Borneo Orangutan Survival
Encyclopedia
The Borneo Orangutan Survival (BOS) Foundation is an Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

n non-profit NGO founded by Dr Willie Smits
Willie Smits
Willie Smits is a trained forester, a microbiologist, conservationist, animal rights activist and social entrepreneur...

 in 1991 and dedicated to the conservation of the endangered
Endangered species
An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters...

 Bornean Orangutan
Bornean Orangutan
The Bornean orangutan, Pongo pygmaeus, is a species of orangutan native to the island of Borneo. Together with the slightly smaller Sumatran orangutan, it belongs to the only genus of great apes native to Asia....

 and its habitat through the involvement of local people. It is audited by a multinational auditor company and operates under the formal agreement with the Indonesian Ministry of Forest to conserve and rehabilitate orangutans. BOS manages orangutan rescue, rehabilitation and re-introduction programmes in East and Central Kalimantan. With almost 1000 orangutans in its care and employing between six hundred and a thousand people at a hundred sites BOS is the biggest primate conservation NGO worldwide.

Nyaru Menteng and Samboja Lestari are the BOS sites that have received most extensive media coverage. Nyaru Menteng, founded and run by Lone Drøscher Nielsen, has been the subject of a number of TV series, including Orangutan Diary
Orangutan diary
Orangutan Diary is a nature documentary series on the BBC, which follows the lives of Bornean Orangutans in the care of Lone Drøscher Nielsen, a member of the Borneo Orangutan Survival foundation. The program tries to detail the threat that the orangutans face in day to day life...

 and Orangutan Island
Orangutan Island
Orangutan Island is a documentary television series, in the style of the hugely successful series Meerkat Manor, that blends more traditional documentary filming with dramatic narration. The series was produced by NHNZ with creator Judith Curran also acting as the series producer...

. Samboja Lestari featured recently in a 2009 TED
TED (conference)
TED is a global set of conferences owned by the private non-profit Sapling Foundation, formed to disseminate "ideas worth spreading"....

 talk, "Willie Smits restores a rainforest" in which Smits describes how he recreated forest to provide habitat for rescued orangutans.

History

In 1989 Dr. Willie Smits, then a forest ecologist, had his first enconter with an orangutan
Orangutan
Orangutans are the only exclusively Asian genus of extant great ape. The largest living arboreal animals, they have proportionally longer arms than the other, more terrestrial, great apes. They are among the most intelligent primates and use a variety of sophisticated tools, also making sleeping...

, a sick baby female in a cage, while walking in the market in Balikpapan
Balikpapan
Balikpapan is a seaport city on the eastern coast of the island of Borneo, Indonesia, in the East Kalimantan province, a resource-rich region well known for its timber, mining, and petroleum export products. Two harbors, Semayang and Kariangau , and the Sepinggan International Airport are the main...

, East Kalimantan
East Kalimantan
East Kalimantan is the second largest Indonesian province, located on the Kalimantan region on the east of Borneo island. The resource-rich province has two major cities, Samarinda and Balikpapan...

. He was struck by "the saddest eyes" he had ever seen and going back later found her on a rubbish heap and took her home. He nursed her back to health and a few weeks later was given another to care for, this time a sick baby male. The number of orangutans in his care grew, and from these beginnings what was initially the "Balikpapan Orangutan Society" came into being in 1991, with the support of fellow researchers at the Tropenbos Kalimantan Program and the schoolchildren of Balikpapan. As its sphere of acitivity broadened, it was renamed the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation in 1994. Since then it has received increasing recognition in Indonesia and globally, with sister organizations in 11 other countries.

