Orangutan Foundation

One hundred invitations were sent out for the workshop Mitigation of Human-Orangutan Conflicts in Central Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo. The conference room was booked for a capacity of 80, we didn’t want the room to look empty in case there were a number of ‘no shows’. I watched as the room began to fill, more chairs had to be brought in, numbers were now up to 90, a good start already. There was a stir of anticipation, as everyone took their seats.

The workshop began with opening remarks by myself, the head of BKSDA (Agency for Conservation of Natural Resources) and the Bupati’s (Mayor) office. I welcomed the participants by acknowledging we were at the workshop because we recognised the issues of human – orangutan conflict which affects both orangutans and humans and hoped by the end of the day we would have addressed these problems and have workable recommendations for the future. I used the story of Aan, an orangutan who was shot and badly injured in an oil palm plantation, as the catalyst for the campaign.

The morning was taken up by presentations from: Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil Organization, Forina, National Forum for Corporate Social Responsibility , representatives from Oil Palm plantations and the Ministry of Forestry (PHKA).

In the afternoon the participants broke into two working groups which presented an opportunity for different points of view to be exchanged (of which there were many) and to make recommendations. At this point I don’t believe anyone knew what would come next. As each group presented their finding it became obvious there would be some agreement here. The workshop went far beyond agreement, as the moderator called out the recommendations, there was applause after each one!

Finally it was the moment of the signing. It is one thing to verbally agree, but in Indonesia it is a different matter to put your name to something. At the start of the day no one would have expected to accomplish so much in such a short time. Pak Ade (the moderator) asked, “who will sign?”, slowly one hand was raised and then another, very quickly we realised this was going to be a landmark moment. See the signatories below.

Naturally we had high hopes for the day but this was beyond anyone’s expectations. I closed by thanking all participants (thank you to Rob Stuebing for participating) for their confidence in the Foundation, Yayorin and BKSDA to carry this process forward.

Thank you to The Rufford Foundation for their support and commitment.

Ashley Leiman, Director/Trustee Orangutan Foundation

CONCLUSION

WORKSHOP ON MITIGATION OF CONFLICT BETWEEN HUMAN AND ORANGUTAN
IN AND AROUND PALM OIL PLANTATION
Pangkalan Bun, June 4, 2013

1. Protect orangutans in the concession area is the company’s policy which must be supported by adequate facilities including with an increase in human resources in oil palm plantation (eg the formation of the Task Force) and supported by the Government, in this case Natural Resources Conservation Agency of Central Kalimantan;

2. Agreed to form Communication Forum to follow up Workshop on Human-Orangutan Conflict Mitigation in and around the oil palm plantation which was formed by Natural Resources Conservation Agency of Central Kalimantan, which is facilitated by Orangutan Foundation UK and Yayorin, which consists of plantation companies and related stakeholders;

3. Every company is expected to be able to develop a system on Wildlife Database in the oil palm plantations, which form issued by Natural Resources Conservation Agency of Central Kalimantan;

4. Minutes and Conclusions of the Workshop will be sent to each company and will be reported officially by Natural Resources Conservation Agency of Central Kalimantan, Orangutan Foundation UK and Yayorin, the Director General of Protection and Nature Conservation, Ministry of Forestry, Directorate General of Estate Crops, Ministry of Agriculture, West Kotawaringin District, and the governor of Central Kalimantan.
On behalf of the workshop participants:
1. PT. Gunung Sejahtera Ibu Pertiwi
2. PT. Bumitama Gunajaya Agro
3. PT. Citra Borneo Indah
4. PT. Mustika Sembuluh, Wilmar Plantation
5. PT. Sampoerna Agro
6. PT. SMART Tbk
7. PT. Globalindo Alam Perkasa
8. PT. Indotruba Tengah, Minamas Plantation
9. PT. Union Sampoerna Triputra Persada
10. PT. Surya Sawit Sejati
11. Direktorat Konservasi Keanekaragaman Hayati, Ditjen PHKA, Kementerian Kehutanan
12. Komisi Perkebunan Kelapa Sawit Berkelanjutan Indonesia, Ditjen Perkebunan, Kementerian Pertanian
13. Forum Nasional CSR Kesejahteraan Sosial
14. Balai Konservasi Sumber Daya Alam Kalimantan Tengah
15. Balai Taman Nasional Tanjung Puting
16. Badan Perencanaan Pembangunan Daerah Kotawaringin Barat
17. Forum Orangutan Indonesia (FORINA)
18. WWF Indonesia
19. ZSL
20. BOSF
21. Orangutan Foundation International
22. Yayorin (Yayasan Orangutan Indonesia
23. Orangutan Foundation UK

Below is the video clip of our vet, Dr Wawan, stitching Melan’s head wound for the second time. It is quite gory so not for the faint-hearted.

