Orangutan Foundation

Category: Orangutans, Other wildlife, Pondok Ambung Research Station, Tanjung Puting National Park (TPNP), Uncategorized | Date: Feb 26 2009 | By: orangutanfoundation

Very quickly, if anyone would like to see Tanjung Puting National Park, one of the protected areas in which we work, then a short video clip has been released by a German film company who made a film about Tomistoma crocodiles last year. The narration is in German (which will probably be OK for our Swiss friends and an English translation to follow shortly) but the pictures speak for themselves. Its shows orangutans, proboscis monkeys and Pondok Ambung Research Station.
Here is the link: http://www.br-online.de/bayerisches-fernsehen/welt-der-tiere/sunda-gavial-krokodil-sumatra-ID1234357757657.xml

Tags: Borneo, Orangutans, Tanjung Puting National Park

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Category: Kampung Konservasi, Local Communities, Yayorin | Date: Feb 23 2009 | By: orangutanfoundation

The smoke from garbage burning started to hurt our eyes…million of flies swarmed around us…and the unmistakable aroma of garbage welcomed us as we drove into this local waste collecting location. A trash-picker moved quickly passed us toward the incoming yellow garbage truck; he wanted to be the first to find anything inside that he could sell.

Burning garbage at Pasir Panjang waste collection centre.

Student participating in Yayorin’s environmental extracurricular activity seemed a little bit bewildered this afternoon. The main subject of today’s discussion was garbage – its role on the environment, its problems and management. It was obvious that they had never seen as much garbage in their lives and probably felt quite overwhelmed by it.

Most of the students did not even know that such place exists in their city. Many could not even say where the garbage they produced at home or at school went to. In the beginning, they were not happy being ”dragged” into this disgusting place and could not stand the smell. With the passing of time, though, they started to understand why we brought them there and involved entusiastically in the learning process.

In this meeting we asked them to identify the types of garbage they could find in an area of 1m x 1m. They then had to identify which ones were organic and which were inorganic. They were also asked to pay attention to how the garbage was collected, transported and managed.

The Pasir Panjang Waste Collecting Location is the largest in this city and its surrounding areas. This is where all of the waste of the city finally goes to. Unfortunately, like most garbage collecting locations in Indonesia, the concept of garbage management is through burning. What was ironic was the big sign we saw there that clearly said “Do Not Burn the Garbage”!

The students had a tour around the Location. They found an abandoned composting house, filtering pond and a monitoring well. The well was located about 50 meters from the collection area, and the water inside was quite clean. It was supposed to mean that the soil water was in good condition.

The students took home with them a valuable learning experience. We hope that now they realise where their garbage goes, and how the waste can put a really heavy burden on the environment. Next time they want to throw their garbage on the street or anywhere else inappropriate, we wish they will stop and remember their unique experience at the ”garbage place”.

Thanks,

Riyandoko and Sally (Yayasan Orangutan Indonesian www.yayorin.org)

Tags: education, Environment, garbage, Indonesia

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Category: Belantikan Conservation Programme, Local Communities, Orangutans | Date: Feb 19 2009 | By: orangutanfoundation

To celebrate the 200th birthday of Charles Darwin, a philanthropist organisation, The Reed Foundation, has promised to double any donations made to five different wildlife charities through its charity website www.theBigGive.org.uk. The Orangutan Foundation is delighted to be one of the chosen charities and donations will go towards our project ‘Protecting Orangutans and Rainforest Biodiversity Through Carbon Markets‘ in the Belantikan Arut region of Central Kalimantan.

On Monday 23rd February at 10am The Big Give will start doubling donations of £5 or more and they will finish when £50,000 has been spent. Please be as generous as possible on the 23rd February, when every donation can go twice as far to achieve our aims in the Belantikan Arut region of Central Kalimantan

Put a note in your diary or an alert on your mobile and just before 10am have your bankcard at hand and simply visit www.thebiggive.co.uk. There will be a ‘Darwin’s Natural Selection’ link in the matched funding area of the Big Give.

