Forest cover on Sumatra was reduced by 48% from 1985-2007 due to logging, infrastructure projects, internal migration, and plantation development 4,5 . There are now less than 864,100 hectares of Sumatran orangutan habitat left, and the trajectory remains downward6.

The Sumatran orangutan has experienced a drastic decline in population, with the most recent survey reflecting just  6,600 left in the wild, from an estimated 85,000 in 19006. With the expansion of agricultural developments into  forested lands, incidents of HOC can only be expected to increase, also exposing orangutans to higher levels of hunting and poaching for the pet trade7,8,9.

The Human Orangutan Conflict Response Unit (HOCRU) has been working in communities adjacent to the GLNP since 2010, conducting human-wildlife conflict mitigation, mapping areas of reported/potential conflict, and educating people on best practice methods of mitigation and prevention. Thus far the team has responded to 48 cases of  orangutans crop-raiding, safely moving them back into the GLNP. Furthermore, the team has encountered and  subsequently helped rescue 7 orangutans that were being held illegally in the areas visited.

This project addresses the problem of human conflicts with the critically endangered Sumatran orangutan (*Pongo abelii*) in agricultural landscapes adjacent to the Gunung Leuser National Park (GLNP), Sumatra, Indonesia. The Human Orangutan Conflict Response Unit (HOCRU) is a roving team that responds to conflict situations and reports of crop-raiding in agricultural areas across northern Sumatra. Forest-adjacent communities affected by human-orangutan conflict (HOC) are offered training in best-practice methods of safely and humanely protecting their crops from orangutans, and data is collected regarding the extent and severity of this problem.

Resolving HOC is a conservation imperative because Sumatran orangutans are amongst the most threatened primate species in the world1 . The nature, causes, and possible solutions to HOC have recently been named as important practical questions in need of answers2 . The HOCRU is a specialist unit addressing this problem, and administering direct, immediate help to these critically endangered apes in conflict situations.

The Indonesian government’s National Action Plan 2007-2017 for the orangutan considers human-orangutan conflict to be a priority area for intervention3 . Several other policies also refer to the need to address this problem, including the 2004 North Sumatra decree (No.522.51/2235.K), and the National Ministry of Forestry 2008 decree (Regulation No.48). As part of our programme, an additional province-wide decree was issued in North Sumatra in 2011 (Governor Decree No.188.44/536/KPTS/2011). This programme is therefore tackling a problem that is recognised as a serious threat to the survival of orangutans.

1. Mittermeier RA, (2009) Primates in Peril: The World’s 25 Most Endangered Primates 2008–2010. Arlington, VA: IUCN/SSC Primate Specialist Group (PSG), International Primatological Society (IPS), Conservation International (CI).
2. Meijaard E, et al. (2011) Not by science alone: why orangutan conservationists must think outside the box. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences: The Year in Ecology and Conservation Biology
3. Soehartono T, et al. (2009) Orangutan Indonesia: Conservation Strategies and Action Plan 2007-2017. Directorate General of Forest Protection and Nature Conservation, Ministry of Forestry of the Republic of Indonesia, Indonesia Primate Association (APAPI), and Orangutan Conservation Services Program (OCSP).
4. Madhusudan MD (2003) Living amidst large wildlife: Livestock and crop depredation by large mammals in the interior villages of Bhadra Tiger Reserve, south India. Environmental Management 31: 466-475.
5. Gaveau DLA, et al. (2009) The future of forests and orangutans (*Pongo abelii*) in Sumatra: Predicting impacts of oil palm plantations, road construction, and mechanisms for reducing carbon emissions from deforestation. Environmental Research Letters 4: 1/11.
6. Husson S, et al. (2009) Orangutan distribution, density, abundance and impacts of disturbance. In: Wich SA, Utami Atmoko SS, Mitra Setia T, van Schaik CP, editors. Orangutans: Geographic variation in behavioral ecology and conservation. Oxford: Oxford University Press.pp. 77-96.
7. Laumonier Y, et al. (2010) Ecofloristic sectors and deforestation threats in Sumatra: identifying new conservation area network priorities for ecosystem-based land use planning. Biodiversity Conservation 19: 1153–1174.
8. McConkey K. (2005). Sumatran orangutan (*Pongo abelii*). In World Atlas of Great Apes and their Conservation. (ed. J. Caldecott & L. Miles), pp. 184-204: University of California Press.
9. Wich et al. (2011) Orangutans and the Economics of Sustainable Forest Management in Sumatra. UNEP/GRASP/PanEco/YEL/ICRAF/GRID-Arendal.
10. Brown E, Jacobson M (2005) Cruel Oil: How Palm Oil Harms Health, Rainforest and Wildlife. Washington: Centre for Science in the Public Interest.
11. Shepherd C, Sukumaran, J, Wich S (2005) Open season: An analysis of the pet trade in Medan, Sumatra 1997-2001. Traffic Southeast Asia.
12. Hadisiswoyo P (2008) Orangutans and Farmers: A Perceived Human-Orangutan Conflict study in seven villages near Gunung Leuser National Park, Sumatra, Indonesia. School of Social Sciences and Law, (unpublished) MSc thesis. Oxford Brookes University

