Orangutan Foundation

Category: Other wildlife, Pondok Ambung Research Station, Tanjung Puting National Park (TPNP), Uncategorized | Date: Oct 29 2009 | By: orangutanfoundation

The Orangutan Foundation is proud to support Indonesian students conducting research at Pondok Ambung Tropical Forest Research Station in Tanjung Puting National Park, Central Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo. We want to encourage and help young Indonesian scientists and researchers.  Yusi (at the front) and Harri (in the middle) conduting their research in Tanjung Puting National Park. Photograph by Brian MatthewsIn 2009, we provided two grants, one to Yusi Indriani for her research into the diversity of butterfly species around Pondok Ambung and one to Harri Purnomo for his research into the diversity of bird species. The students spent two months at Pondok Ambung conducting their research. Yusi Indriani (in the middle) presenting her research results to Ashley Leiman (left), the Orangutan Foundation Director, Rene Bonke (right), a German Tomistoma researcher and Hudi DW (just left of centre), the Orangutan Foundation Programme Coordinator in Orangutan Foundation Pangkalan Bun office.Yusi recorded over 80 butterfly species. Orangutan FoundationI hope to bring you more news about Pondok Ambung and its amazing wildlife soon.Thank you,Hudi W.D.Orangutan Foundation Programme Co-ordinator

Tags: birds, Borneo, butterlies, Orangutan Foundation, research

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Category: Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve, Lamdandau Vet, Orangutans, Rehabilitation, Uncategorized | Date: Jul 24 2009 | By: orangutanfoundation

July is a month which makes those of us working in Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve happy because one orangutan has been born. Dedek, gave birth to a son and this is her second son after Delon. Based on information from staff in Camp JL, Dedek gave birth on July 10, 2009. Camp JL staff first saw Dedek, with her son, under the feeding platform around 3pm.

Dedek and her newborn son born on July 10th 2009. Photo:Orangutan Foundation 

Dedek’s son looks well. We estimated that Dedek gave birth during the day because in the morning Dedek still came to feeding platform.

Newborn male orangutan.  Photo: Orangutan Foundation

Before Dedek was pregnant and during pregnancy she always played with Jalas, dominant male orangutan in JL Camp. Dedek never plays with other males only Jalas. Other male orangutans are afraid of Jalas. So we predict that Dedek’s son is Jalas’s son. Dedek and her son are well . Dedek was released in October 2002 at Camp JL. Camp staff have not decided on a name yet but it is likely to be Indonesian and staring with “D”!

Please support our work protecting these orangutans and their forest home helping to ensure they spend the rest of their life in the wild.

Thank you Tal B, Brigitta S and Matthew K for your monthly donations.

Thank you,

Dr Fiqri

Tags: Borneo, orangutan, Orangutan Foundation, reproduction

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Category: Uncategorized | Date: Jun 12 2009 | By: orangutanfoundation

The Orangutan Foundation office, in the UK, has been actively ’spreading the word’ at recent fundraising events. Last Friday we were invited to have a stand at Thomas’ Battersea School, London, summer fair. We are very proud to be Thomas’s Middle School’s chosen charity for the next two years. The turn out was great and there was a great buzz with children dashing around taking part in various fun activities.

Elly from the office.

Last weekend Elly and I, from the office, travelled to Bristol, in the Southwest of England to man our stand at the annual Bristol Festival of Nature. In spite of torrential rain the turnout was very good and a lot of people took an interest in our stand!

The Festival is incredible, an imaginative weekend of films, animal encounters, exhibitions, walks, talks, workshops and competitions for all ages and interests. Thank you to everyone who came along and said hello. We would also like to thank Matthew and Julie our fantastic volunteers who helped drum up interest!

Support our work by visiting our online shop for palm-oil free soaps & candles, soft cuddly orangutan toys and much much more….

Thanks,

Kristina - Project Co-ordinator

Tags: Awareness, education, Orangutan Foundation

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Category: Forest Fires, Guard posts and patrols, Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve, Orangutan Foundation Staff, Uncategorized | Date: May 26 2009 | By: orangutanfoundation

Last week the Central Kalimantan Agency for Conservation of Natural Resources (BKSDA) held motivation training sessions for their Forest Fire Brigade. They asked Orangutan Foundation staff to facilitate with this after the dedication they showed when tackling the recent fires that broke out in Sungai Lamandau Wildlife Reserve.