Orangutans endangered

The Bornean orangutans is endangered
Endangered species
An endangered species is a population of organisms which is at risk of becoming extinct because it is either few in numbers, or threatened by changing environmental or predation parameters...

 according to the IUCN Red List
IUCN Red List
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species , founded in 1963, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biological species. The International Union for Conservation of Nature is the world's main authority on the conservation status of species...

 of mammal
Mammal
Mammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...

s, and is listed on Appendix I of CITES.
The total number of Bornean orangutans is estimated to be less than 14 percent of what it was in the recent past (from around 10,000 years ago until the middle of the twentieth century) and this sharp decline has occurred mostly over the past few decades due to human activities and development. Their habitat is so much reduced that they are now only to be found in pockets of remaining rainforest. The largest remaining population is found in the forest around the Sabangau River, but this environment too is at risk. According to the IUCN, it is expected that in 10 to 30 years orangutans will be extinct if there is no serious effort to overcome the threats that they are facing.

This view is also supported by the United Nations Environment Programme
United Nations Environment Programme
The United Nations Environment Programme coordinates United Nations environmental activities, assisting developing countries in implementing environmentally sound policies and practices. It was founded as a result of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in June 1972 and has its...

, which states in its report that due to deforestation
Deforestation in Borneo
Borneo, the third largest island in the world, divided between Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei, was once covered with dense rainforests, but along with its tropical lowland and highland forests, there has been extensive deforestation in the past sixty years. In the 1980s and 1990s the forests of...

 by illegal logging, fire and the extensive development of oil palm
Oil palm
The oil palms comprise two species of the Arecaceae, or palm family. They are used in commercial agriculture in the production of palm oil. The African Oil Palm Elaeis guineensis is native to West Africa, occurring between Angola and Gambia, while the American Oil Palm Elaeis oleifera is native to...

 plantations (see Environmental impact of palm oil
Environmental impact of palm oil
Palm oil, produced from the oil palm, is a basic source of income for many farmers in South East Asia, Central and West Africa, and Central America. It is locally used as a cooking oil, exported for use in many commercial food and personal care products and is converted into biofuel. It produces up...

), orangutans are endangered, and if the current trend continues, they will become extinct.

BOS aims

  1. Orangutan Reintroduction
  2. The rehabilitation and habitat protection of wildlife that is protected under law, especially orangutans
  3. Information, outreach and education, community capacity-building, community empowerment and public awareness-raising.

Wanariset

Wanariset began as a tropical forest research station near Balikpapan
Balikpapan
Balikpapan is a seaport city on the eastern coast of the island of Borneo, Indonesia, in the East Kalimantan province, a resource-rich region well known for its timber, mining, and petroleum export products. Two harbors, Semayang and Kariangau , and the Sepinggan International Airport are the main...

 in the Indonesian Province of East Kalimantan
East Kalimantan
East Kalimantan is the second largest Indonesian province, located on the Kalimantan region on the east of Borneo island. The resource-rich province has two major cities, Samarinda and Balikpapan...

 and was developed as an orangutan rescue and rehabilitation centre.

Nyaru Menteng

Nyaru Menteng 2°6′34"S 113°49′14"E is an orangutan rescue and rehabilitation centre 28 km from Palangkaraya
Palangkaraya
Palangka Raya is the capital city of the Indonesian province Central Kalimantan, situated between the Kayahan and the Sabangau rivers. The population of the municipality is 170,761. The closest airport serving the city is Tjilik Riwut.- History :...

 in Central Kalimantan
Central Kalimantan
Central Kalimantan is a province of Indonesia, one of four in Kalimantan - the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo. Its provincial capital is Palangka Raya.The province has a population of just over 2.2 million at the 2010 Census...

. Lone Drøscher Nielsen sought the advice of Dr Smits about the possibility of creating a new project in Central Kalimantan to deal with the swelling numbers of orphaned orangutans. Dr Smits agreed to help and, with the financial backing of the Gibbon Foundation and BOS Indonesia, Drøscher Nielsen founded Nyaru Menteng in 1998. She was able to build the facility under an agreement with the Indonesian Ministry of Forestry, and Nyaru Menteng officially opened its doors to the first dozen orangutans in 1999.

The sanctuary was designed to hold up to 100 orphaned orangutans while they go through rehabilitation. In addition to quarantine cages, medical clinic, and nursery, the sanctuary had a large area of forest in which orangutans could learn the skills needed to live in the wild. Nyaru Menteng quickly became the largest primate rescue project in the world, with nearly 700 orphaned and displaced orangutans in its care at the present.