Orangutan in Gunung Leuser, Sumatra

By Melanie Jae Martin

If you want to see great apes in the wild, Sumatra’s rainforest is one of the most accessible places to do just that. Seeing orangutans in the wild, along with silver Thomas leaf monkeys, pig-tailed macaques, and a diverse range of birds like hornbills, will leave you with a renewed appreciation for the beauty and ingenuity of other species. However, you need to know how to visit them responsibly or you could introduce illnesses, since they share over 97 percent of our DNA. Less than 7,000 Sumatran orangutans live in the wild, and they’re an essential part of the rainforest ecosystem, helping seeds to germinate and even pruning the canopy.

The Gunung Leuser National Park is part of the Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra UNESCO World Heritage Site, and an excellent spot for ape-watching and rainforest trekking. The Orangutan Information Centre (OIC), a local, grassroots NGO, is working with a local guides association to certify guides in the popular destination Bukit Lawang.

OIC Director Panut Hadisiswoyo

The OIC is an excellent source of information, and many of the guides are extremely knowledgeable and conscientious. However, because of the competition for visitors and tips, some guides do engage in unscrupulous practices like luring orangutans over with fruit, leaving fruit peels on the ground, or even letting visitors hug orangutans. Before you go into the forest, you’ll watch a short film on rainforest etiquette at the visitors’ center. Pay attention, and take responsibility for your own behavior. Better yet, download a copy of the park guidebook from the OIC website to prepare for your trip.

In Bukit Lawang, you’ll have the chance to see orangutans close up, either at the feeding platform or slightly further into the rainforest. These orangutans have returned to the wild after a life in captivity. Captured from the wild by poachers at a young age, they are learning to live in the forest again after a rigorous rehabilitation process. They grow adept at building nests to sleep and lounge in, climbing nimbly through the canopy, and raising the next generation of wild orangutans. Like humans, they don’t know how to live in the wild by instinct alone. In the wild, they might spend eight years with their mother, learning how to live in the jungle. Learning these skills as adults takes an incredible amount of intelligence, patience, and perseverance, just as it would for a human.

Deeper in the jungle, you’ll likely see wild orangutans from afar. You’ll have the option to take a one-day, overnight, or multiday trek. Local guides are quite flexible in making arrangements. If planning a longer trek, talk with the staff at the visitors’ center to request a knowledgeable, conscientious guide.

For a quieter experience, visit the farther-flung village of Ketambe, about 8 hours by van from the main city of Medan. Staying in this little village bedecked with flowers and fruit trees will let you experience a less-trafficked part of the Gunung Leuser National Park, or “Leuser.” You’ll easily arrange van transportation on arrival; just ask your hotel staff for details. Call ahead to book a room in Ketambe. The Friendship Guesthouse offers rustic one-room bungalows with bathrooms for around U.S. $6 per night, and tasty curries for around $2. The welcoming staff will connect you with a local guide as well.

