December in Indonesia marks the full swing of the torrential wet season. It’s not all gloom, however, as with these persistent showers comes ideal tree-planting conditions for the reforestation programme. Thanks to your support of the habitat protection programme and acre sponsorship, 43,500 saplings have been successfully planted in over 40 hectares of degraded rainforest habitat.

The reforestation process starts with staff and members of local villages gathering seedlings, which are subsequently grown in ‘eco-bags’ hand-woven by local women. Made from Nipa palm, eco-bags provide dual benefits of being a source of sustainable income and an alternative to plastic bags. Seedlings spend months developing into tree-saplings in nurseries, receiving intricate care and constant attention to ensure strong and healthy resulting plants.

‘Successful’ saplings are then selected and translocated to their intended planting location, where they will be adapted to the local conditions through controlled variables such as water and light-exposure. Eventually, saplings are planted into degraded rainforest in their bio-degradable eco-bags. Fertilisers and post-planting maintenance is involved to augment success.

Over the last two months, 36,500 saplings have been planted in over 30 hectares of degraded rainforest. A further 14.4 hectares of saplings planted in previous years were also maintained through the process of ‘enrichment’, where failing tree-saplings are replaced by stronger ones. A total of 7,000 plants from 7 different species were used in this process to increase local rainforest diversity and success rates.

Thanks to your continued support, particularly of the annual ‘Sponsor an Acre’ appeal, we can restore local rainforest and its ecosystem services, for the future of orangutans, forests, and people.