Success: Orangutan Populations Increasing

Target: Simon Husson and Dr. Helen Morrogh-Bernard, Founders of the Orangutan Tropical Peatland Research Project and other team members

Goal: Thank organization for helping to improve orangutan numbers at national park.

Orangutan populations have risen approximately seven percent since 2007, according to the WWF (World Wildlife Fund). We need to thank the people responsible for implementing conservation efforts that have helped lead to this success.

Specifically, orangutan populations have increased at Sebangau National Park in Indonesia. Efforts by activists, such as those at ForceChange, have helped to make this possible by demanding that serious steps be taken to increase their numbers. Scientists and citizens helping with The Orangutan Tropical Peatland Project have made positive changes by carefully monitoring the population and behavior of orangutans.

They further do research that better helps them to understand the surrounding environment, make suggestions to conservation managers as to how to improve conservation efforts, and work with locals to implement successful conservation programs. Two of the steps taken include putting a firefighting team in place to help quell fires in surrounding areas and implementing a forest patrol unit to ensure poachers do not kill animals and to ensure that illegal logging is mitigated. The team has also helped people to create a better livelihood, increasing the likelihood that they will not engage in illegal money making activities that would likely harm or kill orangutans.

Thank the people responsible for doing whatever possible to increase orangutan populations and for continuing to fight for this great species. Without their help, many orangutans would have likely died off a long time ago.

PETITION LETTER:

Dear Mr. Husson and Dr. Morrogh-Bernard,

We are thrilled to learn that orangutan populations have increased by approximately seven percent since 2007 at Sebangau National Park. We’d like to thank you for helping to make this happen.

By implementing and following through with The Orangutan Tropical Peatland Project, you have helped to ensure that orangutans will thrive. Thank you for working with the surrounding community to improve conservation efforts and for educating the people in the area as to why it’s so important to save this beautiful species.

Additionally, we appreciate you establishing firefighting and forest patrol teams to help ensure that potential illegal activities that are harmful to orangutans will not take place. If people in surrounding communities continue to find new and innovative ways to improve their livelihood, it is also highly unlikely that they will partake in any such illegal activities that could lead to orangutan populations being wiped out.

Please know that we support and appreciate your efforts. Orangutans would have likely already met a horrible fate if it wasn’t for all of your hard work.

Sincerely,

[Your Name Here]

Photo credit: Olga Khoroshunova