As in Bukit Lawang, take responsibility for your own behavior. The orangutans around Ketambe are wild, meaning they’ll keep their distance. One was said to have thrown a beehive at visitors, I was told, in what I felt sure was a cautionary tale. Talk about tool use, I thought.

Unfortunately, Leuser is threatened by the oil palm industry and other forms of encroachment, like much of Indonesia’s rainforests. In June 2011, it was placed on the UNESCO List of World Heritage in Danger for this reason. While there, I volunteered at a restoration site in the district of Langkat, North Sumatra. The OIC had reclaimed this illegally logged and farmed section of national forest in 2007. Since then, the all-local staff had been working to bring the rainforest back to life.

Restorasi house and plantation

The old “hantu” – what we jokingly called the dead oil palms – still stood menacingly in some parts of the forest, gray-white fronds draping around their rotting trunks like a veil. But the vibrant growth of young rainforest trees was enveloping them, weaving them into the ecosystem as life carried on.

One of the field assistants, Darjo, had carefully counted the bird species in the area – he’d spotted 83 so far. While collecting saplings in the deeper forest, the staff showed me huge elephant tracks. Very near the small house where we stayed, we saw the print of the rare golden cat.

Recently, after I’d arrived back in the States, the staff sent me an excited message: Orangutans were living at the site! They’d observed a male and pregnant female in the trees. The forest would take centuries, perhaps longer, to gain back the richness of the diversity it once had, but in the meantime, life will continue to thrive – as long as we let it.

More Information

Unesco World Heritage Centre: Danger listing for Indonesia’s Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra

Orangutan Information Centre: Project Reports

Ketambe: The Friendship Guesthouse & Restaurant

Orangutan Information Centre: OIC Restoration Site Performance Report, 2010-2011

Photos by Melanie Jae Martin

Melanie Jae Martin writes on social and environmental issues in the U.S. and abroad. To read more of her work, please visit www.ravensongstudios.net.

A. Training Cohort IV Final Module

The final module, on the topic of ‘Communication, Documentation, and Publication’, was hosted in the OIC’s Community Digital Opportunity Centre (CDOC) in Bukit Lawang, from 11 – 18 February 2011. This module is intended to teach guides how best to document and promote their work, to provide a better visitor experience and enhance their business and livelihoods. As evidenced by this quarter’s visitor questionnaire survey (see Appendix) 27% of visitors rely on internet blogs for information about tourism activities in Bukit Lawang, and 23% rely on word of mouth, so it is important that guides are able to promote their work effectively.

Throughout the week-long course, participants created and developed their own web logs and in some cases new websites 1 to promote their forest treks and local ventures, all highlighting the forest guidelines, which will assist in increasing the number of responsible tours in the forest. Those guides needing assistance in computer literacy were given special attention. The guides who have completed our training course can now professionally market their services to a larger audience, with the power of the internet allowing for past customers to comment on and share their experiences with potential future customers. Examples of new websites created by guides:

• www.jungletribesumatra.com
• www.bukitlawangexplore.com
• www.orangutanexpedition.com

B. Translocation of orangutans

After a number of meetings and discussions regarding the ex-captive orangutans in Bukit Lawang with the various stakeholders (GLNP authority, HPI Guide Association, local businesses focused on  orangutan tourism, SOCP, and the OIC), finally it was decided by the national park authority on 28 January 2011 to translocate Mina and Rada Ria to an area without any marked human presence. We did not expect Rada Ria to be included in the intended translocation, as although he is indeed quite habituated to human presence, he has not been involved in any attacks on visitors. However, due to his  lack of fear of humans and propensity to come into contact with them, and with the GLNP rangers claiming that he is starting to show signs of aggression towards them, it is best that he too be moved to a site that does not host any tourism ventures. On 17 February 2011 veterinary staff from the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Program (SOCP) arrived to capture Mina and Rada Ria and bring them to  their quarantine and care centre in Batu Mbelin, North Sumatra, for the required initial health checks and quarantine process, before being moved to a new site. Rada Ria was quickly captured and placed in a transport cage and taken to the quarantine centre without the need of any sedatives, with a GLNP ranger able to easily handle him for the process.

