The threat of forest and land fire has long been an enemy of orangutan conservation. All of our working area sites have been affected at one time or another. Back in 2015, one of the worst years for forest fires in recorded history, our Samboja Lestari Orangutan Rehabilitation Center in East Kalimantan was ravaged by fire over several days, with around 200 hectares of rehabilitated land and orangutan enclosures put under serious threat.
Given the location of Samboja Lestari, it is highly possible that another such event could occur. A dangerous combination of highly concentrated coal deposits and clay content in the soil, dry air, heat, and an abundance of fern, spells the perfect recipe for disaster. Samboja Lestari was in fact built on degraded agricultural land, which we have been painstakingly rehabilitating, restoring, and reforesting since 2001. It would be heart-breaking to see years of hard work go down the drain from another fire outbreak!
This is precisely why our fire-fighting exercises and training is so important. On 23 January, the Samboja Lestari management team held a training session for their staff members on the proper use of handheld fire extinguishers. Training was provided by a fire-fighting specialist, who also trained staff in fire prevention and ways to swiftly respond to fire outbreaks in open areas.
Samboja Lestari team members paid close attention to learning the various techniques for extinguishing fires. Memories of 2015 came flooding back; those days of working tirelessly to douse the encroaching flames, and staying up all night in the heat and smoke to prevent fire getting too close. Who could forget that harrowing experience? Nobody wants to see that ever happen again.
The training session acted as a timely reminder for Samboja Lestari staff to remain alert for recurring fires, particularly as an El Niño event is likely in 2019. The training involved every staff member, as it is vital that every person on the team be ready to respond quickly to a fire breakout to keep our rehabilitated orangutans safe.
We hope to hold these types of training sessions on a regular basis, to upskill our team and help prevent future fires in the area. A huge thank you to Mr. Isniantho Nugroho, a fire-fighting specialist and our trainer, for his knowledge and expertise!
The BOS Foundation, together with the KLHK and the BKSDA of Central Kalimantan will soon conduct the 44th orangutan release from the Nyaru Menteng Rehabilitation Centre to the Bukit Baka Bukit Raya National Park (TNBBBR).
Every year on April 22, we celebrate Earth Day to honour the planet that is home to us all.
It was a usual day at the Nyaru Menteng forest school, where young orangutans were learning from one another while their human surrogate mothers looked on from below.