Many of these orangutans are only weeks old when they arrive, and all of them are psychologically traumatized. The sanctuary not only saves the mostly orphaned baby orangutans from the local farmers and illegal pet-traders, but has developed a process for their gradual re-introduction to the remaining Borneo rainforest
Rainforest
Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750-2000 mm...

.

As of 2009, up to 20 young orangutans arrive every month. The centre's running costs are $1.5m a year. There are 170 staff: babysitters, assistants, people working in the medical department, guards and other workers. Associated with the centre are:
  • "The Workers' Village" which accommodates workers from outside the locality;
  • The Islands: Kaja, Palas I. and II., Hampapak Matei and Bangamat, all islands in the Rongan River with primitive feeding-platforms and jetties;
  • The Information Centre, where local schools visit, and from where information campaigns about alternatives to the cutting are sent out all over Borneo.
  • The Fruit plantation, "Nyaru Menteng Lestari", 3 ha planted with fruit-bearing trees, such as mango, pineapple and rambutan.


With helicopters, mapping and other logistical support from the world's largest mining company BHP Billiton
BHP Billiton
BHP Billiton is a global mining, oil and gas company headquartered in Melbourne, Australia and with a major management office in London, United Kingdom...

 that operates a coal mining concession in Central Kalimantan, Nyaru Menteng released 36 adult orangutans in 2007, and 25 in 2008, filmed for Orangutan Diary
Orangutan diary
Orangutan Diary is a nature documentary series on the BBC, which follows the lives of Bornean Orangutans in the care of Lone Drøscher Nielsen, a member of the Borneo Orangutan Survival foundation. The program tries to detail the threat that the orangutans face in day to day life...

. A planned airlift of 48 orangutans scheduled to take place in July 2009 was cancelled as BHP Billiton intended to withdraw from the area for strategic reasons.

Samboja Lestari

Samboja Lestari
Samboja Lestari
Samboja Lestari is an area of restored tropical rainforest near the city of Balikpapan in East Kalimantan, Borneo, Indonesia, created by the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation led by Dr Willie Smits, with the aim of providing a safe haven for rehabilitated orangutans while at the same time...

 1°2′44"S 116°59′15"E is a reforestation project on nearly 2000 hectares (7.7 sq mi) of deforested, degraded and burnt land in East Kalimantan. In 2001, BOS started purchasing land near Wanariset. The area it acquired had been deforested
Deforestation
Deforestation is the removal of a forest or stand of trees where the land is thereafter converted to a nonforest use. Examples of deforestation include conversion of forestland to farms, ranches, or urban use....

 by mechanical logging, drought and severe fires and was covered in alang-alang grass (Imperata cylindrica). The aim was to restore the rainforest
Rainforest
Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750-2000 mm...

 and provide a safe haven for rehabilitated orangutans while at the same time providing a source of income for local people. The name Samboja Lestari roughly translates as the "everlasting conservation of Samboja". Reforestation
Reforestation
Reforestation is the natural or intentional restocking of existing forests and woodlands that have been depleted, usually through deforestation....

 and rehabilitation is the core of the project, with hundreds of indigenous species planted. By the middle of 2006 over 740 different tree species had been planted; by 2009 there were 1200 species of trees, 137 species of birds and nine species of primates.

The Orangutan Reintroduction Project at Wanariset was moved to Samboja Lestari. "Forest Schools" were established, areas that provide natural, educational playgrounds for the orangutans in which to learn forest skills. Here the orangutans roam freely but under supervision and are returned to sleeping cages for the night. "Orangutan islands" were created where the orangutans and other wildlife that cannot return to the wild are nevertheless able to live in almost completely natural conditions.

