Orangutan Protection Group In Indonesia

"Despite worldwide attention and concern, prime orangutan habitat across Sumatra and Borneo continues to be destroyed by loggers and palm oil developers, resulting in the death of up to 3,000 orangutans per year (of a population less than 50,000).

Conservation groups like Borneo Orangutan Survival report rescuing record numbers of infant orangutans from oil palm plantations, which are now a far bigger source of orphaned orangutans than the illicit pet trade. The volume of orangutans entering care centers is such that these facilities are running out of room for rescued apes, with translocated individuals sometimes waiting several months until suitable forest is found for reintroduction. Even then they aren't safe; in recent months loggers have started clearing two important reintroduction sites (forests near Bukit Tigapuluh National Park in Sumatra and Mawas in Central Kalimantan). Meanwhile across half a dozen rehabilitation centers in Malaysia and Indonesia, more than 1,000 baby orangutans—their mothers killed by oil palm plantation workers or in the process of forest clearing—are being trained by humans for hopeful reintroduction into the wild, assuming secure habitat can be found.

Dismayed by the rising orangutan toll, a grassroots organization in Central Kalimantan is fighting back. Led by Hardi Baktiantoro, the Center for Orangutan Protection (COP) has mounted a guerrilla-style campaign against companies that are destroying orangutan habitat in Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of Borneo. The group rigorously investigates new clearing, documenting environmental transgressions through video, photography, and GPS. It then stages colorful demonstrations and issues media statements presenting evidence against plantation firms, government officials, and even NGOs. COP is also active in schools through its campus program which highlights threats to orangutans and tells students what they can do to help.

COP's activities have not been welcomed by the palm oil industry. Facing threats, Hardi has had to hide his family and the group's base of operations. The COP web site has been hacked and its communications tapped, while palm oil companies have offered Hardi tens of thousands of dollars in bribes in an effort to avoid COP's scrutiny. But Hardi is defiant.

"I don't care if [forest clearing] is legal or illegal. My opinion is that as long as long as orangutan habitat is being destroyed we have to stop it," he told mongabay.com during a meeting at a COP field site. "Anyone who destroys orangutan habitat and kills orangutans is my enemy.""

ORIGINAL SOURCE: mongabay.com