Our goal is to reduce orangutan-farmer conflict in order to protect the critically endangered orangutan and local livelihoods.
Please help us make this happen.
Chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans have been living for
hundreds of thousands of years in their forest, living fantastic lives,
never overpopulating, never destroying the forest. I would say that
they have been in a way more successful than us as far as being in harmony with the environment.
We are excited to have launched our new project, DURIANS FOR ORANGUTANS, on the International Orangutan Day on August 19th. The project’s goal is to stop and prevent farmer-orangutan conflict in Batu Kapal Wildlife bufferzone, in North Sumatra.
In Sumatra, it’s common for orangutans to raid farmers’ crops – especially during durian season. Farmers depend on these crops for their livelihoods, and up until now, protecting them has often meant orangutans get maimed or killed.
Our rangers have been supporting farmers in the Batu Kapal area with orangutan conflict during Durian fruit season over the last 2 months. On 7 different occasions the rangers have assisted farmers to diffuse these orangutan conflicts in non harmful ways, given education, advice and supplied ethical tools to scare the Orangutan away from their crops, such as the use of fireworks.
Our rangers have built strong relationships with our surrounding community through this support, which is looking great for the future! In our quest to find new ways to minimise wildlife conflict situations and compensate farmers for crop losses, we have come up with a new exciting program below!
We have come up with a three-stage solution that tackles the immediate problem, and importantly, also provides a longer-term solution:
• First, providing ranger support to help farmers move orangutans out of their crops using noise deterrents.
• Second, reimbursing farmers for any lost fruit – and remove the incentive to harm the orangutans.
• Finally, growing durian trees away from villages to provide alternative sources of food where wildlife can feed without impacting farmers.
It takes an enormous amount of hard work and dedication to establish a program like this, and then build the trust and cooperation with local villages needed to make it work. But when you’re saving critically-endangered orangutans, it is worth it. You can help us by donating to our project.
Our goal of $1500 will compensate farmers for lost income caused by orangutans crop raiding and eating their durian fruit, and plant more durian trees to provide alternative food sources for the orangutans, reducing conflicts which endanger the survival of these amazing animals.
Your donation will help protect this wild population of orangutans living in the Batu Kapal Wildlife bufferzone by:
1. Compensating the farmers for lost income caused by orangutans eating their durian crops. Durians are sold for approximately $2.50 each.
2. Adopting durian trees to provide an alternative food source for these wild orangutans, to reduce the incidence of crop raiding.
For as little as $10 a month, your donation will plant a durian tree and employ a person to look after the trees planted. You will receive an adoption certificate, a tree name plaque, a photo of your tree and it’s GPS location.
3. Donate to supply farmers with fireworks and supplies to resolve orangutan conflict situations in non harmful ways.