ENVIRONMENT
Saving Indonesia’s Critically Endangered Orangutans Muslim conservationist at the country’s largest rescue center for the species rehabilitate orphaned apes for life in the wild BY AMAL OMER
D
eep in Indonesia’s central Kalimantan rainforests on the island of Borneo, a group of dedicated students go to school seven days a week. Medical reasons like running a fever or a visit to the doctor are the only excuse for missing class. Red wheelbarrows function as school buses for the babies, while the older students often cuddle-walk, embracing each other, or hold hands with their teachers. Some need extra nudging to keep up with their classmates as they stop to explore their scenic route. The students at this school, the Nyaru Menteng Orangutan Rescue and Rehabilitation Center, run by the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOSF), are orphaned orangutans. Native to Indonesia and Malaysia, orangutans are a critically endangered species. According to the BOSF, Borneo’s orangutan population has decreased by 80% in the
Handling multiple nursery-age students at a time, the foster mothers use wheelbarrows to take the babies to and from jungle school. (Credit: BOSF)
last three decades and less than 60,000 remain. The main threat is deforestation, which converts the forests into industry-scale palm oil plantations. Indonesia ranks as the world’s largest palm oil exporter. According to the World Wildlife Fund, more than half of all packaged products consumed by Americans, such as soap, chocolate, noodles, and even lipsticks, contain palm oil. Save the Orangutan, a nonprofit that supports efforts to protect Bornean orangutans,
the only primarily arboreal great ape, deforestation also creates human-wildlife conflict. They wander to nearby villages and farms in search of food. The farmers often shoot them if they are caught grazing their crops. This can result in the surviving babies being kept illegally as pets or left orphaned and alone. Companies burning the land to clear it for farming also causes wildfires during Borneo’s dry season. The 2015 forest fire is one of the worst on record, burning more than 6 million acres of
BECAUSE THE PALM OIL INDUSTRY EMPLOYS APPROXIMATELY FOUR MILLION INDONESIANS AND MALAYSIANS, BOS FOUNDATION UNDERSTANDS THAT SAVING THE ORANGUTANS REQUIRES WORKING WITH THE INDUSTRY. reports that studies from 2014 estimate that over 30% of the island’s rainforests were cleared in four decades (1970-2010). This invasion of the species’ habitat causes over 6,000 orangutan deaths each year. Agus Fahroni, Nyaru Menteng’s lead veterinarian, says, “Orangutans completely depend on the forest. It’s where they forage for food, breed and do daily activities. [Where else] can they find food, build nests and breed other than the forest? And without fulfillment of their needs … the population will perish.” For orangutans, the world’s largest tree-living mammal and
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Indonesian forest. According to the Wall Street Journal, researchers found the toxic haze resulted in about 100,000 premature deaths across Southeast Asia. Orangutans suffer from injuries, like burns and wounds, and also deal with trauma and psychological issues from the fires. BOSF rescued more than 75 displaced orangutans between 2015 and 2016. The BOSF manages 1,138,365 acres of Kalimantan’s rainforest. Between its Eastern Kalimantan location, the Samboja Lestari Orangutan Rehabilitation Center and Nyaru Menteng, they care for nearly 430 orangutans
and 71 sun bears. There are also three release sites, where they monitor and protect 470 reintroduced orangutans, and one peat swamp forest conservation project, where they safeguard around 2,550 wild orangutans across 763,555 acres. The center’s work is based on four core strategies: orangutan reintroduction, long-term sanctuary care for orangutans and sun bears, wild orangutan and habitat conservation, and sustainable community development and environmental education. Their sustainable community development programs are carried out in more than 20 local villages. “We … consider [our] sustainable community development program as a pillar that sustains all the conservation work, because we understand that community is the main actor and the most important stakeholder in conservation,” says Fahroni. He adds, “We created various collaborations with [the local community], like buying their fruits and vegetables to feed our orangutans…, rent their boats for staff transportation in forest areas, build nurseries with local farmers for replantation activities, [thus creating] a sustainable alternative livelihood for them.” About half of the surrounding population is Muslim, including the farmers who provide the center with produce. Nyaru Menteng staff like Fahroni attend Friday prayers at the nearby mosque with the local community. He says, “The most basic value that we all share is to love the Earth and nature.” This partnership has helped educate the locals about the value of the forest. They also aid Nyaru Menteng’s rescue efforts, alerting the center about orphans spotted alone or those held captive. Though Indonesian conservation laws prohibit killing, capturing or trading orangutans,
