Saving Borneo’s orang-utan
The orangutan is Asia's only great ape. Despite at one time having lived throughout much of Asia, from Java in the south, right up into southern China today they are now found only on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. The largest Bornean orangutan population is now found in the south-western part of Borneo. However, a recent wave of forest conversion, illegal logging and wildlife poaching has reduced fragile orangutan numbers even further, pushing them towards the brink of extinction. The growing threat of palm oil plantations is putting even more pressure on the orangutan’s survival.
The destruction of Borneo’s great biodiversity-rich forests is a tragedy not only for the orangutan but also for the many species that share its varied habitat, like the white-bellied woodpecker and pitcher plants.
FFI is working in the 57,000 hectare Sungai Putri peat forest in West Kalimantan to prevent high value forests from being converted to palm oil plantation. Through our engagement with the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil, Forest Stewardship Council and local government agencies, we will work to secure areas of high conservation value forest and protect precious orangutan forest habitat.
We are also pushing to establish Sungai Putri peat forest as a permanent and protected forest area, as well as helping to develop poaching patrols and establish progammes that offer local communities real incentives for protecting forests.
Besides threatening orangutans, habitat destruction is contributing to climate change. Download a summary of our project in Kalimantan, and find out more about our work to address climate change here.
Please support this vital work now – and help FFI protect the earth’s last great tropical forests and the thousands of species which depend on them for their survival.
FFI in Indonesia.
FFI has implemented successful conservation projects in Indonesia since 1996, focusing on law enforcement, community livelihoods, and protected area management. The “Aceh Forest and Environment Project” is the largest World Bank-funded project in the Indonesian forestry sector and the largest NGO-implemented project in Asia.
FFI’s mission is to conserve threatened species and ecosystems worldwide, choosing solutions that are sustainable, based on sound science and take account of human needs. Please support us today.
Conservation and human needs are inextricably linked, download our leaflet that describes how we integrate conservation and human needs.