| Fast Facts |
location
250 miles north of Samarinda
ecoregion
East Borneo Rain Forest
project size
3.2 million acres
partners
National Protected Areas and Conservation Directorate, Berau District Land-Use Planning Agency, Berau District Environmental Monitoring Agency, Sumalindo Timber Concession, Gunung Timber Concession, Long Gie village, Long Duhung village, Long Boi village, Sido Bangun community
natural events
wild boar migration, May; green turtle nesting and hatching, year-round; giant manta migration, year-round; trees fruit and fill the air with a sweet smell, January–February | |
 | |
 |
The hope of saving one of the last healthy populations of endangered orangutans hinges on the success of local efforts to protect Borneo’s forests from logging and wildfires. |
|
 |
Lowland rain forest, East Kalimantan, Borneo.
© Frans Lanting/Minden Pictures |
|
The dense forests of northeastern Borneo, in the province of East Kalimantan, conceal an otherworldly realm. Among the mist-shrouded trees and limestone spires hung thick with ferns, orchids and vines roam strange and colorful creatures like the honey-chested sun bear and the clouded leopard. Long-armed gibbons and langurs swing from high branches, and large horn-billed pheasants scavenge the forest floor.
Wallace’s line runs just east of Borneo, through the Makassar Strait, marking the divide between islands that were once connected to Asia and those of Australian origin. Many of Borneo’s Asian-derived but Australian-influenced species are unique in the world. Because large sections of the isolated rain forests of East Kalimantan have never been explored, it is likely that some inhabitants remain to be discovered. |
Orangutans.
© Timothy Laman
/National Geographic Image Collection |
|
In 2002 The Nature Conservancy and a team of local villagers discovered a large population of orangutans in East Kalimantan. Borneo and Sumatra are the only two places on Earth where these red-haired primates are found in the wild, and the newly discovered East Kalimantan group could represent as much as 10 percent of remaining native populations. Orangutans live their entire lives high above |
| the ground, building their nests in trees. East Kalimantan was spared the devastating fires of the early 1980s and late 1990s and today survives as one of Indonesia’s last pristine wildernesses—one of only a few forest refuges large enough to support viable populations of orangutans. | |
But Borneo’s forests are being lost at record pace. Wide- spread fires are set to clear the land for agriculture, and Indonesia’s economic depression fuels the cycle of logging and forest degradation. Despite its remoteness and relative wildness, East Kalimantan is not immune to these threats. Working with the local government, forest industry and forest-dependent indigenous groups, the Conservancy is seeking protected status for orangutan habitat. We have also established a timber certification program with Home Depot, which promotes the purchase of timber that has been harvested using sustainable techniques and creates strong economic incentives in East Kalimantan to protect the forest.
Learn more about The Nature Conservancy's work in Indonesia. |
|
| Conservation Profile |
targets
orangutan, proboscis monkey, leaf monkey, sun bear, gibbon, banteng, hawksbill turtle, green turtle, hornbill, Bornean peacock pheasant, Storm’s stork, Berau barrier reef
stresses
deforestation, wildfires, destructive fishing practices, illegal logging, poaching
strategies
promote ecologically compatible land-use practices, engage community in natural resource management
results
secured commitment from Home Depot for forest certification program (timber bought from region must be sustainably harvested); facilitated commitments from local and national governments in Indonesia to protect newly discovered orangutan habitat | | | | |