This week Dr Wawan sent an update on Melan saying that her wound still looks wide, but there is tissue growth which is starting to cover the bone. Iodine, rivanol (antiseptic) and antibiotic powder will be applied until it is fully recovered. He is hopeful that it will heal.

Thank you for your support.

Orangutan Foundation

Here is an update from our vet, Dr Wawan, on a young orangutan rescued in April.  Ashley Leiman, the Orangutan Foundation’s director, returned from a visit to Indonesia last week. Ashley managed to get some video footage, of the orangutan having her head stitched, during her visit to the Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve (Central Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo). We will share this with you shortly but for now, over to Wawan, who has written this post.

‘Melan, she is an orangutan that caught by villagers in an oil palm plantation area in Natai Raya village, close to the town of Pangkalan bun, Kalimantan Tengah Province. BKSDA (Conservation and Natural Resources Authority) rescued her from the village in with the Orangutan Foundation’s help.

Unfortunately she have a big wound in her head, like she has been sliced by knife or any other sharp object. We could see her skull because the wound is wide open, very pity little Orangutan. She is maybe 3 years old female orangutan.

I decide to clean and stitch the wound. I give her anaesthetic and I try to clean the wound with an Iodine solution and make it clearer from her hairs. After 30 minutes she woke up very suddenly. She is put in her cage at BKSDA office. I see the stitching is good enough and I give suggestion to keep watching on her whether she will scratch and or pull the stitches.

For a moment she is looks good by not scratch it hard, maybe just a gently touching, and some time she use leaves to cover her head to avoid flies come over. I think it is good and hope she will get well by a week.

Then 8 days after the stitching I saw unexpected thing!

The wound become wide open again and wider than before I think. She is in the cage with another Orangutan, I see they were happy keep playing and playing. I suspect because of their playing intensity, they shouldn’t put in the cage together. BKSDA decide to move Melan to Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve, Camp JL. The following day I re-stitched her wound once she was at Camp JL.

I gave her another anaesthetic but his time is was harder as the skin was stronger now and its very hard to pull. But I have one good assistant to help and he keep pulling the skin while I was stitching. That second stitching took 30 minute but looks better and also I give such strong glue with the stitching to make the skin stay together.

Get well soon Melan…We will keep you updated with her progress,

Wawan (Bambang Setyawan)

Orangutan Foundation Vet

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It has been a while since we’ve shared our news from the field. Arif, the manager of Pondok Ambung Tropical Forest Research Station situated in Tanjung Puting National Park (Central Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo), describes his encounter and attempts to photograph the Bornean red muntjac, otherwise know as the barking deer.

‘Finally, my curiosity with the barks that I often hear, have paid off. In the morning, when I was walking not far from the camp, after passing through bush-land bordering the forest, suddenly I saw two mammals walking and foraging. Wow, this is the bark voice that made me curious so far, the barking deer, the scientific name is Muntiacus muntjac. An elusive and very sensitive mammal. I held my breath, and directing my camera among the bush.

Crek .. crek ..

Noise of shutter of non professional camera, made the deers pay attention on it for a moment.

Bornean Red Muntjac or barking deer taken in Tanjung Puting National Park (Orangutan Foundation)

My heartbeat is getting faster and still I hold my breath. I moved my body for a little to get the best angle. Oops …the shy deer ran off with the barking voice. Hem, sometimes we need camouflage costum or maybe a professional camera with smooth shutter noise!’

Thanks Arif and what a fantastic photo – your patience paid off!

More news soon!

Orangutan Foundation

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Please see our press release below about our Trustee’s new film, Terry Pratchett Facing Extinction, showing tonight on BBC2 at 9pm.

PRESS RELEASE

Terry Pratchett Facing Extinction

BBC2 9pm Wednesday 27 March 2013

Terry Pratchett hears the orangutans’ long call

Sir Terry Pratchett, fantasy author and Trustee of the Orangutan Foundation, returns to the forests of Borneo to see what hope there is for the endangered orangutan whilst facing his own personal challenges.