The money will be allocated on a first come, first served basis, so it is important that you make your donations as soon as possible after the launch of the scheme. The last time The Big Give ran a scheme of this nature, they gave away one million pounds in 45 minutes!

Thank you!!

Tags: Borneo, Carbon Markets, Orangutan Foundation, Orangutans, Rainforest

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Category: Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve, Orangutan Foundation Staff, Rehabilitation, Uncategorized | Date: Feb 18 2009 | By: orangutanfoundation

Having told you about Zidane, I thought you might be interested to learn a little about the people who are looking after him day to day. He and twelve other orangutans live around Camp Buluh which is supported by the Australian Orangutan Project and is one of six orangutan release camps the Orangutan Foundation operates in the Lamandau Wildlife Reserve. Six people are employed there; five field assistants and a cook. Their daily duties at Camp include preparing food and feeding the orangutans twice a day, monitoring the orangutans, keeping records, clearing trails, clearing the river and other camp tasks.

Camp Buluh, like all the other Camps, comprises a kitchen and dining hall, sleeping block and toilet/washroom. Unlike the other camps though, Camp Buluh is totally surrounded by swamps. There is no dry ground anywhere near by. This does make following the orangutans difficult and especially so last year when there was no noticeable dry-season. Water levels varied from knee to waist deep for most of the year!

The team at Camp Buluh

The Field Assistants generally spend 26 days at a time at Camp. Back in November (Bringing the office to our orangutan release camps) all the staff were enrolled in the Government’s Health Insurance scheme which provides cover to both them and their families.

Huge thanks to the Camp Buluh team who do a fantastic job.

Tags: Borneo, Orangutans, Rehabilitation

One response so far

Category: Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve, Orangutan Care Centre & Quarantine, Orangutans, Uncategorized | Date: Feb 16 2009 | By: orangutanfoundation

I am very pleased to be able to tell you that Zidane was re-release at Camp Buluh, in Lamandau Wildlife Reserve, on 19 January. His recovery is down to the excellent care (which included two blood transfusions) he received from the Orangutan Care Centre and Quarantine facility.

Zidane - male orangutan re-released into Lamandau

Though Zidane appears happy to be back in the forest, he is being monitored very closely as he is still perilously thin. We obviously want to do all in our power to ensure he spends the rest of his life in the forest and so our new vet, Dr Fikri, has been tasked to develop a special dietary regime for him to ensure he gains weight. We’ll keep you updated on his progress.

Tags: Borneo, orangutan, Rehabilitation

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Category: Oil Palm Plantations | Date: Feb 14 2009 | By: orangutanfoundation

The article below appeared in the National section of the Jakarta Post on Friday 13th February and it causes great reason for concern.

Govt to allow peatland plantations

Adianto P. Simamora , THE JAKARTA POST , JAKARTA | Fri, 02/13/2009 10:02 AM | National

The Agriculture Ministry will issue a decree to allow businesses to dig up the country’s millions of hectares of peatland for oil palm plantations.

Gatot Irianto, the ministry’s head of research and development, said his office was currently drafting a ministerial decree that would explain in detail the mechanism to turn the peatland areas into oil palm plantations, a move that many say will further damage the country’s environment.

“We still need land for oil palm plantations. We must be honest: the sector has been the main driver for the people’s economy,” he said Thursday on the sidelines of a discussion about adaptation in agriculture, organized by the National Commission on Climate Change.

The draft decree is expected to go into force this year.

“We’ve discussed the draft with stakeholders, including hard-line activists, to convince them that converting peatland is safe,” he said.

“We promise to promote eco-friendly management to ward off complaints from overseas buyers and international communities.”

Indonesia is currently the world’s largest crude palm oil (CPO) producer, and is expected to produce about 19.5 million tons this year.

Overseas buyers, however, have complained about Indonesia’s CPO products, saying they are produced at the expense of the environment.

Activists point to the massive expansions of plantations, including in peatlands, for the deaths of large numbers of orangutans in Kalimantan and Sumatra and for releasing huge amounts of carbon emissions into the atmosphere.

