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JAKARTA, INDONESIA, June 21, 2013 - (ACN Newswire) - The Indonesian Ministry of Forestry (MoF) has partnered with the Orangutan Foundation International (OFI), PT Sinar Mas Agro Resources and Technology TBK (SMART) and Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) in the release of Orangutans, and the inauguration of the Seluang Mas Camp Release in Seruyan, Central Kalimantan on June 21, 2013.
The release, and the collaboration with OFI, SMART and APP, is part of an orangutan conservation and protection program through 'Friends of the Orangutans', which has been running since 2011.
The program aims to release 40 orangutans through the end of 2013, and has already completed three stages. The first was the release of six orangutans on 21st November 2011. The second stage was the release of five orangutans on December 11, 2012. The latest stage was the release of 10 orang-utans, as well as the inauguration of the Seluang Mas Camp Release, which serves to monitor and convey the post-release evaluation of orangutans in their original habitat.
Since orangutan conservation has come to represent forest conservation in general, the orangutan has become a key species and symbol in raising public and stakeholder awareness of forest conservation. In terms of science, the orangutan has evolved differently from the African great ape. As the only Asian endemic great ape, the orangutan has great potential as a tourism icon of Indonesia, especially Kalimantan.
Indonesia has two species of orangutan; the Sumatran orangutan (Pongo Abelli), with the total population of 6,600 orangutans, and the Kalimantan orangutan (Pongo Pygmaeus), with the total population of 36,000 orangutans. The orangutan is the only Indonesian primate that has an unparalleled role in Indonesia's biodiversity as well as the only Asian endemic great ape - while its three other relatives; gorilla, chimpanze and bonobo, are the African endemic apes.
About 70% of the orangutan population lives outside protected areas - national parks, wildlife, natural reserves, natural parks and protected forests - so conservation efforts face a number of obstacles and challenges, including plantation development, forest exploitation and mining activity, restricting and diminishing natural orangutan habitats.
As a result, the survival of orangutans outside protected areas becomes evermore threatened, frequently causing conflict between humans and wildlife ending in the deaths of the animals. In addition, the orangutan is often hunted because it is considered a pest or otherwise sold as a pet.
Through the Ministry of Forestry, the Order of Forestry Ministry No.53/Menhut-IV/2007 of December 3, 2007 regulating the Indonesian Orangutan Conservation and Plan of Action has been in force from 2007 through 2017, signed by the President of the Republic of Indonesia during the UNFCCC meeting in Bali several years ago.
The orangutan conservation program is carried out through a varied comprehensive approach, including the REDD+ scheme, establishing natural forest and peat lands moratoriums, increased resources for protected area management, the restoration and rehabilitation of forest areas, and the rescuing orangutans through their rehabilitation, translocation and releasing back to their natural habitats.
For more information on the 'Friends of the Orangutans" program, please see http://www.friendsoftheorangutans.com/.
Please contact:
Ir. Sumarto, MM.
Ministry of Forestry
Republic of Indonesia
Tel: +62 21 573 0118-9
Email: pusinfo@dephut.go.id
Email: sumarto@gedepangrango.org
Topic: Community Service
Source: Indonesian Ministry of Forestry
Sectors: Environment, ESG, Environment, ESG
https://www.acnnewswire.com
From the Asia Corporate News Network
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