Orangutan Information Centre

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Welcome to the Orangutan Information Centre's website. We are a non-profit organization sponsored by the Sumatran Orangutan Society who is dedicated to the conservation of Sumatran orangutans and their habitat.

We promote public awareness of the plight and value of this critically endangered species and its unique habitat through grassroots educational programs and empower local communities living near the last remaining orangutan habitat to work towards a more sustainable future for their forests.

We welcome any involvement in our efforts to create an environment committed to long-term conservation of orangutan habitat through environmental education.

Please feel free to surf our website and contact us if you require any more information about orangutans or their conservation status and what you can do to help!

Latest Post

U.S. to Forgive Indonesian Debt in Exchange for Conservation Plan

JAKARTA, Indonesia — The United States will sign an agreement Tuesday to forgive nearly $30 million in Indonesian debt in return for the large Southeast Asian country agreeing to protect forests on Sumatra Island, which is home to endangered tigers, elephants, rhinos and orangutan.

The deal is the largest so-called debt-for-nature swap the U.S. government has organized so far under the U.S. Tropical Forest Conservation Act and its first such pact with Indonesia, which has one of the fastest deforestation rates in the world, losing an area of forest the size of Switzerland annually.

Conservation International, the U.S.-based conservancy group, helped organize the deal, and has contributed $1 million to help reduce the debt. “This is a huge boost for people and wildlife of Sumatra, and demonstrates a forward-looking policy on the part of the U.S. government,” said Jatna Supriatna, vice president of Conservation International Indonesia.

Under the deal, Indonesia will pay the nearly $30 million into a trust over eight years instead of repaying it to the U.S. government. The trust will issue grants for critical forest conservation work in 13 forest areas in Sumatra.

The U.S. in the past has organized smaller debt-for-nature swaps with countries like Guatemala, Botswana, the Philippines and Peru. Under the Tropical Forest Conservation Act of 1998, developing nations with a significant tropical forest, a democratically-elected government, and an economic reform agenda, are eligible for debt forgiveness in return for conservation efforts.

Indonesia’s massive deforestation rates makes it the world’s third-largest emitter of carbon dioxide behind the United States and China due to the forest fires set each year on peat lands to clear forests. Deforestation has picked up in the past decade due to a break down in law and order, but President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who is standing for re-election next month, has made clamping down on illegal logging a priority.

Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124633204676171767.html

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