Protecting orangutan habitat on the frontline

Timtom (c) Orangutan Foundation

Many of you will know Timtom, the young orangutan in the care of the Orangutan Foundation based in Borneo, Indonesia. We’ve shared her story as she goes through Orangutan Foundation’s soft-release programme, getting ready for life back in the wild. While their work to rescue, rehabilitate and release orangutans is critical to care for orphaned and traumatised individuals, they are also dedicated to protecting their forest habitat, ensuring these great apes have a safe home. 

The Lamandau Wildlife Reserve, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia is prime orangutan habitat, and home to many other wonderful species including proboscis monkeys and paradise flycatchers. The land is also an important carbon store with over 36.5 million tons of carbon, equivalent to 134 million tons of CO2 emissions, contained in the peatland.

To ensure orangutans and other wildlife have a home and keep this carbon in the ground, Orangutan Foundation field staff patrol the reserve, on foot, on bike and with drones to detect any deforestation or illegal logging outbreaks.

Protecting orangutan habitat is as important as ever. Last year four young orphans, under the age of two were taken in by the Orangutan Foundation. Each surrendered separately by villagers, these orphans had been kept as pets, likely taken from the wild just like Timtom.

Protecting the reserve is no easy feat. The dense forest makes monitoring patrols tricky, and the illegal loggers are skilled at evading guard post staff. Changing conditions as the seasons vary adds another challenge – two of the guard posts are regularly semi-submerged as the area floods in the wet season.

While foot patrols are a vital part of forest monitoring, drones have become an indispensable tool to identify any changes in the forest cover, find potential fires and locate access routes used by illegal loggers. The drones take detailed images of the forest canopy and when combined with satellite images, areas which are being illegally cleared are much more easily and quickly detected. Patrol teams on the ground are then able to investigate further and halt the destruction.

Scroll to the bottom of this article to see a gallery of images from the patrols.

“Recently, a joint patrol uncovered an illegal logging base camp, complete with circular table saw and a generator for converting logs into beams and planks on site. Two railroads led from the camp into the forest, for over 1 km” explains Yarrow Robertson, Orangutan Foundation’s Director of Indonesia Programmes. “This wooden railroad is used for extracting logs from the forest, pushed out in hand-held carts. When the patrol team arrived, the loggers had just fled – a campfire was still glowing.”

Another challenge for the patrol teams is to prevent forest clearing for agriculture or hunting.

“While some incursions may be small-scale operations, by local farmers to open up a small patch of forest to plant oil palm, unless stopped promptly, it will expand and turn into a large-scale commercial operation” continues Yarrow Robertson. “Our field monitoring teams play a key role in assisting the local conservation authority by providing accurate, up-to-date data on illegal forestry activities inside the reserve – acting as extra eyes and ears for nature.”

Preventing forest clearing and logging is complex and requires a holistic approach. The Orangutan Foundation, like Born Free, work with local stakeholders to combat illegal logging and deforestation to ensure areas remain a safe home for our great ape cousins and the other species who call these forests home.

Young orangutans, like Timtom and the other orphans in the Orangutan Foundations care, deserve the promise of a safe home to return to once they are ready. Thanks to dedication of the Orangutan Foundation team, supported by Born Free, their forest home is being protected, ready for their return.