Pak Eko Novi, the Head of BKSDA SKW II Kalimantan Tengah, awarded a Manggala Agni (Forest Fire Brigade) Pin, to our staff at Danau Burung Post (Bird Lake Guard Post) because of their dedication and participation in tackling the fires.

Isam represented other KPEL (Partnership for Local Economic Development) staff (Sias, Amat, Fendy, Aris dan Jakir) at the award ceremony. It is hoped the award will help motivate other staff, BKSDA staff and the local community to have more responsibility and participation concerning the conservation of the Sungai Lamandau Wildlife Reserve.

At last week’s training session we aimed to build team cohesion and lift the spirits of the Forest Fire Brigade. We hope it will instill a sense of honour and the brigade will feel proud about their duties and their job. Fire fighting is not just a “job” but is “dedication” for nature conservation.

Pak Hudi leading the motivation and team building session.

The team building and motivation sessions included various games:

Carry a Bomb. Each team must carry a bottle (as a bomb) with limited tools from one place to a target. The aim is to encourage teamwork, strategy, and role distribution within the team.

Courier. Each team must deliver a message (a stick) from one place to another place only using their neck’s. This game has aim to build team work, strategy and the “quick think” response.

O-O Game. A pair of participants must save themselves from plastic rope that binds their hands. This game has the aim to build problem solving strategy.

Thank you,

Pak Hudi

Programme Coordinator, Orangutan Foundation UK

Tags: Forest Fires, Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve, Orangutan Foundation

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Category: Forest Fires, Guard posts and patrols, Lamandau River Wildlife Reserve, Orangutan Foundation Staff, Uncategorized | Date: May 13 2009 | By: orangutanfoundation

At the end of April, there was another fire breakout, near the Pos Danau Burung (or Bird Lake Post) that borders the western section of Sungai Lamandau Reserve.

Map showing Bird Lake Post on the Reserve Border.

Thankfully, at that time, our Programme Coordinator, Pak Hudi, was visiting the area with the Section Head (II) of the Central Kalimantan Agency for Conservation of Natural Resources (BKSDA), Pak Eko Novi. Along with our ever-ready Patrol Manager, Pak Jak, they raced to assist our field staff at Pos Danau Burung.

Field staff from Pos Danau Burung who made up the fire-fighting team

Face to face with the fire wall

Trying to stop the fire - forest in the background

Caught unaware they had to grab whatever was at hand to beat the fire.

They slogged to beat out the fires for many hours under the hot sun. We appreciate the hard work of our field staff, whose primary role is to replant the western part of the Reserve but would not hesistate to switch roles as fire-fighters when needed.

Tears for nature - tired and emotional.

Pak Eko Novi was also very appreciative of our staff’s dedication that he organized a special ceremony for the field staff, in which he presented pins from the Fire-Fighting section (Manggala Agni) of BKSDA Section II. It was truly an honour, and much appreciated!

It does not stop there for our hard-working Programme Coordinator, Pak Hudi. Today (13th May), under a special invitation from Pak Eko Novi, he will be giving a team-building exercise for the Fire-fighting team of BKSDA Section II, Central Kalimantan.

Hopefully, we will have a post from Pak Hudi himself about this experience!

Thanks,

June

Programmes Manager

Tags: Borneo, Fires, Indonesia, Orangutan Foundation, Wildlife Reserve

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Category: Orangutan Foundation Staff, Orangutans, Uncategorized, Yayorin | Date: Apr 29 2009 | By: orangutanfoundation

The blog powers-to-be, who with an iron fist, gently encourages me to update on a regular basis, has informed me that a blog post featuring myself would be ‘interesting’. Alas, dear readers, because our vet has been busy in the field, and has not written new blog posts for a few weeks (which reminds me, I need to show him my own iron fist), and Stephen has left, leaving a vacuum of wrestling with crocodiles and dancing with orangutans blog posts, you now have to learn more about me.

