On Day 6 of #orangutancaringweek I take a look at the positive steps being taken to conserve #orangutans and their habitats. Organisations such as Orangutan Foundation UK help to ensure protected areas stay protected, create new conservation areas to safeguard orangutan populations and prevents deforestation. In the words of Dr Liz Greengrass, Born Free’s Head of Conservation: “Habitat loss is the orangutan’s biggest threat. If we fail to protect their forests, we will fail the orangutans.”
To achieve long-term success, it’s vital that local communities who live alongside orangutans are involved and support conservation initiatives. The Orangutan Foundation has had great success in reducing the number of illegal activities in the forests of Tanjung Puting National Park and Lamandau Wildlife Reserve by maintaining a high visible presence and engaging local people. Guard posts have been constructed in strategic locations and daily foot patrols deter unwanted visitors. Drone footage helps to monitor the forests, and fire-fighting teams have been trained and are ready to respond to any reports of forest fires in the critical orangutan habitat.
Lamandau Nature Reserve is an expired logging concession comprising peat swamp forest - prime orangutan habitat. It was designated as an official orangutan release site in 1997. Due to the threat of infection, rehabilitated orangutans cannot be released into wild populations. Lamandau is one of the few sites where orangutans can be released, and it now comprises a semi-wild population of c.500 released orangutans and their off-spring. There are several camps within the reserve. On the last day of our visit to Borneo, we were very fortunate to be invited by Orangutan Foundation UK to visit the soft release programme in the Lamandau reserve with Director Ashley Leiman.
This involved a speed boat trip along the river from Pangkalan Bun to the reserve, where we entered progressively narrower and shallower waterways. We had to transfer to long boats called klotoks to complete the trip and reach Camp JL.
Camp JL is a soft release site where young orangutans learn the skills they need to survive independently in the wild. Orangutans arriving in the programme are normally under five years of old, and have been separated or orphaned from their mother.
At the camp, the youngsters are gradually reintroduced to the forest environment so that they can gain in confidence and develop natural behaviours. These include the vital skills of climbing, finding food and making a nest. Only once these skills and behaviours have been consistently demonstrated will they be ready for release into the wild. It was a joy to watch their antics in the trees as they clambered around and interacted with each other. 
The staff that look after the orangutans are all local people that are passionate and dedicated to conserving the forest and its wildlife. They live on site in remote locations for weeks at a time, often away from their own families. More information on TimTom, one of the youngsters from Camp JL, is available on the Born Free website at: https://www.bornfree.org.uk/articles/timtoms-story
When the young orangutans are old enough, healthy and able to live independently in the wild, they are released. However they aren’t just left to fend for themselves, they are released in proximity to a camp so that staff can continue to monitor their progress and orangutans can take advantage of supplementary feeding, should they wish to do so. Down-river we visited the Camp Gemini post-release site and ‘met’ some of the orangutans now living free in the forest. Despite the efforts of staff to discourage orangutans from human contact, it is clear that some are habituated and even seek out human contact - Sheila, a mature female, was clearly posing for the camera and Max and baby Monty hung out around the food store at the camp.
Keep tuned tomorrow when I share ways to help support orangutan conservation.
#orangutans #redape
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