Replanting Rainforest in Sumatra, Indonesia

This week, we're inviting you to team up with us in celebrating the power of the crowd for GlobalGiving's Little by Little campaign. From today until Friday, GlobalGiving will match online donations up to $50 at 50%, making your donation go even further! 

Donate today to make your support for orangutans go further: https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/restore-rainforest/

When we all come together with compassion, there’s no telling what we can do—but don’t take our word for it.  

When you supported Sumatran Orangutan Society, your donation had significant impact. You helped us plant 67,000 trees to support wild orangutan habitat over the past year. I know that enabling wild orangutans to thrive is important to you and you’ve helped us achieve exactly that. 

Your support is critical to enable wild orangutans to thrive. I’d like you to consider funding a tree nursery so even more trees can be planted for wild orangutans to thrive in - a goal  we can accomplish with your help!

This week we are aiming to raise $458 which could build a tree nursery to grow enough seedlings to rewild 50 hectares of land.

With your generosity, we’ll be able to ensure wild orangutans in Sumatra have a place to call home.

Thank you for helping us protect orangutans and their rainforest homes!

Sumatran Orangutan Society

*Terms and conditions apply.

We are very excited to be selected for the Radio 4 Appeal in the UK. Our appeal broadcast on Sunday 16th July and it is now available to listen to worldwide* on the BBC sounds app.

It would be brilliant if you could take a listen: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001nwp5

If you like what you hear, please share it with a friend!

If you have any questions, feel free to drop me a line to rhia@orangutans-sos.org

Rhia

*Currently, the BBC Sounds app is not available in India, China, Russia or Vietnam as the local data rules in these countries do not comply with the BBC’s privacy policies

SOS is delighted to launch our Conservation Greenprint, our strategy to 2030. It is a groundbreaking roadmap for orangutan conservation with communities, partnerships and science at its core.

Evolving from more than 20 years of impactful programmes and partnerships, enabled thanks to our loyal and passionate supporters, our strategy lays out how we will take our conservation efforts to the next level in the years ahead.

To move towards a thriving future for Sumatra’s orangutans, communities and their forests, we must focus on three goals: to Protect, Connect and Rewild orangutan landscapes.

With support from our vital donors and collaborators, we can help orangutans, nature and humanity to thrive, together.

We hope that you will join us on this ambitious and optimistic journey.

Links:

• Check out our Conservation Greenprint here

My name is Juang and I am a storyteller for SOS. My role is to visit the field and share what I discover with the team and SOS’s supporters around the globe. Here is a short snippet from my latest visit to West Toba:

“The approximately 40 km long semi-permanent road from Lagan to Sibagindar is an important location for work by our front line partners TaHuKah as it separates the Sikulaping protected forest area and the Siranggas wildlife sanctuary.

“The wildness of life along the Lagan-Sibagindar road is still very palpable. The aroma of compost and damp soil fills the air. Along the road, I heard the sound of gibbons echoing through the jungle. Hundreds of butterflies of various species fluttered freely and landed on certain spots along the road. It was truly amazing to see the Great Hornbill (Rhyticeros Undulatus) gracefully flapping its wings in the sky. Unfortunately, it was difficult to capture the giant bird with just a smartphone camera.

“Along the way, Gesti, who works at TaHuKah, documented several newly-built orangutan nests and noted their positions with a GPS. Gesti explained that orangutans build new nests every day, so in one month, the same orangutan could build up to 30 nests. The nests we found along the road, according to Gesti, were newly-built nests that were less than three days old. These nests are one of the clearest indicators of orangutan movement in the area.”

I hope this helps you to imagine the landscapes you are helping to protect.

Thank you for protecting orangutans, their forests and their future.

Together with our partners on the ground in Sumatra, we train forest-edge communities to learn practical skills and tools to help to bring the rainforest back to life. We work with communities to identify key areas of land to restore back to health, to provide resilient landscapes for orangutans and economic opportunities for the people living alongside them.

'Pop-up’ community tree-nurseries are set up throughout the forest in restoration sites, remaining in place for enough time to grow, plant and establish young tree seedlings. In the nurseries, local people grow native tree species which, when planted out in degraded sites, speed up the forest recovery process and attract wildlife - from birds and insects to elephants and orangutans.

The nurseries are also socially important - providing a lifeline for women who have been bereaved or feel isolated. One woman told us that after her husband died and her children grew up and left home, she became lonely, spending her days at home by herself. The tree nursery and tree planting activities have given her the opportunity to meet other women her age, chat and share jokes, and earn extra income. She now feels excited about life again.

Thank you for supporting this work, which is life-giving in so many ways.