Read full report by downloading the OIC Gunung Leuser Ecotourism Development Programme – Quarterly Report I  ( January – March 2011 ) in PDF Version.

The project aims to bring stakeholders together in an effort to rehabilitate degrade land within the park to manage the replanting of thousands of indigenous tree seedlings. By doing so, there has resulted a significant shifting in the mindset of the local community, regarding conservation issues and the protection of the park, which is also comprises the Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra UNESCO World Heritage Site. The programme has resulted in more positive views about the need to sustain and protect the forests from encroachment, not only because the ecosystem has been granted full legal protection by the national government, but also to sustain the valuable ecological services that forests freely provide, which are essential for the daily lives of both wildlife and people. In addition, local people participate in useful training and capacity-building exercises in support of the restoration work, including tree nursery development, improved plantin methodology, planting maintenance, etc., and also they benefit financially through receiving a stipend for programme-related assistance. All of which in addition to helping restore this degraded tract of forest, has already resulted in local communities observing that they are already regaining the natural ecological services, namely a restoration of the local water table and drought resistance, previously lost to forest clearing and monoculture agricultural development.

This report details activities undertaken by the OIC with support from Rainforest Rescue Australia from April 2010 to March 2011. Together with KETAPEL members, 15 hectares of degraded land were planted with 38,015 indigenous seedlings cultivated with the help of local people, in a tree nursery established within the national park replanting site. Furthermore during this period seedling maintenance on 20 hectares of previously planted land was conducted; in addition to monitoring for tree growth progress and the presence of wildlife on the restoration site through  transects and the use of camera traps. Awareness raising activities for people living around the project site was also conducted, in order to engage more people in GLNP conservation efforts, with the OIC believing strongly that local communities are key in realising effective, lasting conservation.

Read full report by downloading the OIC GLNP Restoration Performance Report (reduced) in PDF Version.

Meeting Wednesday in Paris at the World Heritage Committee, UNESCO added the Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve of Honduras and the Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra to its World Heritage List in Danger, a registry of threatened sites. The listing aims to “mobilize support and raise awareness to overcome threats” to the sites. Read more in Mongabay.com…

DESMA Center, berkolaborasi dengan UNESCO Office, Jakarta memproduksi Peta Wisata Taman Nasional Gunung Leuser sebagai bagian dari program kerja “Saving the Natural Heritage of Gunung Leuser National Park, Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra” yang dilakukan oleh Environmental Sciences Unit, UNESCO Office, Jakarta. Peta wisata tersebut diproduksi sebagai media promosi Taman Nasional Gunung Leuser sebagai destinasti wisata. Tidak hanya memiliki fungsi navigatif, tetapi peta tersebut juga memberikan informasi praktis terkait pariwisata dan aktivitas wisata yang bisa dilakukan di taman nasional tersebut. Download here

Yayasan Orangutan Sumatera Lestari – Orangutan Information Centre (YOSL – OIC) yang bekerja sama dengan Orangutan Republik Foundation (OURF) sebagai lembaga yang aktif dalam upaya konservasi Orangutan Sumatera dan habitatnya telah melaksanakan Program Beasiswa Peduli Orangutan selama 6 tahun terakhir sejak tahun 2006. Saat ini penerima beasiswa dari program tersebut berjumlah 33 orang yang tersebar di beberapa kampus seperti : Kehutanan USU, Biologi USU, Biologi non-pendidikan UNIMED, Biologi UMA, dan Fakultas Kedokteran Hewan Unsyiah. Dari 33 orang penerima beasiswa tersebut, delapan diantaranya telah meraih gelar sarjana.

