Home > In Focus > Sumatran Orangutans

This month Lee Rose from Norfolk Solar tells us about how they are working to support the Sumatran Orangutan Society and help the charity fight a race against the clock to save the critically endangered Sumatran orangutan.

The main threats to orangutans are habitat loss, forest degradation, fires, and poaching. Habitat loss is primarily due to clear cutting of the forest for agricultural plantations - mostly palm oil. Demand for palm oil is pushing the orangutan to the brink of extinction. Forests in Sumatra and Borneo are being cleared and converted into oil-palm plantations at an alarming rate. The Sumatran Orangutan Society is working with local communities in North Sumatra to replant vast areas of damaged orangutan habitat inside the Gunung Leuser National Park, which has been damaged by illegal logging and oil palm plantations inside the protected area.

“The Leuser forests are the last stronghold for the Sumatran orangutan, and it is essential to protect them from further degradation. By working with the communities living near the forests to replant trees, we not only restore the orangutans’ habitat, but also educate the local people about the importance of protecting the rainforest ecosystem.”

Helen Buckland, UK Coordinator, Sumatran Orangutan Society

Norfolk Solar has donated 1,000 trees to this project.

“The Indonesian forests are among the most important tropical rainforests in the world, and due to the amount of carbon they store, they are a critical element in the world’s fight against climate change. By supporting this project, we are stepping up our efforts to offset carbon emissions we create as a business and helping to restore the habitat of an endangered species at the same time.”
Lee Rose, owner, Norfolk Solar

Some disturbing statistics

With less than 7,300 surviving in the wild, it is predicted that the Sumatran orangutan will be the first Great Ape species to become extinct if current trends continue. The ‘Sumatran Orangutan Society’ works with local communities living alongside orangutan habitat, helping them work towards a more sustainable future for their forests.

In the last 20 years, 80% of orangutan habitat has been destroyed.
Around 10% of the world’s remaining tropical rainforest is found in Indonesia. However, the country has one of the highest rates of deforestation in the world, and forests continue to disappear, even within National Parks.

Every minute, an area of forest the size of ten football fields is lost in Indonesia.
This is due to worldwide demand for timber, clearance for agriculture and new roads, illegal logging and forest fires. The expansion of oil palm plantations into fragile ecosystems is now considered to be the most urgent threat to the orangutan’s continued existence in the wild. The illegal poaching of young orangutans for the pet trade continues, linked to the opening up of forests for exploitation.

A recent United Nations report, “The Last Stand of the Orangutan: State of Emergency”, predicted that orangutans could be extinct in the wild in just 5 years.
(Report available from: www.unep-wcmc.org/resources/publications/LastStand.htm)

About Norfolk Solar

Norfolk Solar is a small independent company based in Norwich that aims to promote solar water heating to a wider audience, through its own operations and by working with other environmental and technical institutions.

For further information and photographs please contact:

Helen Buckland, UK Coordinator, Sumatran Orangutan Society
Tel: 01865 712403
Email: helen@orangutans-sos.org
www.orangutans-sos.org

Lee Rose, Norfolk Solar
Tel: 01603 734851
Email: lee@norfolksolar.co.uk
www.norfolksolar.co.uk