With a wild population of fewer than 7,000, the Sumatran Orangutan (Pongo abelii) may be the first Great Ape to become extinct. Once widespread throughout the forests of Asia, orangutans are now confined to just two islands, Sumatra and Borneo. Both species are highly endangered due to habitat loss and poaching.

The term “Orang Hutan” literally translates as “Person of the Forest,” and indeed, the orangutan shares 96.4% of its DNA with humans, making it one of our closest relatives in the animal kingdom. But while humans can reproduce and expand seemingly without limit, the orangutan breeds much more slowly than any other primate, making the population even more vulnerable to habitat disturbance and hunting.

The Sumatran Orangutan Society (SOS) has been working in Indonesia for years to both educate about the importance of conservation and to help reverse the damage of deforestation. By creating tree nurseries, SOS provides sustainable livelihoods for communities surrounding critical orangutan habitat. Communities therefore no longer need to rely on collecting wood and other forest products for an income. SOS has planted over a quarter million seedlings, and provides training so that communities can be self-sufficient in producing their own seedlings for future replanting.

Among SOS’s projects are: Replacing coastal mangroves destroyed by the 2004 tsunami, replanting hardwood and fruit trees in degraded forest areas in Aceh province, and working to reforest the Leuser Ecosystem in North Sumatra, the most important remaining habitat for the Sumatran orangutan. In 2008, SOS is expanding to work within the borders of Gunung Leuser National Park, working with local government and communities to restore vital orangutan habitat that has been damaged by illegal oil palm plantations inside the protected area.

You can help. This Gift That Gives More™ plants 50 native species tree seedlings to help reforest vital areas of orangutan habitat, helping ensure that this close cousin of humankind survives and thrives.

The Sumatran Orangutan Society (SOS) is dedicated to the conservation of Sumatran orangutans and their forest home. Its international branches raise awareness of the threats facing wild orangutans, and raise funds to support its grassroots conservation projects in Sumatra. Together with a team of committed Indonesian conservationists, it works with local communities living alongside orangutan habitat. It visits schools, plants trees and provides training to help the local people work towards a more sustainable future for their forests. Since 2003, SOS has planted over 270,000 trees.

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From July 23-25, Taiwanese undergraduates held a camp in Bukit Lawang, Sumatra, that taught local high school students to use technology as a conservation tool. The Taiwanese volunteers aimed to help local people in this popular rainforest tourism destination to use the Internet to research and promote sustainable tourism practices. The high school students, who had no formal training in using the Internet, learned to use email, produce a blog, conduct research, and use GPS devices to create a map of part of the local trail system.

The 12 volunteers from National Chiao Tung University, a leading technological university in Taiwan, hope to empower the local community to use technology to further ecotourism. Sustainable tourism is crucial to the wellbeing of the local ecosystem and community, providing an alternative to unsustainable logging and palm oil plantations. It’s particularly important in Bukit Lawang because many of Sumatra’s critically endangered orangutans live here, including some that have been rehabilitated and returned to the wild. The park forms part of Gunung Leuser National Park, recognized by UNESCO as a biosphere reserve and World Heritage Site, which holds the dubious nickname of “Last Stand of the Orangutan.”

The volunteers held classes for local students in a community learning center created by the Orangutan Information Center (OIC), an NGO that works to educate rural Sumatrans about living sustainably with their forests, along with the Bamboo Community University Association (BCUA). The center includes computers with free Internet access for local people. In collaboration with several other NGOs, these organizations worked together to sponsor the camp.

The Taiwanese volunteers planned and led the camp under the oversight of OIC staff, educating students about park guidelines and conservation as well as using technology such as the Internet and GPS devices. While trekking, students took photos of the trail using cameras with built-in GPS devices. Later, when they uploaded the photos onto a computer, the GPS data allowed them to pinpoint the location of the photos on a map. Ultimately they will produce and publicize a website that gives potential visitors a guided tour of the park, in hopes of raising funds for conservation efforts.

“Students say maybe we can use Internet for tourism,” says Chu Chu Wang, a volunteer, remarking that students became excited about what they can do with the help of technology. Thus far, few people in the community have used Internet to promote their guesthouses and other businesses, so those who create websites have a strong advantage. And tourism provides an incentive for local people to preserve their environment, while also providing money to conservation efforts through donations and a portion of park fees. Keeping tourism sustainable presents an ongoing challenge for Bukit Lawang, but it has helped to protect some of the last remaining orangutan habitat in the world, as well as the habitat of many other endangered species.

