Borneo Orang-utan Appeal, Malaysia
Borneo's Orang-utans are losing their habitat to the Palm Oil industry but strongholds for the species still remain. Find out how the WLT is protecting Orang-utans in the forests of Malaysian Borneo...
Project aim
Whilst over 20,000 hectares of forest are under protection in the Lower Kinabatangan floodplain, the forest reserves are fragmented. The aim of WLT and its partners is to purchase strategic areas of forest to create wildlife corridors that will link these fragmented patches and ensure a continuous habitat exists for wildlife.
Partners:
Other projects in Malaysia:
How WLT is helping
Creating corridors:
The WLT is working hard to raise funds for strategic land purchases in Borneo and has already secured two important corridors. Our project partners are currently looking at other critical Orang-utan corridors for WLT support and funds will be directed towards future land purchases.
Funding management:
In addition to securing corridors, WLT has helped fund land protection and the development of management plans for the land saved, with project partner HUTAN. Funds have been used for HUTAN’s Kinabatangan Orang-utan Conservation Project (KOCP), particularly the Honorary Wildlife Warden (HWW) Scheme, jointly set up by HUTAN and the Sabah Wildlife Department. Throughout, 2011 WLT will be funding one of HUTAN's HWWs as part of our Keepers of the Wild Appeal.
Urgent funding needed
Thanks to tremendous support we have successfully raised funds to protect two corridors as safe havens for Orang-utans and other threatened wildlife. But as more and more forests in Borneo are being cleared for Oil Palm plantations urgent funding is still needed and all donations will go towards the purchase of the next strategic area of rainforest.
If you would like to support this appeal:
- Donate to the WLT Action Fund »
- Specify "Bornean Orang-utan Appeal" in the comments box to earmark your donation for Borneo.
Biodiversity
Borneo's vast biodiversity boasts:
Plants:
15,000 species. Over 60% of plants found in Borneo are endemic to the island, and over 360 new species to science have been discovered in recent times.
Mammals:
220 species, including:
- Bornean Orang-utan (Pongo pygmaeus) classified as Endangered by IUCN. An estimated 1,000 individuals are resident within the Lower Kinabatangan floodplain;
- 9 species of the 13 primates are found in the Kinabatangan area: Proboscis Monkey (Nasalis lavatus); Western Tarsir (Tarsius bancanus); Long-tailed Macaque (Macaca fascicularis); Pig-tailed Macaque (Macaca nemestrina); Dusky, Silver-leaf and Maroon Langurs; Bornean Gibbon (Hylobates muelleri) and Slow Loris (Nycticebus menagensis).
- Bornean Pygmy Elephant (Elephas maximus borneensis) classified as Endangered by IUCN, is a sub-species genetically distinct from mainland Asian Elephants with an estimated population of 200 individuals found within the Lower Kinabatangan Floodplain.
Birds:
Over 434 species of breeding birds out of a total of 622 species recorded, including the Storm’s Stork (Ciconia stormi) classified as Endangered by IUCN
- Borneo's 8 species of Hornbills that can all be found in the Lower Kinabatangan; including the Rhinoceros (Buceros rhinoceros) and Helmeted Hornbills (Rhinoplax vigil).
Reptiles and Amphibians:
Over 250 species
Threats to Orang-utans
- Lack of time: due to ongoing rapid clearance of forest for oil palm plantations, efforts must be made as soon as possible to ensure that habitat fragmentation is reduced or stopped.
- Forest destruction: primarily due to commercial logging and clearing for oil palm plantations, a trend that is rapidly increasing in response to the global demand for palm oil.
- Extinction: habitat loss on this scale could lead to the extinction of many of the island’s ‘flagship’ species, and worst-case scenario predictions indicate that if forest destruction continues the Orang-utan could be virtually extinct in many areas within the next decade.
Malaysian Borneo News
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