The Borneo Orangutan Survival (BOS) Foundation is an Indonesian non-

profit NGO founded by Dr Willie Smits in 1991 and dedicated to the

conservation of the endangered Bornean Orangutan and its habitat through the
involvement of local people. It is audited by a multinational auditor company[1]
and operates under the formal agreement with the Indonesian Ministry of Forest
to conserve and rehabilitate orangutans. BOS manages orangutan rescue,
rehabilitation and re-introduction programmes in East and Central Kalimantan.
With almost 1000 orangutans in its care and employing between six hundred
and a thousand people at a hundred sites[2] BOS is the biggest primate
conservation NGO worldwide.

Nyaru Menteng and Samboja Lestari are the BOS sites that have received most
extensive media coverage. Nyaru Menteng, founded and run by Lone Drøscher
Nielsen, has been the subject of a number of TV series, including Orangutan
Diary and Orangutan Island. Samboja Lestari featured recently in a 2009 TED
talk, "Willie Smits restores a rainforest"[3] in which Smits describes how he
recreated forest to provide habitat for rescued orangutans.

Contents

[hide]

 1 History
 2 Orangutans endangered
 3 Aims
 4 Orangutan rescue and rehabilitation centres
o 4.1 Wanariset
o 4.2 Nyaru Menteng
 5 Forest conservation, reforestation and research
o 5.1 Samboja Lestari
o 5.2 Mawas
o 5.3 Kutai
 6 Other projects
 7 Documentaries
 8 See also
 9 Notes
 10 References
 11 External links
o 11.1 BOS Sister organisations
o 11.2 Other links

[edit] History
In 1989 Dr. Willie Smits, then a forest ecologist, had his first encounter with an
orangutan, a sick baby female in a cage, while walking in the market in
Balikpapan, East Kalimantan. He was struck by "the saddest eyes" he had ever
seen and going back later found her on a rubbish heap and took her home. He
nursed her back to health and a few weeks later was given another to care for,
this time a sick baby male. The number of orangutans in his care grew, and
from these beginnings what was initially the "Balikpapan Orangutan Society"
came into being in 1991, with the support of fellow researchers at the
Tropenbos Kalimantan Program and the schoolchildren of Balikpapan. As its
sphere of acitivity broadened, it was renamed the Borneo Orangutan Survival
Foundation in 1994. Since then it has received increasing recognition in
Indonesia and globally, with sister organizations in 11 other countries.[4][5][6]

[edit] Orangutans endangered

The Bornean Orangutan

The Bornean orangutans is endangered[7] according to the IUCN Red List of

mammals, and is listed on Appendix I of CITES. The total number of Bornean
orangutans is estimated to be less than 14 percent of what it was in the recent
past (from around 10,000 years ago until the middle of the twentieth century)
and this sharp decline has occurred mostly over the past few decades due to
human activities and development.[7] Their habitat is so much reduced that they
are now only to be found in pockets of remaining rainforest.[7] The largest
remaining population is found in the forest around the Sabangau River, but this
environment too is at risk.[8] According to the IUCN, it is expected that in 10 to
30 years orangutans will be extinct if there is no serious effort to overcome the
threats that they are facing.[9][10]

This view is also supported by the United Nations Environment Programme,

which states in its report that due to deforestation by illegal logging, fire and the
extensive development of oil palm plantations (see Social and environmental
impact of palm oil), orangutans are endangered, and if the current trend
continues, they will become extinct.[11]

[edit] Aims
 1. Orangutan Reintroduction
2. The rehabilitation and habitat protection of wildlife that is protected
under law, especially orangutans
3. Information, outreach and education, community capacity-building,
community empowerment and public awareness-raising.

[edit] Orangutan rescue and rehabilitation centres

[edit] Wanariset

Wanariset began as a tropical forest research station near Balikpapan in the

Indonesian Province of East Kalimantan and was developed as an orangutan
rescue and rehabilitation centre.

[edit] Nyaru Menteng

Kevin, one of the young orangutans at Nyaru Menteng, takes a nap.

Nyaru Menteng

2°6′34″S 113°49′14″E2.10944°S 113.82056°E is an orangutan rescue and

rehabilitation centre 28 km from Palangkaraya in Central Kalimantan. Lone
Drøscher Nielsen sought the advice of Dr Smits about the possibility of creating
a new project in Central Kalimantan to deal with the swelling numbers of
orphaned orangutans. Dr Smits agreed to help and, with the financial backing of
the Gibbon Foundation and BOS Indonesia, Drøscher Nielsen founded Nyaru
Menteng in 1998.[12] She was able to build the facility under an agreement with
the Indonesian Ministry of Forestry, and Nyaru Menteng officially opened its
doors to the first dozen orangutans in 1999.