Local people can also use Internet to familiarize potential visitors with park guidelines and information about the rainforest ecosystem, so they know what to expect. If people understand what “leave no trace” practices involve, as well as safety regulations such as not coming closer than 10 meters to an orangutan, they may have a much more pleasant experience in the park. They’ll be more likely to follow safety regulations, ensuring that orangutans as well as humans remain safe and healthy. Since orangutans are highly susceptible to human diseases, sharing roughly 97% of human DNA, educating visitors about safety practices is crucial.

Furthermore, students who go on to work as park guides can research information on the Internet to learn more about orangutans and their habitat, as well as ecotourism practices. Many guides strive to improve their knowledge through personal observation as well as visiting the local OIC and WWF information centers, but the Internet gives them the ability to take more control over their own learning.

The volunteers also hope to use the website to inspire others in their home country to protect important ecosystems like Sumatra’s rainforests, which are disappearing at a dramatic rate.

This is the first year the camp has taken place, but the volunteers hope it will be the first of many, and that National Chiao Tung University will have a longstanding relationship with the Orangutan Information Center and Bukit Lawang.

Republished from: http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0803-martin_camp.html

Official opening by the Minister of Forestry

UNESCO Office, Jakarta, together with Yayasan Orangutan Sumatera Lestari-Orangutan Information Center (YOSL-OIC), participated at the International Biodiversity Day 2010 Expo from 24 to 26 May 2010 at Manggala Wanabakti Building.

The Expo was officially opened by the Minister of Forestry, Mr Zulkifli Hasan SE, MM., with a keynote speech from the State Minister of Environment, Prof. Dr. Ir. Gusti Muhammat Hatta, MSc. The participants of the Expo came from the local and international NGOs, National Parks in Indonesia, Nature Conservation Agencies (BKSDA), international cooperation agencies as well as international zoos and other related private sectors.

UNESCO together with YOSL-OIC presented and distributed various materials promoting World Heritage sites and Biosphere Reserves, emphasizing the highly rich biodiversity of Gunung Leuser National Park (GLNP), a part of the Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra.

Since 2006, UNESCO has been collaborating with GLNP and several NGOs in improving public awareness regarding the value of GLNP as a World Heritage site as well as Biosphere Reserves, as one of the key approached to ensure the conservation of this highly valued park. Among other activities, UNESCO has developed tailor-made awareness raising activities with school children and local people who live in the buffer zone of GLNP and nearby areas, environmental journalists, the GLNP staffs and rangers through a seminar, conservation mobile unit (CMU), conservation camp, writing contests for school and college students in North Sumatra and Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam. YOSL-OIC has been actively involved in promoting the sustainable ecotourism in the GLNP.

UNESCO - YOSL-OIC Booth

During the three-day event, the visitors could visit UNESCO/YOSL-OIC booth, where a number of materials and posters were displayed and where they received extensive information regarding the UNESCO and YOSL-OIC programmes in the GLNP.

On the first day of OCW IV events were held in the Sun Plaza shopping mall, which consisted of film screenings, information/brochure distribution and conservation petition signing, appearances by multiple ‘orangutans’ (don’t worry – just some brave volunteers in orangutan costumes!), as well as dramatic performances by UNIMED and USU university students. This was followed by a day of fun at one of Medan’s large, busy roundabouts, where information and materials were distributed to everyone passing by, as well as conservation oriented stickers being given out to local bus drivers to place on their buses for all of Medan to see. Then there were day long events held at local college campuses which aimed to educate these communities and perhaps inspire some students to come and work for conservation!

Such actions are vital in that in order to save the orangutan and the countless species of flora and fauna it lives alongside, first and foremost the people living nearest to them have to support their protection and continued existence (this is not to say that the larger, global market does not also play a massive role in what goes on in the forests here – in fact it can be argued that that has a greater effect!). Therefore education and awareness are paramount, yet for many people they have too much else to worry about to remember – thus this week of mass outreach whereby many different NGOs and organisations come together to blanket an area with information.

Participating institutions for Orangutan Caring Week 2008 were the OIC, YEL-SOCP (Leuser Foundation / Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme), LIF (Leuser International Foundation), OUREI (Orang Utan Republik Education Initiative), CPOI (Orangutan Caring Club), FFI (Fauna Flora International), USAID OCSP (Orangutan Conservation Services Programme), Sun Plaza Shopping Centre Medan, UNIMED University Theatre Club, UNIMED University Mapala Club, USU University Forestry Department, UNIMED University German Club, OIC Orangutan Friends Club, USU University Agriculture Department.

We would like to give thanks to all participants and also the institutions who helped make OCW IV a great success. In such education focused programmes, the outcomes are difficult to measure as they are not often immediate and may take many years to materialise. However it is our collective hope that this event inspired people to care more about and more importantly do something/take action to help protect their natural environment. It is up to us to do something! But in order to do so we have to know what the problem(s) is (are) first!.