Sir Terry Pratchett encountered wild orangutans for the first time in 1994 whilst filming Terry Pratchett’s Jungle Quest.  One ape, Kusasi, who was the dominant male “king of the jungle” at the time, left a lasting impression that would, almost two decades later, entice Terry back to Borneo.   In his latest film, Terry Pratchett Facing Extinction, to be aired on BBC2 9pm on 27 March, Terry explores not only the fate of the endangered orangutan but also his own fate as he battles with a rare form of  Alzheimer’s.

Terry Pratchett is best known for his hugely popular Discworld novels, a fantasy series, which feature the Discworld character The Librarian, who was transformed into an orangutan. This prompted Terry’s curiosity about the great red ape, which he has described as “having a face like a surprised coconut”, and led to his long-term support of the Orangutan Foundation, a UK charity, of which he is a Trustee.

Whilst filming Terry Pratchett Facing Extinction last year, Ashley Leiman OBE, the Orangutan Foundation’s Director, invited Terry and the film crew to accompany the charity’s vet and rescue team to a proposed oil palm plantation, where an adult male orangutan was reported to be crop-raiding.  The devastating threat of oil-palm plantation expansion to the endangered orangutan’s habitat required little explanation.

Terry Pratchett with Ashley Leiman in Borneo 1994 by Ralph Arbus

Ashley, who was also on Terry’s first adventure to Borneo, recounted “Back then, the chainsaw was our enemy. This time, we were confronted with the real threat: oil-palm plantations had replaced swathes of forest – the orangutans’ home. We drove for more than three hours through unrelenting monoculture. There was nothing but oil palm”.

The Orangutan Foundation increasingly has to rescue stranded or injured orangutans. Only last year, a female orangutan, considered a pest, was shot over 100 times. She miraculously survived but was left permanently blind and will never return to the wild.  To address this escalating issue the charity is working on a new project Mitigation of Human-Orangutan Conflicts in Central Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo which is bringing together local government, oil palm growers and farmers to find a solution.

The Orangutan Foundation’s Director Ashley Leiman is positive about the future for orangutans “I felt privileged to be part of Terry’s latest film but I recognise that when faced with the stark reality of the situation, stranded orangutans and such forest loss, it can be hard to remain positive. Yet Terry visited some local communities who, with our assistance, are finding alternative ways to generate an income without having to destroy the forest.  There is active local support for conservation in Borneo but as we know it only takes the actions of a few to undo the good work.   I hope Terry recognises that his generous support over the past years has made a difference and that all is not lost.”

For more information or for interviews, please call Ian Redmond, Orangutan Foundation Trustee, on 01453 765228 or email ele@globalnet.co.uk or info@orangutan.org.uk

Notes to Editors:

High resolution photos and additional images are available here: http://bit.ly/XB5iyE

Further details about the Orangutan Foundation its activities are available on the Foundation’s website www.orangutan.org.uk

The Orangutan Foundation works in Indonesian Borneo and Sumatra to protect endangered orangutans by protecting their tropical forest habitat, working with local communities and promoting research and education. It recognises that orangutan habitat is unique in its richness of biodiversity and is crucial for local communities, who are as dependant on the forest as is the orangutan.

The Orangutan Foundation work in areas of critical orangutan habitat in Central Kalimantan, in the Indonesia part of Borneo. Additionally, In collaboration with the Indonesian government’s local Nature Conservation department (PHKA), the Orangutan Foundation runs a release site for rehabilitated and translocated wild orangutans in the Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve.

Sir Terry Pratchett, Trustee of the Orangutan Foundation, is one of the most popular authors writing today. He is best known for his hugely popular Discworld novels, a fantasy series, which feature the Discworld character The Librarian, who was transformed into an orangutan. This prompted Terry Pratchett’s curiosity about orangutans and his long-term support of the Orangutan Foundation. In 1995 Terry visited Indonesian Borneo with Orangutan Foundation to see orangutans in the wild and film Terry Pratchett’s Jungle Quest for a Channel 4 television documentary and he returned in 2012 to film Terry Pratchett Facing Extinction for BBC2. Terry has won numerous literary awards, has received four honorary doctorates, was appointed OBE for services to literature in 1998 and he was knighted in the 2009 New Year Honours.

