Orangutans

300 BCE - 2016 CE

“Orangutans are reclusive, semi-solitary, quiet, highly arboreal and red, facts that come as a surprise to some people. Their name is derived from the Malay words ‘orang hutan,’ which literally mean ‘person of the forest.’ And it is the orangutan’s profound connection to the forest that is driving it to extinction. Without forests, orangutans cannot survive... Two forests form their only habitat, and they are the tropical rain forests of Borneo and Sumatra . . . In the late 1980s, as it entered the global economy, Indonesia decided to become a major producer and exporter of palm oil, pulp and paper. Before this, the government had endorsed selective logging. Now vast areas of forest were slated for conversion to plantations to grow trees for palm oil and paper production . . . Indonesia has achieved its goal of becoming one of the two largest palm-oil producers and exporters in the world. But at what cost? At least half of the world’s wild orangutans have disappeared in the last 20 years; biologically viable populations of orangutans have been radically reduced in size and number; and 80 percent of the orangutan habitat has either been depopulated or totally destroyed.”

Mary Birute Galdikas, “The Vanishing Man of the Forest,” The New York Times, January 5, 2007.

How You Can Help

Orangutan Foundation International

Orangutan Foundation International is dedicated to the conservation of wild orangutans and their rainforest habitat. OFI supports research on orangutans and forests, education initiatives, both local and international, and brings awareness concerning orangutans wherever it can.

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Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation

The Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation is an Indonesian non-profit organization dedicated to the conservation of the Bornean orangutan and its habitat, in cooperation with local communities, the Indonesian Ministry of Forestry and international partner organizations.

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World Wildlife Fund

World Wildlife Fund works in both Borneo and Sumatra to secure well-managed protected areas and wider forest landscapes to connect sub-populations of orangutans. They also monitor orangutan populations, work on ecotourism and provide community based support for orangutan conservation.

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Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme

The Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme works to conserve viable wild populations of the Critically Endangered Sumatran orangutan through habitat protection, rehabilitation and reintroduction of ex-captive orangutans to the wild, education, survey work and scientific research.

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Orangutan Land Trust

The Orangutan Land Trust works to provide sustainable solutions for the long-term survival of the orangutan in the wild by ensuring safe areas of forest for their continued existence and promoting the sustainable forestry of palm oil.

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