Born and raised in Malaysian Borneo, I was fortunate to have parents who encouraged a love of reading. We had subscriptions to the National Geographic, Asiaweek, etc, all of which opened my mind to various global points-of-views. This was vital after all, I was living in a very government-controlled media, and the internet was still birthing. In the early 90’s, western environmentalists descended upon Sarawak to protest against logging. They chained themselves to tractors, they waved banners, and told us to save our rainforests. The local media mocked them, and made comments about their ‘obese size’. I, in return, was fascinated by the non-rebuttal the local media had, against these westerner’s claims.

I knew early on in my teens, that I wanted a career in conservation. If you would ask me what my defining moment was, I would say that it would be the early 90’s furore of early environmentalism, of the world’s spotlight onto Sarawak and its logging practices, and treatment of indigenous peoples, particularly the Penans.

After my BSc. studies (in Biological Sciences) from Simon Fraser University, I was fortunate to be selected for a summer internship at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum in Washington, D.C. I missed my graduation for this opportunity and have no regrets! However, I knew then that I wanted to return home and work in conservation, particularly orangutan conservation.

When I returned to Sarawak, I started working for Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Malaysia, as a field assistant, and working my way up to full-time researcher. I worked for WCS for over seven years, of which most of those years was spent surveying wild orangutans in Batang Ai National Park and Lanjak-Entimau Wildlife Sanctuary. Orangutan Foundation UK by the way, was responsible in giving my first grant to survey wild orangutans! I am grateful in coming full circle with this organization.

I was also very interested in the human face of conservation, other than wildlife research, so spent those same years, volunteering for a local nature society. Over time however, I became more sympathetic of the indigenous peoples struggles to save their lands from encroachment, and often being displayed as the bad guy by both sides! It was also personal because my peoples are the Krokong Bidayuh, which is a very small minority of Sarawak’s ethnic groups. My family’s continuing work to help preserve our culture through documentation, inspired me to seek other conservation opportunities, where there is a sincere collaboration with the local peoples.

I’ve always kept an eye on the Orangutan Foundation (OF), and its growth over the years. One thing that intrigued me was its close partnership with a strong local community organization, Yayorin. I value that OF recognizes its strengths, but also acknowledges that it can’t do all well hence entrusting the community work to a strong, committed organization. Believe me, Yayorin is a wholly equal partner to the work that we do, and I am fascinated that despite the seemingly clashing differences (i.e. conservation and locals people’s needs), OF and Yayorin are able to work as one, for similar goals. This was the opportunity I was searching for after I left WCS Malaysia (a wonderful and strong research organization by the way), and am thusly very grateful.

These last couple of months with OF have been very fulfilling and educational, and although I haven’t had the chance to jump in crocodile-infested rivers (although according to my culture, the crocodile is one of our ancestors so technically, I ought to be ok) or have other exciting field stories (current work demands my time at the OF office, and government offices), I promise perhaps one day, I’ll tell you about the time I was chased by a sunbear and came face-to-face with a 3 metre albino python. Or the time where I was less than a metre away on being grabbed by a wild male adult orangutan in the wilds of Lanjak-Entimau, Sarawak. The time I almost danced with an orangutan.

Tags: Borneo, conservation, Orangutan Foundation, Orangutans, Yayorin

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Category: Orangutans, Rehabilitation, Uncategorized | Date: Apr 28 2009 | By: orangutanfoundation

Please see below a summary of a press release by The Linnean Society of London and the World Land Trust.

On the 30th April 2009 at 18.00-19.00 British time, the World Land Trust and Linnean Society of London will host the widely anticipated ‘Great Ape Debate’. The debate will be streamed live onto the organisation’s websites allowing a huge public audience for what is expected to be a lively and informative debate.

The destruction of huge areas of orangutan habitat is now seriously threatening the species with extinction and leading conservationists in the field hold conflicting views on how best to ensure the survival of “the person of the forest”.

This debate will focus on the controversy surrounding Orangutan conservation and whether rehabilitation and reintroduction of rescued captive animals is a viable way of conserving Orangutans or would resources be better spent on the purchase, protection and recreation of their natural habitats? Experts are divided in their opinions, and this forum, consisting of conservation experts and scientists , will pool their views and open the debate to the floor in what should prove to be an intriguing and lively discussion. The issues raised will also be relevant to the conservation of other species.

