The Orangutan Foundation

The Orangutan Foundation works actively to help conserve orangutans and their globally important habitat, the tropical forests of Borneo and Sumatra.

In the last 30 years, orangutans have lost 80% of their forest habitat as a result of oil palm plantations, acacia plantations, illegal logging, fire, mining and demands from the growing human population. As a result of this, Bornean orangutans are now classified as critically endangered with less than 45,000 left in the wild, and Sumatran orangutans are classified as critically endangered with as few as 7300 remaining. Experts estimate that if this rate of deforestation continues then orangutans could become extinct in the wild in less than 25 years.

Since its foundation in 1990, the Orangutan Foundation has developed a diverse range of programmes to help protect orangutans and their unique habitat, which is rich in biodiversity. These programmes aim to:

• Protect the remaining forest habitat and support reforestation.
• Relocate and release orangutans into protected areas.
• Educate locals and increase awareness about orangutans and their habitat.
• Research the forest and the biodiversity within them.
• Help the local Indonesians understand how to live sustainably and play a greater role in conservation.

Overall we have donated over £36,000 towards the Orangutan Foundation to support these programmes and their aims.

www.orangutan.org.uk