Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme

Description

The Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme is a collaborative project protecting the Critically Endangered Sumatran and Tapanuli orangutans in Indonesia.

It began activities in 1999 under a memorandum of understanding between the Indonesian foundation Yayasan Ekosistem Lestari, the Swiss PanEco Foundation, and the Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry. Yayasan Ekosistem Lestari manages and implements the programme’s activities in Indonesia, based in Medan, North Sumatra. It runs a quarantine and rehabilitation centre at Batu Mbelin, opened in 2002, for orangutans confiscated from the illegal pet trade.

The programme has rescued and cared for over 360 orangutans, reintroducing more than 270 to the wild, at reintroduction sites including Jantho Nature Reserve in Aceh and near Bukit Tigapuluh National Park. It surveys and monitors wild orangutan populations across Sumatra, focusing on the Leuser Ecosystem and the Batang Toru Ecosystem, home of the Tapanuli orangutan discovered in 2017.

The programme also runs community development projects such as ecotourism, sustainable organic agriculture and environmental education, and supports the Orang-Utan Coffee Project, which pays local farmers a premium for zero-deforestation coffee production.