The debate will be chaired by The Earl of Cranbrook, and making up the panel will be:

Dr Marc Ancrenaz - Director of Kinabatangan Orang-utan Conservation Project

Mr John A Burton, FLS - Founder and CEO of World Land Trust

Dr David J. Chivers, FLS - University Reader in Primate Biology and Conservation, Veterinary Anatomy Programme and Head Wildlife Research Group at Cambridge University.

Ms Ashley Leiman, OBE - Founder and Director of Orangutan Foundation (UK)

Mr Ian Redmond, OBE - Ambassador, UN Year of the Gorilla and Chief Consultant, GRASP – UNEP/UNESCO Great Ape Survival Project.

The link for the debate is http://www.worldlandtrust.org/videos/great-ape-debate.htm or www.linnean.org.

Tags: Great Ape Debate, Orangutan Foundation, Orangutans, Rehabiliation

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Category: Orangutans, Uncategorized | Date: Apr 23 2009 | By: orangutanfoundation

Last Saturday afternoon, the foyer of a Brighton-based branch of Sainsbury’s supermarket played host to my first awareness & fundraiser day for the Orangutan Foundation. Myself (a past field volunteer and now intern for the Foundation), Dan (a past field volunteer and subsequently Co-ordinator for the 2008 Volunteer Programme) and my two very kind and willing friends Grace and Vikki, set up stall and spent the day taking turns donning Nick, the Foundation‘s orangutan suit.

Sam is on the left and Dan on the right.

Sainsburys very kindly let us into the store to wander the aisles and drum up a bit of a buzz… and that we did to everyones amusement.

Bar the few terrified children and check-out girl who I made scream, fun was had by all and we raised just shy of £250 and hundreds of our leaflets were taken by interested shoppers. The day, whilst a trial run, was very succesful. If any one is interested in helping out on future fun days like this, or would like to set up their own, then don’t hesitate to contact us on info@orangutan.org.uk.

Thanks,

Sam

Tags: fundraising, Orangutan Foundation, Orangutans, supermarkets

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Category: Orangutan Foundation Staff, Uncategorized | Date: Apr 21 2009 | By: orangutanfoundation

We held Stephen’s farewell party on Saturday night, and various representatives from local NGOs and government stood up and described how much they enjoyed working with Stephen over the past years, and also what they’ve learnt from him. Stephen tried to hide a tear or two, but we noticed

Stephen proudly displaying a portrait drawn by our new Programme Coordinator, Pak Hudi

Stephen’s gift from Yayorin

Stephen and Pak Ade, former Head of Section II, Conservation & Natural Resources Agency. Pak Ade took a break from his Ph.D studies, and flew from Bogor, Java to attend Stephen’s farewell party!

Ms Ully (Office Manager), June Rubis (Programme Manager), Yarrow Robertson (Director of Indonesia Programme)

Stephen reading his gift from us all, his leaving book

Ully, Astri, Stephen and Yarrow

Pak Teguh (Guard Posts Supervisor) surprised us all with his own unique gift for Stephen.

Everybody wanted to shake Stephen’s hand one last time!

Tags: Borneo, conservationist, Orangutan Foundation

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Category: Orangutans, Uncategorized | Date: Mar 26 2009 | By: orangutanfoundation

Part of the Orangutan Foundation’s Education Programme in the UK involves us giving regular talks to schools, universities and social groups. As we are a small but very busy team it was decided to set up a network of local “ambassadors” who would be willing to speak about orangutans and our work on our behalf.

Well, we were overwhelmed by the response that we received. 15 Orangutan Foundation members, from all over the country came to our London office on Saturday.

Everybody was extremely knowledgeable about orangutans, the current situation and our work, with most people having visited where we work in Borneo either through a Discovery Initiatives Study Tour or the Volunteer Programme.

We spent the whole day arming our orangutan “ambassadors” with information, PowerPoint presentations and lots of other helpful materials.

This blog is also an enormous help and useful resource for keeping people up to date. Six other people have also confirmed they want to be ambassadors but they couldn’t make it to the briefing day, so in total we have 21 Orangutan Foundation Ambassadors!

It was a truly inspirational day for us at the office and we would like to thank everyone who came on Saturday.

Lisa B thank you very much for your recent donation ($50 to us and $20 to Wildlife Direct) it is much appreciated.

Tags: Orangutan Foundation, talks, volunteers

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