Beasiswa Peduli Orangutan adalah suatu program beasiswa yang merupakan kerjasama antara Yayasan Orangutan Sumatera Lestari – Orangutan Information Centre (YOSL – OIC) dengan Orangutan Republik Foundation (OURF) untuk memberikan beasiswa kepada mahasiswa/i yang memiliki komitmen dan kepedulian terhadap upaya-upaya konservasi alam dan pelestarian lingkungan khususnya perlindungan dan penyelamatan Orangutan Sumatera dan habitatnya. Pelaksanaan program beasiswa ini bekerjasama dengan institusi pendidikan dalam hal ini universitas-universitas yang berada di Provinsi Sumatera Utara dan Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam.

Tujuan dari diselenggarakannya program beasiswa ini adalah untuk memberikan dukungan moril dan materil kepada mahasiswa/i dalam menyelesaikan pendidikannya di universitas. Serta untuk melahirkan generasi-generasi intelektual yang memiliki komitmen dan kepedulian terhadap upaya-upaya perlindungan dan penyelamatan Orangutan Sumatera dan habitatnya.

Pada tahun ini, kegiatan seleksi Program Beasiswa Peduli Orangutan telah dilaksanakan di dua tempat berbeda. Seleksi beasiswa untuk wilayah Aceh telah dilaksanakan pada tanggal 25 Februari 2011 di Kampus Fakultas Kedokteran Hewan Unsyiah. Sedangkan untuk wilayah Sumatera Utara telah dilaksanakan di Kampus Biologi UNIMED pada tanggal 3 Maret 2011

Tim Juri yang terlibat dalam kegiatan ini adalah dosen-dosen dari kampus Biologi UNIMED, Biologi USU, Kehutanan USU, dan staf BBKSDA Sumut untuk wilayah Medan, sedangkan untuk wilayah Aceh tim juri yang terlibat adalah dosen Fakultas Kedokteran Hewan Unsyiah, staf BBKSDA Aceh, dan Direktur YOSL-OIC.

Untuk tahun ini peserta yang mengikuti program beasiswa ini mengalami peningkatan yang signifikan dibandingkan tahun sebelumnya. Jumlah peserta yang mendaftar dalam program beasiswa ini untuk wilayah Medan mengalami peningkatan sebesar 50% dari tahun sebelumnya yaitu sebanyak 21 orang yang terdiri dari 12 mahasiswa Biologi UNIMED, 5 mahasiswa Biologi USU, dan 4 mahasiswa Kehutanan USU. Sedangkan jumlah peserta yang mendaftar dalam program beasiswa ini untuk wilayah Aceh mengalami peningkatan sekitar 10-15 % dibandingkan tahun sebelumnya yaitu sebanyak 14 orang.

Rabu (16/3/11), telah dilakukan penandatanganan kontrak beasiswa yang dihadiri langsung oleh Chairman of OURF, Mr Gary Saphiro, selaku pihak yang menjadi donor dalam Program Beasiswa Peduli Orangutan. Dalam acara ceremony tersebut turut diundang seluruh penerima beasiswa tahun 2011 beserta dosen pendamping, tim juri yang terlibat, Kepala BBKSDA Provinsi Sumatera Utara, Kepala BBTNGL, dan rekan-rekan dari CPOI.