The sanctuary was designed to hold up to 100 orphaned orangutans while they
go through rehabilitation. In addition to quarantine cages, medical clinic, and
nursery, the sanctuary had a large area of forest in which orangutans could learn
the skills needed to live in the wild.[13] Nyaru Menteng quickly became the
largest primate rescue project in the world, with nearly 700 orphaned and
displaced orangutans in its care at the present.[14][15]
Many of these orangutans are only weeks old when they arrive, and all of them
are psychologically traumatized.[16] The sanctuary not only saves the mostly
orphaned baby orangutans from the local farmers and illegal pet-traders, but has
developed a process for their gradual re-introduction to the remaining Borneo
rainforest.

As of 2009, up to 20 young orangutans arrive every month. The centre's running

costs are $1.5m a year.[17] There are 170 staff: babysitters, assistants, people
working in the medical department, guards and other workers.[18] Associated
with the centre are:[18]

 "The Workers' Village" which accommodates workers from outside the

locality;
 The Islands: Kaja, Palas I. and II., Hampapak Matei and Bangamat, all
islands in the Rongan River with primitive feeding-platforms and jetties;
 The Information Centre, where local schools visit, and from where
information campaigns about alternatives to the cutting are sent out all
over Borneo.
 The Fruit plantation, "Nyaru Menteng Lestari", 3 ha planted with fruit-
bearing trees, such as mango, pineapple and rambutan.

With helicopters, mapping and other logistical support from the world's largest
mining company BHP Billiton that operates a coal mining concession in Central
Kalimantan, Nyaru Menteng released 36 adult orangutans in 2007, and 25 in
2008, filmed for Orangutan Diary. A planned airlift of 48 orangutans scheduled
to take place in July 2009 was cancelled as BHP Billiton intended to withdraw
from the area for strategic reasons.[19]

[edit] Forest conservation, reforestation and research

[edit] Samboja Lestari

Main article: Samboja Lestari

Samboja Lestari

1°2′44″S 116°59′15″E1.04556°S 116.9875°E is a reforestation project on nearly

2,000 hectares (7.7 sq mi) of deforested, degraded and burnt land in East
Kalimantan. In 2001, BOS started purchasing land near Wanariset. The area it
acquired had been deforested by mechanical logging, drought and severe fires
and was covered in alang-alang grass (Imperata cylindrica). The aim was to
restore the rainforest and provide a safe haven for rehabilitated orangutans
while at the same time providing a source of income for local people. The name
Samboja Lestari roughly translates as the "everlasting conservation of
Samboja".[20] Reforestation and rehabilitation is the core of the project, with
hundreds of indigenous species planted. By the middle of 2006 over 740
different tree species had been planted;[21] by 2009 there were 1200 species of
trees, 137 species of birds and nine species of primates.[22]

The Orangutan Reintroduction Project at Wanariset was moved to Samboja

Lestari. "Forest Schools" were established, areas that provide natural,
educational playgrounds for the orangutans in which to learn forest skills. Here
the orangutans roam freely but under supervision and are returned to sleeping
cages for the night. "Orangutan islands" were created where the orangutans and
other wildlife that cannot return to the wild are nevertheless able to live in
almost completely natural conditions.

Alongside the orangutan reintroduction work, BOS has promoted forms of

farming that do not involve burning and destroying forests, by switching to
agriculture combining rattan, sugar palms and fruits and vegetables. A
community has developed that can now support itself on the land. Smits
believes that to develop the orangutan population, their forest habitat must first
be built; also, to achieve sustainable solutions the root social problems must be
addressed by empowering local communities to take up livelihood options that
is more rewarding than logging.[23]

Yellow-vented bulbul, one of the 137 species of birds now found at Samboja
Lestari

In his 2009 TED talk Smits claimed there had been a substantial increase in
cloud cover and 30% more rainfall due to the reforestation at Samboja Lestari.[3]
To finance the nature reserve, BOS created a system of "land-purchasing", a
"Create Rainforest" initiative where donors can sybolically adopt square metres
of rainforest[24] and are able to view and follow the progress of their "purchase"
in the project area with Google Earth satellite images from 2002 and 2007 with
additional information overlaid.[25]

The Samboja Lodge[26] was established to provide accommodation for visitors

and volunteers at Samboja. Its design was based upon local architecture and its
interior and exterior walls are made of recycled materials.

The SarVision[27] Satellite Natural Resources Monitoring Centre was established

to monitor deforestation and illegal logging and the relentless growth of palm
oil in unsuitable locations. A study commissioned by WWF Netherlands with
SarVision showed that almost half of present oil palm plantations are not
located on suitable land.[28] The use of satellite technology and GIS has enabled
Sarvison to monitor forests down to the individual tree level, to develop
accountability in the management of the forest and identify where palm oil
plantations are destroying areas of forest illegally.[29]

[edit] Mawas

1°59′S 114°39′E1.983°S 114.65°E Mawas is a forest conservation, reforestation

and research area in Central Kalimantan. The Mawas project is now in its
development phase.[30]

The main aim of the project is to protect the fast-disappearing peat lands
through collaboration with the Central and Local Governments and the local
communities. The Mawas area is home to one of the last tracts of forest
supporting wild orangutans. An estimated 3,000 wild orangutans are found in
this area. Mawas is also important for its biodiversity and the geological
conditions of Mawas make it a storage house of giga-tonnes of sequestered
carbon. Over a period of 8,000 years, decaying plant matter from the swamp
forests has built up 13 – 15 metre high domes of peat.

