Devastation in Borneo

The scene suggests the aftermath of a nuclear blast: for as far as one can see, there is nothing but the skeletal remains of once mighty trees, fragments of their limbs strewn like so many matchsticks upon the smoldering and blackened earth. The location? The heart of Borneo, once considered to contain one of the most bio-diverse ecosystems in the world, and home to the orangutan, elephant and rhino. Conversion of millions of hectares of pristine rainforest for the development of monocultures, particularly oil palm, is reducing this Eden to a biological desert. What's worse is that a large percentage of this land will never be developed into oil palm, but will remain depleted and devastated and providing no sustenance for either wildlife or humans. Starving and displaced orangutans desperately in search of food wander into newly-planted plantations, and find what little nutrition they can in the young shoots of the palm. As such, they become regarded as agricultural pests, and in the open clearings, are an easy target. In the human-wildlife conflict involving the orangutan, the orangutan always loses.

Saving Orangutan in Borneo

Borneo Orangutan Survival (BOS) Foundation has managed to rescue thousands of orangutans from such situations over the years, with the goal to eventually return them to safe forests. Currently looking after close to 1000 displaced and orphaned orangutans, the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation is desperate to find forested land for the release of these individuals. At the same time, every effort is needed to prevent the displacement of these orangutans in the first place. To this end, Borneo Orangutan Survival with the help of the Orangutan Land Trust, are working to find permanent solutions for the long-term survival of the orangutan in the wild by ensuring safe areas of land for their continued existence. By securing forests containing orangutans, as well as forests to which rescued orangutans can be released, we can not only addresses the root cause of the decline in orangutan populations, but also provide long-term solutions for the many rescued orangutans currently looked after in sanctuaries.

Reforestation Project

With your help, we can secure large parcels of forest, survey them for their potential for orangutan survival, and regenerate them as needed.  BOS already leads the way in reforestation in Borneo, having successfully turned a 2000 hectare wasteland into a thriving forest with 1800 native species of plants in a few short years. This Samboja Lestari Reforestation project provides living proof of what is possible. Not only has this area seen the return of hundreds of species of wildlife, from butterflies and beetles to hornbills and gibbons; with its high concentration of fruiting trees, Samboja Lestari can serve as an ark for the rehabilitating orangutans at the project. At the same time, BOS has been responsible for the management of the 377,000 hectare Mawas Reserve, home to some 3000 wild orangutans. Both Samboja Lestari and Mawas Reserve provide sustainably extractable forest products for the local community and serve as water catchments for towns and cities further afield. BOS needs your help to achieve more, and to save the extraordinary orangutan from extinction in the wild. Together, we can prevent the destruction of the remaining forest habitat of the orangutan, and regenerate degraded habitat as well.

2009 Earth Day Birthday Pilot Projects

Project: Borneo Reforestation - Cause: Orangutan on the Brink

Project: Reforesting Costa Rica's Playa El Rey - Cause: Saving Mono Titi