Ms Ashley Leiman OBE is Director and Trustee of the Orangutan Foundation, which she founded in 1990. Ashley has been actively involved in Asian conservation for over 30 years. Her initial involvement was with the Natural History Society and Conservation Society in Hong Kong. In 1985 she was on the organising committee of the New York Rainforest Alliance. In 1986, after spending time in Tanjung Puting National Park, Indonesian Borneo,  Ashley set about establishing the Orangutan Foundation in the UK. In 2006 Ashley was appointed OBE for her services to Orangutan Conservation. Ashley is also a member of the Executive Committee of the UNEP’s Great Apes Survival Project (GRASP).

Threats to orangutans

The biggest threat to orangutans is habitat loss. Orangutan habitat is being destroyed and degraded by oil palm plantations, illegal logging, acacia plantations, fire, mining and small-scale shifting cultivation.

The destruction of tropical forests affects the global climate and is one of the world’s most pressing environmental concerns. For orangutans the situation is critical.

The principle cause of habitat loss is the conversion of forests to agriculture, especially  vast monoculture oil palm plantations.

Palm oil is produced from the kernel of the oil palm plant and is the world’s most popular vegetable oil, primarily produced in Indonesia and Malaysia. Often labelled  as just vegetable oil, palm oil  is a hidden ingredient found in up to half of packaged food products across Europe, it is also used in cosmetics and increasingly as a biofuel.  A new EU regulation, requiring all vegetable oils to be labelled individually, will come into force in 2015.

Oil palm plantations expansion is not the only threat. Deforestation for mining (both legal and illegal) has the potential to be just as devastating. Illegal mining has been found within the boundaries of the Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve.  The Orangutan Foundation is protecting this area of critical orangutan habitat with guard posts and patrols.

Images – high resolution versions can be downloaded from the Orangutan Foundation Photo Gallery from this link http://bit.ly/XB5iyE

To donate to the Orangutan Foundation please click here or text  APES05 £X to 70070 and put whatever amount you would like to donate where the ‘X’ is. For example, to donate £20, text APES05 £20.  Thank you!

Here are the photos of the rescue, of a mother and infant, which we blogged about last month. Now, they are both safely in the Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve.

Please consider a donation (donate here) to support our vital work.

Thank you,

Orangutan Foundation

Over 1.2 million hectares of forest in Aceh, in the north of the island of Sumatra, are planned to be used for development (roads, mining, oil palm plantations and logging). These forests are home to orangutans, rhinos, elephants and tigers - critically endangered species. These forests are also vital for our own species’ future.

To find out more information and sign a petition - http://www.change.org/saveaceh

Thank you.

This wonderful photo was taken by Arif, the manager of Pondok Ambung Tropical Forest Research Station, which is run by the Orangutan Foundation in cooperation with the head of Tanjung Puting National Park, (Indonesian Borneo).

The bird in the nest is the Black Naped Monarch Hypothymis azurea. It is a small species of flycatcher and the female is different in having a brown back.

The park authorities have invited stakeholders to work together to produce a book on the bird species found in the Park. The whole project will be a joint effort, from collecting photos to designing the layout. Arif attended the first meeting to share ideas and discuss the book’s content.

In 2009, we gave a research grant to Harri Purnomo (Bogor Agriculture University), an Indonesian student, whose study of the diversity of birds at Pondok Ambung Tropical Forest Research Station, found 107 species. It is thought that over 200 bird species are found within the Park. We will be helping to identify the different species of birds in photographs that are to be included in the book. Watch this space for news on the book.

Steppes Discovery are running Orangutan Conservation Tours to the National Park, which includes a visit to the Pondok Ambung Research Station. For more details about this once-in-a-lifetime trip click here.

Our Orangutan Veterinary and Rescue Team were called to Pendulangan Village again last week to check the reports that an orangutan had entered into a community settlement. A large adult male orangutan (named Gagah - read past post) was rescued from the same village in November.

It turned out that the one orangutan was actually a female aged about 12 years with an infant, also female, aged 4 years.  Four Orangutan Foundation staff were assigned to spend the night in the village to monitor the movement of the orangutans. After two days it was decided to translocate the mother and infant to the nearby wildlife reserve. The two were captured and were immediately taken and released in the area of Buluh River near the feeding platform of Camp Buluh in the Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve.

The following day after the mother and infant were translocated to the reserve the team went to Kumpai Batu Village to check on reports from villager that there were three adult orangutans hanging about an oil palm plantation of about 20 hectares. The orangutans are thought to live in the remaining forest about 100 meters wide, which is claimed by the community.  More news on this to follow soon.

Sorry for the lack of photos, we hope to upload some up soon.

Thank you,

Orangutan Foundation

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