ASIA

Asia

The Orangutan Foundation International -Borneo

Reforestation and Habitat Preservation for the Orangutans

Goal- $1,000.00

The Orangutan Foundation International is dedicated to the conservation of wild orangutans and their rainforest habitat.

Their main concern is that orangutan populations survive in the wild and that they are well treated and live under humane conditions.

Concern for orangutans also means concern for the tropical rain forests that they call home. Orangutans are a highly endangered species, found only in limited populations on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. Due to the destructive activities of humans, the wild population has decreased in the past decade by about 50%.

The destruction and fragmentation of tropical rain forests, particularly lowland forests, in Borneo and northern Sumatra, is the main reason orangutans are threatened. The main cause of this destruction is human activity: intensive legal and illegal logging, conversion to agricultural lands, mining, settlements, and road construction. However, the main threat to wild orangutans is the clearing of forest for the establishment of timber estates and palm oil plantations, usually by fire.

Some day, with the help of wildlife managers, orangutans will be able to live on their own and out of captivity. For this to occur, protection of forests and wild animal populations must occur. The day may come when orangutan populations will be safe in national parks, wildlife reserves, and protected forests. But first, we must plant seeds and saplings!

Thank you to our supporters who have asked for and recommended projects like this one that help us reach out to the far corners of the planet to preserve and protect our earth!

Extra fun facts:

“Only humans have a more intensive relationship with their mothers. Primatologists believe that orangutans have such long “childhoods” because there is so much that they need to learn before they can live alone successfully.”

“Almost every night orangutans construct a new sleeping nest from branches, usually 15 to 100 feet up in a tree. Sometimes orangutans will make a mid-day nest for napping. Occasionally, they will also reuse an old nest, adding new branches.”