Conservation

We wanted to support conservation in Sumatra as a core part of our trip. This post is a short reflection on what we learned about the conservation efforts in Batu Kapal and why the team do what they do.

Orangutans are a critically endangered species and are only found in the wild in Borneo and Sumatra. Batu Kapal is the only location where wild orangutans can be found on privately owned land. The land borders the Gunung Leuser National Park where the majority of the remaining orangutans live. A number of the orangutans return to Batu Kapal to raise their young. The large limestone outcrops remain covered in ancient jungle and are an ideal habitat for the primates.

The land that joins Batu Kapal and the National Park is a relatively small strip. Being privately owned, there's pressure to use the land for agriculture. Rubber plantations were popular and though not ideal, didn't necessarily cause a major issue for the orangutans. Palm plantations however are more profitable but prevent the orangutans from crossing the terrain.

Orangutans don't travel on the ground and they need large, established trees to travel, nest and feed. Palm plantations prevent this as the structure of the palm can't support the weight of an orangutan. Palm is an effective barrier preventing oranguans from moving through.

The Batu Kapal conservation team are working to secure ownership of enough land to provide a permant corridor between the historic areas that the orangutans live in and the National Park. They're also working with local land owners to increase the number of native trees generally to allow orangutans to continue to survive and breed.

There's also pressure on the boundaries of the National Park. It's not uncommon to see evidence of boundaries being moved back to encroach on the park itself. Batu Kapal play an important role to influence the situation so that the park and private land areas are maintained rather than reduced over time.

The team also support local farmers in other ways. Farmers depend on their crops and orangutans happen to like eating the fruit that they farm. In the face of losing their income, farmers may resort to shooting at orangutans and other animals like bears or risk losing their ability to feed their families. The conservation team provide fireworks (bangers) to the farmers so they can scare off wild animals like orangutans rather than shoot them. Fireworks are expensive and only deter the animals and so farmers rely on the support of the conservation team to be able to afford to do this.

You can support the important work in Sumatra and help preserve one of the two small regions where wild orangutans are found. Have a look at the team web site here and consider making a donation. Some costs are lower in Indonesia compared to the West, so any donation can make a real difference.

https://batukapalconservation.com/

Donate here :

https://donorbox.org/caresumatra-community-and-conservation-programs