The Sumatran Orangutan Society kicked off 2021 with some great news!

Restoration staff have been working to restore the Singkil Swamp Wildlife Reserve.

It’s a vital area, locally and critically, because it’s home to breeding populations of Sumatran orangutans and other critically endangered species.

And the great news is that staff working to restore the area spotted a Sumatran Orangutan there!  So their work is paying off – it’s great when wildlife move into an area that’s been restored!

The area is important for people as well – hundreds of thousands people rely on the deep carbon-rich peatlands – they are vital as natural carbon sinks.   If they were drained, dangerous levels of pollution would be released into the atmosphere. This makes the area important to all of us as well.

This is not the first time recently that orangutans have returned to restored forest - in December 2020, SOS reported that as land had been reclaimed and restored, so orangutans had returned!

The ecosystem restoration programme is operated by the Orangutan Information Centre, with local staff and farmers.  The sites being restored are sited in the Leuser Ecosystem which is a protected area, and the sites being restored have been damaged by illegal activities, mostly the clearing of forests for palm oil plantations.

This Sumatran orangutan is in one of the trees planted by the restoration team at the Cinta Raia III restoration site. 

You can help by planting a tree!  Click here for more information

And there are other ways to help - read more about the campaigns SOS run, help them fundraise or simply learn more about orangutans and the issues facing them.  Or you could make a donation, either a one off or monthly. 

Visit the Sumatran Orangutan Society