the western side with poor quality habitat. By helping the forest to regenerate, we are increasing orangutan habitat and restoring a healthy ecosystem.
We operate four seedling nurseries which care and nurture the next generation of trees that will go on to join the rainforest ecosystem in Lamandau Wildlife Reserve. In order to reduce our plastic use, we began our Ecobags Initiative in 2022 which sources planting bags made with nipah palm leaves from women in communities around Lamandau Wildlife Reserve.
Did you know that just £10 can help us plant 5 saplings?