Para penerima Beasiswa Peduli Orangutan 2011, yaitu :

• Untuk wilayah Aceh (Fakultas Kedokteran Hewan UNSYIAH)

1. Joharsyah Hutabarat
2. Raja Marthunus Selian
3. Meuthya SR
4. Dina Agustina
5. Aulia Fakhrurrozi

• Untuk wilayah Sumatera Utara :

1. Muhammad Gojali Harahap (Kehutanan USU)
2. Henny L Tobing (Biologi UNIMED)
3. Hethy Novita Tamba (Biologi UNIMED)
4. Arfah Nasution  (Biologi USU)
5. Juhardi Sembiring  (Biologi USU)

The Orangutan Information Centre (OIC) was founded in 2001 by a group of Indonesian conservationists, and partnered with the Sumatran Orangutan Society (SOS), to raise awareness of environmental and orangutan conservation issues amongst local communities. The Gunung Leuser National Park (GLNP) restoration program is a local community development project managed by OIC aimed at undoing the damage caused through large-scale conversion of national park forest into plantation agriculture. Various indigenous seedlings have been cultivated and maintained locally, within four separate nursery sites developed in the community. In addition to forest rehabilitation, the project provides sustainable alternative livelihoods for local people living adjacent to this area, thus they will not only gain from having the forests reforested (and therein a return of valuable natural ecological services lost to forest clearing and monoculture agricultural development), but also benefit as a community through training and agroforestry schemes. The program was initiated in August 2007 and now operates in conjunction with a local community farmers’ group established as a result of this initiative, to carry out replanting and serve as in-field management for the project.

Objectives:

• To help enhance the rehabilitation of degraded GLNP areas as a result of deforestation and conversion to oil palm plantations, by replanting land with indigenous tree species
• Conduct regular maintenance of planted trees to help ensure their survival and growth
• Monitor the land and planted trees within the GLNP to ensure continued security and protection from any further encroachment
• To improve the capacity of local communities in conservation and forestry program in an effort to increase ownership and responsibility of local communities towards the sustainability of the GLNP

Two groups of seedlings will be replanted in the national park:
• Indigenous hardwood tree species that naturally grow in the forests of the GLNP
• Fruit tree species to be planted in an area designated for a community forestry program to reinforce buffer-zones adjacent to the park

Impact

Since the inception of the program, 100,876 tree seedlings have been cultivated and planted on 82.6 hectares of degraded national park land. Realizing that local people and their support are an absolutely vital aspect of any conservation effort, we have made it a cornerstone of all of our work to involve and also encourage communities to initiate their own conservation activities. Without the local people’s commitment, the project will fail to engage and educate those who have the most direct interaction with the forests and also the most immediate influence on the sustainability of these habitats. When people are taught about the many intrinsic ecological services and values provided by orangutans and their forest homes, they are much more likely to support and campaign for their conservation. The program has also provided alternative additional incomes for the people in the form of job opportunities in the nursery and in replanting activities. Entrepreneurship was encouraged through the development of community based tree nurseries which can support replanting and forestry programs. The local community has initiated this scheme and provided a supply of seedlings for local replanting initiatives. The forestry scheme is also being promoted to local communities that are not currently involved in the replanting program.

The reforestation efforts are making a direct impact on the condition of the forests and over time will improve the rainforest habitat that several endemic, endangered species such as the Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae), Sumatran elephant (Elephas maximus sumatranus), Sumatran rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis), Malayan sun bear (Helarctos malayanus), Thomas leaf monkey (Presbytis thomasi), long-tailed macaque (Macaca fascicularis), pig-tailed macaque (M. nemestrina), slow loris (Nycticebus coucang), gibbons and siamangs (Family Hylobatidae) and numerous unique reptile, insect, bird and plant species call their home.

The replanting program has instilled positive views on the importance of protecting forests from encroachment in order to maintain ecological sustainability.

Orangutan Information Center (OIC) founder Panut Hadisiswoyo said that the agency should have acted firmly and seized the legally protected endangered animal.

“The agency has no commitment to saving the Sumatran orangutan from extinction as evident from its reluctance to take legal action against the orangutan’s owner,” Panut said as quoted by Antara on Thursday.

Agency officers went home empty-handed Tuesday night after the baby orangutan owner refused to surrender the animal.

The owner, who reportedly bought the animal for Rp 2 million (US$200), said he was not aware it was illegal to keep the animal as a pet. — JP

Source: The Jakarta Post

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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