Alongside the orangutan reintroduction work, BOS has promoted forms of farming that do not involve burning and destroying forests, by switching to agriculture combining rattan, sugar palms and fruits and vegetables. A community has developed that can now support itself on the land. Smits believes that to develop the orangutan population, their forest habitat must first be built; also, to achieve sustainable solutions the root social problems must be addressed by empowering local communities to take up livelihood options that is more rewarding than logging.
In his 2009 TED talk Smits claimed there had been a substantial increase in cloud cover and 30% more rainfall due to the reforestation at Samboja Lestari.

To finance the nature reserve, BOS created a system of "land-purchasing", a "Create Rainforest" initiative where donors can sybolically adopt square metres of rainforest and are able to view and follow the progress of their "purchase" in the project area with Google Earth
Google Earth
Google Earth is a virtual globe, map and geographical information program that was originally called EarthViewer 3D, and was created by Keyhole, Inc, a Central Intelligence Agency funded company acquired by Google in 2004 . It maps the Earth by the superimposition of images obtained from satellite...

 satellite images from 2002 and 2007 with additional information overlaid.

The Samboja Lodge was established to provide accommodation for visitors and volunteers at Samboja. Its design was based upon local architecture and its interior and exterior walls are made of recycled materials.

The SarVision Satellite Natural Resources Monitoring Centre was established to monitor deforestation and illegal logging and the relentless growth of palm oil in unsuitable locations. A study commissioned by WWF
World Wide Fund for Nature
The World Wide Fund for Nature is an international non-governmental organization working on issues regarding the conservation, research and restoration of the environment, formerly named the World Wildlife Fund, which remains its official name in Canada and the United States...

 Netherlands with SarVision showed that almost half of present oil palm plantations are not located on suitable land. The use of satellite technology and GIS has enabled Sarvison to monitor forests down to the individual tree level, to develop accountability in the management of the forest and identify where palm oil plantations are destroying areas of forest illegally.

Mawas

1°59′S 114°39′E Mawas is a forest conservation, reforestation and research area in Central Kalimantan
Central Kalimantan
Central Kalimantan is a province of Indonesia, one of four in Kalimantan - the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo. Its provincial capital is Palangka Raya.The province has a population of just over 2.2 million at the 2010 Census...

. The Mawas project is now in its development phase.

The main aim of the project is to protect the fast-disappearing peat lands
Borneo peat swamp forests
The Borneo peat swamp forests ecoregion, within the Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests Biome, are on the island of Borneo, which is divided between Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia.-Location and description:...

 through collaboration with the Central and Local Governments and the local communities. The Mawas area is home to one of the last tracts of forest supporting wild orangutans. An estimated 3,000 wild orangutans are found in this area. Mawas is also important for its biodiversity and the geological conditions of Mawas make it a storage house of giga-tonnes of sequestered carbon. Over a period of 8,000 years, decaying plant matter from the swamp forests has built up 13 – 15 metre high domes of peat.

In September 2003, the provincial parliament in Central Kalimantan approved a new land use plan that designates 500000 hectares (1,930.5 sq mi) in the Mawas area to be managed by BOS for conservation. BOS is currently working in an area of about 280000 hectares (1,081.1 sq mi) within the ex-Mega Rice Project
Mega Rice Project (Kalimantan)
The Mega Rice Project was initiated in 1996 in the southern sections of Kalimantan, the Indonesian section of Borneo. The goal was to turn one million hectares of unproductive and sparsely populated peat swamp forest into rice paddies in an effort to allieviate Indonesia's growing food shortage....

 area.

BOS has initiated a forest conservation project with the objectives of:
  • conserving peat swamp forest area including reforesting degraded areas;
  • preserving the bio-diversity of the area;
  • providing global greenhouse gas (GHG) benefits;

  • providing access to programs such as health and education; and
  • improving incomes and building capacity and economic prosperity in local communities
  • assisting communities in learning technical skills including aquaculture, rice cultivation, agro-forestry and farm development
  • assisting local independence and self-sustaining livelihoods.
  • providing education to children on the environment and conservation, by visiting schools
  • providing community awareness programs as well as co-operative conservation programs.


