Orangutan & Sun Bear Conservation Programme

On Oct 19th. I fly out for a two week volunteer programme to Borneo as part of a Orangutan & Sun Bear Conservation with Ocean 2 Earth injunction with Borneo Orangutan Survival.

As one of the worlds oldest rain-forests I will be helping as part of a enrichment and welfare programme. It is vital for captive Orangutans teaching them how to forage for food, helping with tools to help them develop skills for their release back into the wild where they belong. 

It helps BOS to continue their work to save orangutans in the rain-forest. 

Why ?

When primary rain-forest is destroyed to make way for palm oil plantations the orangutan's habitat is destroyed and they have nowhere to live. Having lost their forest home orangutans become displaced and confused. With no source of food they inevitably starve to death or wander into palm oil plantations, only to be killed by plantation workers who often view them as pests.

As their natural habitat diminishes, orangutans become vulnerable to poachers, who kill orangutan mothers in order to capture their infants who are kept as pets or are smuggled to sell in the illegal wildlife trade.

It is estimated that between 1,000 and 5,00 orangutans are killed every year because of palm oil development. In just the last decade, the orangutan population has dropped by 50%, while the land use for palm oil plantations has doubled. Orangutans have lost 90% of their primary tropical rain-forest habitat and many of the wild populations that are left have been cut off from each other.

It is important to remember that deforestation doesn't just harm orangutans - large scale forest clearing and burning effects all of the wildlife species that rely on it and destroys the biodiversity of the entire ecosystem.

BOS supports the conservation, protection and understanding of orangutans and their rain-forest habitat in Borneo, while caring for and rehabilitating ex-captive orangutans for release back into the wild.

I am looking to fund-raise for this programme with funds going straight into the BOS’s work to help these amazing animals survive and be rehabilitated to return to their rightful home.