With only 800 individuals remaining in the wild, the Tapanuli orangutan is the rarest species of great ape. Their home in the mountainous forest of Batang Toru, Northern Sumatra, spans around 250,000 acres but is heavily fragmented due to habitat loss. Consequently, this means that the Tapanuli orangutan is also the most vulnerable of the great apes to become extinct.

We’re determined to provide a future for all orangutans, but as the Tapanuli’s forest is located far from our local programmes in Central Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo, we’ve called upon a dedicated team who can help us.

Scorpion - The Wildlife Trade Monitoring Group, are a local NGO in Sumatra whose primary focus is to tackle animal exploitation by working with government and nearby communities. As their main goals match those of Orangutan Foundation, we could think of no one better suited to help us ensure a safer future for the Tapanuli orangutan, and here are three successful approaches that they use to do this:

1) Patrols. With the help of local law enforcement, patrol teams regularly visit 11 sites in the Batang Toru region which are orangutan habitats or areas of suspected illegal activity. It can be daunting prospect to explore a remote patch of rainforest which may harbour illegal loggers, miners, or wildlife traffickers, but it’s a necessary task to deter such destructive activity.

So far the team have caught illegal loggers felling trees for timber, reported man-made shelters in the forest which are likely used by hunters, and even uncovered patches of forest within nature reserves that have been cleared to make way for illegal plantations. All destructive behaviours which if left unfound, would destroy vast areas of orangutan habitat.

2) Investigations. As a result of these patrols, and by cooperating with local communities and government, the team can investigate these offenses further to thwart more habitat encroachment.

In some cases they have been able to identify names of loggers and ensure that previously used camps within protected areas have been abandoned. These surveys are ongoing, but to date have ensured that a dozen or so sites of illegal activity are no longer used.

3) Awareness. It’s paramount that we spread the word and remind local communities that their surrounding forests are essential for Tapanuli orangutans, and this has been communicated in a number of ways in the Batang Toru region.

Agriculture is the primary livelihood for many local people so instructive talks and discussions have helped encourage nearby villages to reduce the spread of their farmland into protected areas. Interestingly, the team have also incorporated the message into Friday prayers in mosques and Sunday sermons in churches to emphasise the matter and raise awareness to over 300 villagers. This is a unique approach but one that is proving to have a positive impact on the local perception of orangutans and their forests.

Despite major difficulties from the emergence of the global pandemic, the Scorpion team have worked wonders to protect the Batang Toru ecosystem. Through our partnership so far the team have helped strengthen over 15,000 hectares of strict conservation area, providing a safer forest for Tapanuli orangutans and encouraging better relations with local people for the future. From their findings it’s clear that habitat loss and encroachment will continue to be a major hurdle, but there are at least effective ways of resolving this with the right support.