The area is important for research activities, with BOS operating the Tuanan Research Station in Kapaus. The Station has been established through extensive consultation with all local people and institutions and the use of local labour. Its purpose is to provide a year-round base for scientists tracking and observing the wild orangutan population. BOS is involved in patrolling and monitoring the area for illegal activities via air and land and supporting law enforcement by providing guidance and legal awareness programs to the community and government.

Kutai

On 15 July 2010 at an international meeting on orangutan conservation in Bali
Bali
Bali is an Indonesian island located in the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east...

 the Indonesian forestry ministry secretary general Boen Purnama announced that the Indonesian government will grant a permit to BOS to reserve thousands of hectares of forest formerly used for logging for the release of around 200 orangutans in the Kutai
Kutai
Kutai is the traditional name of a historic region in East Kalimantan in Indonesia on Borneo, a Dayak people of the region with a language of the same name and their historic states. Today the name is preserved in the names of three regencies in East Kalimantan, the Kutai Kartanegara Regency, the...

 area in East Kalimantan. The forest will need to be restored before it can be used for conservation. In response, BOS set up a company, PT Orangutan Habitat Restoration Indonesia (ROI), to restore 86,450 hectares of former timber concession area in the East Kutai district, to be the new home for rehabilitated orangutans. BOS chairman Togu Manurung announced the start of gradual release as April 2011 at the latest.

Other projects

BOS also runs the Primate Conservation Education Program in the privately funded Primate Centre at the Ragunan Zoo
Ragunan Zoo
Ragunan Zoo is a zoo located in Pasar Minggu, South Jakarta, Indonesia. It is home to over 270 species of animals, 171 species of flora, and employs over 450 people. Many of the animals are endangered and threatened from all parts of Indonesia and the rest of the world. There are a total of 3,122...

 in Jakarta
Jakarta
Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...

. The centre was designed by Willie Smits so that orangutans would be able to live in as natural surroundings as possible. Visitors view the orangutans through thick darkened glass so that the orangutans are not disturbed by their presence.

Documentaries

The work of the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation has appeared in a number of documentaries
Documentary
A documentary is a creative work of non-fiction, including:* Documentary film, including television* Radio documentary* Documentary photographyRelated terms include:...

. The orangutans of Nyaru Menteng were the followed in the two series of Orangutan Diary
Orangutan diary
Orangutan Diary is a nature documentary series on the BBC, which follows the lives of Bornean Orangutans in the care of Lone Drøscher Nielsen, a member of the Borneo Orangutan Survival foundation. The program tries to detail the threat that the orangutans face in day to day life...

produced by the BBC and also, as they were reintroduced to a semi-wild habitat, in the 23 programmes of the Orangutan Island
Orangutan Island
Orangutan Island is a documentary television series, in the style of the hugely successful series Meerkat Manor, that blends more traditional documentary filming with dramatic narration. The series was produced by NHNZ with creator Judith Curran also acting as the series producer...

series, produced by NHNZ. The Disenchanted Forest
The Disenchanted Forest
The Disenchanted Forest is an award-winning 1999 film that follows endangered orphan orangutans on the island of Borneo as they are rehabilitated and returned to their rainforest home. It centres on the three main Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation projects - Wanariset, Nyaru Menteng and Mawas....

was an award-winning 1999 film that follows orphan orangutans as they are rehabilitated and returned to their rainforest home. It centres on three BOS projects – Wanariset, Nyaru Menteng and Mawas. The Burning Season
The Burning Season (2008 film)
The Burning Season is a documentary about the burning of rainforests in Indonesia which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2008. The main characters featured in the film are: Dorjee Sun from Australia; Achmadi, a small-scale palm oil farmer from Jambi province in Indonesia; and Lone Drøscher...

is a 2008 documentary about the burning of rainforests in Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

 which featured Lone Drøscher Nielsen. Willie Smits appeared in Dying for a Biscuit, a 2010 BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 Panorama investigation which looked into the causes of deforestation, focusing particularly on illegal logging and the palm oil industry.

BOS Sister organisations


Other links

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