SOS is delighted to share that their friends at Reforest Tea have just launched a deliciously spicy Reforest Chai Tea. For the rest of 2020, all profits from the sale of this tea will support SOS’s reforestation projects in Sumatra. Reforest Tea is an independent social business which supports tree planting and forest conservation work with 100%...
This photo by Darma from Nature For Change shows a Sumatran tiger footprint near a village in the Bukit Lawang area. A tiger footprint is exciting for us when we see one in a restoration site, far from people, but it’s a frightening prospect for farmers who face losing cattle or even coming face to...
Nature For Change runs patrol teams made up of Nature For Change staff, community members and the national park authority. Their tasks include making border signs for Gunung Leuser National Park, planting betel nut trees along the park border and carrying out wildlife identification to see which species are crossing from the park to neighbouring...
Singkil Swamp Wildlife Reserve is a vitally important habitat for orangutans and many other threatened species. Being a peat swamp forest, it also provides critical ecosystem services such as carbon storage and flood prevention. The photos below show six months of progress at Singkil, thanks to the hard work and dedication of the Orangutan Information...
Sumatran Orangutan Society’s newest partner, Nature For Change, is based near Bukit Lawang, on the edge of Leuser National Park, which in total covers more than one million hectares and is home to Sumatran orangutans, elephants, tigers, rhinos and thousands of other species. The buffer zone around the park belongs to the communities living in...
Large businesses operating in the U.K. will have to show that commodities in their supply chains complied with local environmental laws when being produced. News outlets reported this week that, under new government plans, British supermarkets will be banned from selling beef, soy and other key commodities sourced from illegally deforested land. Large businesses operating...
The Human Orangutan Conflict Response Unit (HOCRU) works on the frontline of orangutan protection in Sumatra. Responding to urgent calls around the clock, three HOCRU teams cover the Leuser and Batang Toru landscapes – evacuating Critically Endangered Sumatran orangutans and Tapanuli orangutans from dangerous situations and enabling their return to the wild. Rescue operations usually...
Will the COVID19 pandemic give conservationists a chance to save the world’s most endangered great ape, the Critically Endangered Tapanuli orangutan? The planned Batang Toru hydroelectric dam poses serious threats to the survival of the Critically Endangered Tapanuli orangutan (Pongo tapanuliensis) – the world’s rarest great ape, with just over 700 individuals estimated to remain. The COVID-19...
The Orangutan Information Centre restoration teams spend a lot of time conducting tree maintenance to ensure that the trees they plant survive and reach the size they should do to support biodiversity. Maintenance includes uprooting weeds, applying organic mulch and replacing any seedlings which appear to be affected by fungus or disease.
Tawny Buck, founder and creator at Wellgood Projects, visited Sumatra in February 2020 and was inspired by the amazing work being carried out by Darsima and her team at Leuser Nature School. With her partner, Francis, she put together the film below – a call to action for people who want to support the school’s continued growth...
The Human Orangutan Conflict Response Unit (HOCRU) teams have been quite restricted in their activities during the COVID-19 lockdown in Sumatra, as many of the villages in the areas they cover have been closed to visitors. Despite this, they have evacuated six orangutans from danger and confiscated four infant orangutans from the illegal pet trade...
At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Indonesian government made the choice to protect orangutans and the guides who lead tourists through the national parks by closing national parks to tourists. This was the right thing to do, but it has had unintended negative consequences. With no furlough scheme for the guides who are...
