Help Orangutans Thrive by Rewilding Their Forests

Recovery and Restarting in Tenggulun

Following the severe floods at the end of 2025 which temporarily halted field activities, the frontline team at PETAI has officially restarted forest restoration work in the Tenggulun Forest Block.

With the structural groundwork completed and illegal oil palms successfully removed, your support has enabled PETAI and local community members to make significant progress towards reclaiming this degraded landscape.

Key Milestones Achieved

• 50,000 Seedlings Propagated: PETAI has now produced 50,000 native seedlings, moving past the halfway mark towards the ultimate target of 90,000. These tree species are sourced directly from the surrounding forest to guarantee the best ecological fit for the local habitat.
• 5,000 Trees Planted: Through continued collaboration with local people, approximately 5,000 acclimatised seedlings have been planted over an area of around 30 hectares, focusing on restoring forest cover and securing long-term protection.
• 2.8km Living Fence Developed: A boundary fence using native sugar palm (aren) trees has been established along 2.8 kilometres. This fence strengthens the area's boundaries and reduces the potential for future encroachment.

Every tree planted follows a strict, systematic process: seedling selection and quality assessment, stake and hole preparation (ajir), community planting, and individual tagging for post-planting supervision and monitoring.

Community Engagement and Trust

This progress relies entirely on the partnership PETAI has built with the Tenggulun community. Local villagers voluntarily committed to returning encroached land, utilising a fair six-month transition period that allowed farmers to harvest their existing crops before the formal handover.

Further, PETAI delivered training workshops covering wild seedling collection and organic fertiliser production. Local community members are now applying these sustainable techniques directly within the restoration area, connecting ecosystem recovery with community resilience.

Looking Ahead: The Next Phase

To scale up restoration efforts in the coming months, PETAI will focus on the following steps:

1. Establishing a second nursery to increase seedling capacity.
2. Expanding active restoration planting and monitoring across further degraded areas.
3. Delivering agroforestry and nursery management training to support local people in leading the collection and cultivation of native tree species.

Thank you for your continued support, which keeps this critical conservation work moving forward.

P.S. If you haven't heard the incredible news yet—history has just been made in the canopy! For the first time ever, a wild Sumatran orangutan was caught on camera using one of the artificial canopy bridges installed by our partners, TaHuKah, to safely cross a public road. This world-first breakthrough has already been picked up by BBC News, The Guardian, and CBS News! It proves that the structures you fund genuinely work and are saving this species from isolation. Click the link below to see it for yourself.

Links:

• Watch the world-first orangutan crossing!