Infant orang-utans sound remarkably like human babies. In fact, orang-utan even means “person of the forest” in Indonesian. They are one of our closest cousins, made all the more endearing by their shaggy red hair.

Listen here to FFI Vice President Sir David Attenborough speak about orang-utan conservation on the BBC website

But they face huge threats – the most serious of which is habitat loss. Indonesia has the second highest rate of deforestation in the world. In around a decade’s time only 2% of its forests could remain if we don't act now. Protecting their habitat is the only way to secure a future for them in the wild.

What is FFI doing to halt the extinction of the orang-utan?

FFI is working hard to conserve their forest home in West Kalimantan, on the Indonesian side of the island of Borneo.

We’ve set up orang-utan protection and monitoring units, consisting of community members and forest rangers, to patrol critical orang-utan areas in two national parks in this province, Gunung Palung and Danau Sentarum. This was the first community-based protection unit for orang-utans in Indonesia.

These special patrol units are on the front line of protecting these threatened great apes and have successfully confiscated illegally traded orang-utans and illegally logged timber.

On a wider scale, we are engaging with the Indonesian authorities, who are realising the importance of the biodiversity on their doorsteps. In Ketapang District in West Kalimantan, we have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the district nature conservation department to improve law enforcement related to orang-utan poaching and the illegal wildlife trade.

In addition, accepting that oil palm plantations are an existing feature of the conservation landscape of this region, we have engaged with the Round Table on Sustainable Palm Oil to help identify critical habitats for orang-utans and better manage and protect forests in oil palm estates.

Local and national foci together offer a dynamic approach and new hope for West Kalimantan’s remaining orang-utans. But still, in this and many other projects, so much more remains to be done.

We hope you will support Fauna & Flora International today so we can continue our crucial work to save endangered landscapes and species across the globe, including Asia’s great ape, the orang-utan.