Dedicated to the commemmoration of World Habitat Day on October 7, 2013, the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation East Kalimantan Orangutan Reintroduction Center in Samboja Lestari releases 9 orangutans to their natural habitat. This release marks the 100th orangutan reintroduction by the BOS Foundation back into the wild.
Samboja Lestari, East Kalimantan, October 13, 2013. Since February 2012, the BOS Foundation have released 91 orangutans; 82 orangutans from their rehabilitation center in Nyaru Menteng, Central Kalimantan, and 9 orangutans from their rehabilitation center in Samboja Lestari, East Kalimantan. On October 13-14, 2013, the BOS Foundation release 9 more orangutans from Samboja Lestari to their natural habitat in commemmoration of World Habitat Day 2013, bringing the total released orangutans since 2012 to 100 individuals.
Nine orangutans depart from the BOS Foundation East Kalimantan Orangutan Reintroduction Center in Samboja Lestari to designated release points in the Kehje Sewen Forest in East Kutai and Kutai Kertanegara Regencies. These orangutans comprise 6 females and 3 males, of whom the profiles can be read in more detail in the attached file entitled Orangutan Release Candidate Profiles.
The nine orangutans depart from East Kalimantan Orangutan Reintroduction Program in Samboja Lestari to Sepinggan Airport, Balikpapan. From Sepinggan Airport, they are transported to Uyang Lahai Airport, in Miau Baru Village, Sub-District of Kumbeang, Kutai Timur Regency. From Uyang Lahai towards Kehje Sewen, the orangutans are transported by a helicopter through several flight groups. On the first day, October 13 2013, three individuals are transported and the remaining six will be flown on the next day.
The Kehje Sewen Forest is an Ecosystem Restoration Concession (ERC) managed by PT Restorasi Habitat Orangutan Indonesia (RHOI), a company that was established by the BOS Foundation on April 21, 2009, solely to acquire the right to use and manage a forest which is desperately needed to release rehabilitated orangutans from the BOS Foundation Orangutan Reintroduction Center at Samboja Lestari in East Kalimantan.
The orangutan release event which also coincides with the 14th anniversary of Kutai Timur Regency involves the collaboration between the BOS Foundation and all stakeholders, including the East Kalimantan Provincial Government, East Kutai and Kutai Kertanegara Regency Governments, East Kalimantan Conservation and Natural Resources Authority, and the people of East Kutai and Kutai Kertanegara. The BOS Foundation would also like to convey their gratitude for the moral, financial and logistical support from private sectors such as BCA Bank, BNI Bank, Salim Ivomas, and First State Investment, as well as individual donors, partner organizations such as BOS Australia and BOS Switzerland and other conservation organizations across the globe who are concerned with orangutan conservation in Indonesia.
The Head of the East Kalimantan Conservation and Natural Resources Authority, Tandya Tjahjana said, “The orangutan is a species protected by national and international law. Unfortunately their population is decreasing due to many factors, including forest clearance. This has cost orangutans their natural habitat and triggered conflict with humans. In return, often wild orangutans are caught to be kept as pets, sold, or even killed because they are considered pests.”
100 Orangutans Have Been Released by the BOS Foundation (Photo credit: BOSF 2013)
100 Orangutans Have Been Released by the BOS Foundation (Photo credit: BOSF 2013)
“The effort to conserve orangutans in their natural habitat is not easy. Cooperation and support are needed from the government, the business sector, and the communities. Orangutan release event from the Samboja Lestari Orangutan Reintroduction Program to the Kehje Sewen forest is one of the efforts taking place in order to maintain orangutan populations in the wild. It is in accordance with the government’s plan to release all the displaced orangutans to their habitat by 2015,” he added.
Successful orangutan reintroduction programs need to continue in order to return displaced orangutans back to natural habitat and achieve the target stated in the Indonesian Orangutan Conservation Strategy and Action Plan 2007- 2017. The Action Plan was launched by the President of the Republic of Indonesia during the Climate Change Conference in Bali, 2007. It states that all eligible orangutans in rehabilitation centers should be released by 2015, and this has been validated by all levels of government, including the provincial and regency levels.
Tandya Tjahjana further said, “The cooperation between the East Kalimantan Conservation and Natural Resources Authority with the BOS Foundation has been established since 1991. As the result, 18 Eastern Kalimantan orangutans have been release since April 2012 and another 221 orangutans are still undergoing rehabilitation program.”
Dr. Ir. Jamartin Sihite, the CEO of the BOS Foundation stated, “The private sector, especially those who gain profit from the natural resources and have caused the displacement of orangutans from their natural habitat, should play a more active role in terms of living up to their responsibilities. Most companies in Indonesia have taken for granted the practice of sustainable natural resources management and Best Management Practices, and shifted this responsibility to other parties. Logically, a negative impact from a business practice should be the responsibility of the business practicioners. This must change and the change must be encouraged and monitored by the government through strict regulations.”
drh. Agus Irwanto, Acting Manager of the BOS Foundation Samboja Lestari Program also stated, “Currently, the BOS Foundation is taking care of 200 orangutans in Samboja Lestari. With this release of 9 orangutans to their natural habitat, we are optimistic that more releases will take place in the future. Undeniably this release is only possible with the support from many parties. Our main challenge at the moment is the lack of available suitable and safe forest which can serve as orangutan release locations. In the near future the Kehje Sewen will reach it’s maximum carrying capacity. Therefore, to achieve the target stated in the national Action Plan, we need the full support of the government and their apparatus to protect orangutan habitat.”
Orangutan conservation efforts will be futile without any consolidated action to conserve the forest. Undoubtedly, the biggest challenge is to find suitable forests which serve as orangutan habitat. Dedicated to the World Habitat Day 2013, the release of 9 orangutans is an appeal to all the stakeholders to make forest conservation a reality, for the future of both orangutans and our sustainable welfare.
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Media Contact:
Nurwidiyana Markhumawati
Samboja Lestari Database Officer
Email: diyan_rplcrew@yahoo.co.id
Paulina L. Ela
Communications Specialist
Email: pauline@orangutan.or.id
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