These apes from Nyaru Menteng may soon have to find a new home if there’s no end to the forest fires in Borneo. Photo: BSOF
The Nyaru Menteng Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BSOF) facility in Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan, is the biggest orangutan reserve in Indonesia. The sanctuary currently houses over 400 orangutans.
But earlier this month, forest fires burned dangerously close – just 600 meters away from Nyaru Menteng.
BOSF has since been on alert and has no choice but to be ready to evacuate the orangutans if it becomes necessary.
“[The fires] were already just 600 meters away from the facility in the yellow zone. If there’s fire in the red zone (300 meters or less), we have to evacuate the orangutans. I don’t know where to, maybe we’ll just give them back to the government!” said Monterado Fridman, spokesman of BOSF Nyaru Menteng on Tuesday.
Authorities on Tuesday admitted that they haven’t identified the people responsible for the forest fires and that investigation is ongoing.
But they believe that, like with most forest fires in the area, it was started to clear land for a palm oil plantation.
Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), visited the site on October 15, just a week after the fire was put out, and found palm trees already growing on the land.
To the people responsible for the fires, the money derived from a palm oil plantation is clearly worth more than the lives of orangutans.
If we can’t put a stop to the forest fires that are destroying their habitats, we may very well lose these amazing great apes unique to Indonesia and Malaysia forever.
This article was originally written by Hafidh Soeriawinata for Coconuts Indonesia.