Indonesia has about 20 million hectares of dense, black tropical peat swamps — formed when vegetation rots — that are natural carbon storage sinks.

A hectare of peatland can store between 3,400 and 4,000 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2), but emits a much larger amount when burned.

Asked about the contribution to global warming, Gatot said trees planted in peatlands would absorb greenhouse gas emissions.

“The peatland will produce emissions only in the opening of the land, but this will be reabsorbed after new trees are planted,” he said.

However, a World Bank report from 2007 showed Indonesia was the world’s third biggest carbon emitter after the US and China, thanks mainly to the burning of peatlands.

A Wetlands International report from 2006 said Indonesia’s peatlands emitted around 2 billion tons of CO2 a year, far higher than the country’s emissions from energy, agriculture and waste, which together amount to only 451 million tons.

The country would have ranked 20th in the global carbon emitter list if emissions from peatlands were not counted.

The ministerial decree is being drafted at a time when President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is still preparing a decree on peatland management in an effort to help combat global warming.

The draft of the presidential decree, drawn up in 2007, calls for tightened supervision on the use of peatlands across the country.

Tags: Indonesia, oil palm, Orangutans, peat forests

One response so far

Category: Uncategorized | Date: Feb 13 2009 | By: orangutanfoundation

Congratulations Tracy Whitfield you have won the Orangutan Calendar signed by Sir David Attenborough for US$100.00!

A huge thank you to you Tracy, to everyone who took part in the auction and to David Attenborough for signing the calendar. We are thrilled with the amount the calendar reached and the money, paid as a donation through Wildlife Direct, will go towards supporting our conservation programmes.

Tags: Calendar, Orangutans

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Category: Uncategorized | Date: Feb 13 2009 | By: orangutanfoundation

Today is your last chance to own the wonderful Orangutan Calendar signed by Sir David Attenborough! Auction ends at 21.00 (UK time) today, Friday 13th.

Danielle currently has the highest bid at US$80.0o. To make your bid leave a comment on the Orangutan Calendar Auction post.

Thank you!

Orangutan Foundation

Tags: Auction, Calendar, orangutan

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Category: Guard posts and patrols, Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve, Orangutan Care Centre & Quarantine, Orangutans, Rehabilitation, Uncategorized | Date: Feb 12 2009 | By: orangutanfoundation

Camp Buluh is one of six orangutan release camps in the Lamandau Wildlife Reserve. Since September 2006, 13 ex-captive orangutans have been reintroduced at Camp Buluh and three wild orangutans have been translocated from vulnerable situations outside the reserve.

Omang, one of the ex-captive adolescent male orangutans, seen regularly around Camp Buluh.

After the incident with Zidane (an update to follow soon) an orangutan holding cage has been built at Camp Buluh. This is necessary to allow the care and treatment of orangutans in Lamandau.

Camp Buluh and the orangutan holding cage.

The future for the orangutans in Lamandau looks encouraging. The Forestry Department’s involvement has increased and the reserve’s protection has been strengthened. The new guard post, called “Bird Lake Post” that was constructed to prevent access to into the Lamandau Wildlife Reserve via the Buluh River became operational at the end of December. In 2008, only 3 cases of illegal logging were discovered, all outside of the reserve border. This is down from 2007 when 12 cases were identified in and around the reserve.

Map showing Camp Buluh and the guard posts in Lamandau Wildlife Reserve

We are extremely grateful to the Australian Orangutan Project for their continued support in Lamandau.

Tags: Borneo, orangutan, Rehabilitation

2 responses so far

Category: Orangutans, Uncategorized | Date: Feb 10 2009 | By: orangutanfoundation

Thanks Sherri for getting the Orangutan Calendar Auction started and to Pirjo and Dawn for adding your bids. Dawn you’re currently the highest bidder at $65.00. Come on surely there must be more people out there wanting this wonderful calendar signed by David Attenborough! The auction finishes this Friday (13th) and your money will go towards supporting our orangutan conservation programmes. To make your bid leave a comment on the Orangutan Calendar Auction post.

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Tags: Orangutans

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