Native to Indonesia and Malaysia, orangutans are currently found only in rainforests on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra, though fossils have been found in Java, Vietnam and China. Their name derives from the Malay and Indonesian phrase orang hutan, meaning "person of the forest".
Tanjung Puting National Park is one of the few remaining habitats for this endangered animal. Lots of tour operator of orangutan wildlife tour offers to visit this place. Tanjung Puting National Park is a 400,000 hectare conservation area of global importance. Within its borders are a variety of ecosystems, including tropical heath forest, peat swamp forest, and mangrove forest, and it is also the habitat of over 200 bird species, 17 reptile species and 29 mammal species. Nine of Borneo's primate species are found in the park, including about 2000 orangutans.
Adult male orangutanAnd God bless the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOS) for their continued good work to save the orangutan from extinction. BOS is responsible for numerous bold and forward-thinking initiatives. One such scheme has been the development of the 1,600-hectare Samboja Lestari Project. Since 2001, BOS Indonesia has been purchasing land for the reserve near the Wanariset Quarantine Station, a forestry research area, located 38 kilometers from Balikpapan, the capital of East Kalimantan. The aim of this reserve is to provide a safe haven for rehabilitated orangutans while at the same time providing a source of income for local people.
Much of the Samboja Lestari Project area has been devasted by logging and is now being re-vegetated with an estimated 1,000,000 trees already planted or needing to be planted. During this initial growth phase, local people are allowed to grow their own fruit crops among the newly planted trees. The crops also ensure the new trees are kept weed-free, until the trees are tall enough to cope with the irritating alang-alang grass. When this happens, this area will be left alone forever and the land will become a permanent wildlife nature reserve for free roaming 2,000 orangutans.
Samboja Lestari is a true win-win project where three parties, the sponsors in the West, the local people and of course, nature benefit. “In this way the people are given an alternative and so they do not need to destroy the forest any more. This means you can show the world that nature and people can live together and do not need to exclude one another” according to BOS founder Dr. Smits.
Much of the Samboja Lestari Project area has been devasted by logging and is now being re-vegetated with an estimated 1,000,000 trees already planted or needing to be planted. During this initial growth phase, local people are allowed to grow their own fruit crops among the newly planted trees. The crops also ensure the new trees are kept weed-free, until the trees are tall enough to cope with the irritating alang-alang grass. When this happens, this area will be left alone forever and the land will become a permanent wildlife nature reserve for free roaming 2,000 orangutans.
Samboja Lestari is a true win-win project where three parties, the sponsors in the West, the local people and of course, nature benefit. “In this way the people are given an alternative and so they do not need to destroy the forest any more. This means you can show the world that nature and people can live together and do not need to exclude one another” according to BOS founder Dr. Smits.