In September 2003, the provincial parliament in Central Kalimantan approved a

new land use plan that designates 500,000 hectares (1,900 sq mi) in the Mawas
area to be managed by BOS for conservation. BOS is currently working in an
area of about 280,000 hectares (1,100 sq mi) within the ex-Mega Rice Project
area.

BOS has initiated a forest conservation project with the objectives of:

 conserving peat swamp forest area including reforesting degraded areas;

 preserving the bio-diversity of the area;
  providing global greenhouse gas (GHG) benefits;

 providing access to programs such as health and education; and

 improving incomes and building capacity and economic prosperity in
local communities
 assisting communities in learning technical skills including aquaculture,
rice cultivation, agro-forestry and farm development
 assisting local independence and self-sustaining livelihoods.
 providing education to children on the environment and conservation, by
visiting schools
 providing community awareness programs as well as co-operative
conservation programs.

The area is important for research activities, with BOS operating the Tuanan
Research Station in Kapaus. The Station has been established through extensive
consultation with all local people and institutions and the use of local labour. Its
purpose is to provide a year-round base for scientists tracking and observing the
wild orangutan population. BOS is involved in patrolling and monitoring the
area for illegal activities via air and land and supporting law enforcement by
providing guidance and legal awareness programs to the community and
government.

[edit] Kutai

On 15 July 2010 at an international meeting on orangutan conservation in

Bali[31] the Indonesian forestry ministry secretary general Boen Purnama
announced that the Indonesian government will grant a permit to BOS to
reserve thousands of hectares of forest formerly used for logging for the release
of around 200 orangutans in the Kutai area in East Kalimantan.[32] The forest
will need to be restored before it can be used for conservation. In response, BOS
set up a company, PT Orangutan Habitat Restoration Indonesia (ROI), to restore
86,450 hectares of former timber concession area in the East Kutai district, to be
the new home for rehabilitated orangutans. BOS chairman Togu Manurung
announced the start of gradual release as April 2011 at the latest.[33]

[edit] Other projects

BOS also runs the Primate Conservation Education Program in the privately
funded Primate Centre at the Ragunan Zoo in Jakarta. The centre was designed
by Willie Smits so that orangutans would be able to live in as natural
surroundings as possible. Visitors view the orangutans through thick darkened
glass so that the orangutans are not disturbed by their presence.

[edit] Documentaries
The work of the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation has appeared in a
number of documentaries. The orangutans of Nyaru Menteng were the followed
in the two series of Orangutan Diary produced by the BBC[34] and also, as they
were reintroduced to a semi-wild habitat, in the 23 programmes of the
Orangutan Island series, produced by NHNZ. The Disenchanted Forest was an
award-winning 1999 film that follows orphan orangutans as they are
rehabilitated and returned to their rainforest home. It centres on three BOS
projects – Wanariset, Nyaru Menteng and Mawas. The Burning Season is a
2008 documentary about the burning of rainforests in Indonesia which featured
Lone Drøscher Nielsen. Willie Smits appeared in Dying for a Biscuit, a 2010
BBC Panorama investigation which looked into the causes of deforestation,
focusing particularly on illegal logging and the palm oil industry. [35]

[edit] See also

 Willie Smits
 Lone Drøscher Nielsen

[edit] Notes

1. ^ See http://www.sambojalodge.com/AboutBOSFoundation/ – "every

year we are audited by Price Waterhouse Coopers (or similar well reputed
firm)"
2. ^ Thompson 2010, p180
3. ^ a b February 2009 TED talk, "Willie Smits restores a rainforest".
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/willie_smits_restores_a_rainforest.ht
ml. Retrieved 28 March 2010.
4. ^ "TV & Radio Follow-up – Orangutan Diary (Series 2)". BBC. 2009-01-
12.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/tvradio/programmes/orangutandiary/about.shtml
. Retrieved 2011-04-02.
5. ^ "Filming BBC's Orangutan Diary (Series 2)". London: Telegraph.
2008-10-03.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/earth/3131064/Orangut
an-diary-to-highlight-World-Animal-Day.html. Retrieved 2011-04-02.
6. ^ Riley-Jones, Amanda (2008-10-12). "My orangutans sensed I'd had
cancer - they were so gentle with me when I was weak". Daily Mail
(London). http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1076592/My-
orangutans-sensed-I-8217-d-cancer--gentle-I-weak.html.
7. ^ a b c Ancrenaz, M.; Marshall, A.; Goossens, B.; van Schaik, C.;
Sugardjito, J.; Gumal, M.; Wich, S. (2007), Pongo pygmaeus. In: IUCN
2007. 2007 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.,
 http://www.iucnredlist.org/search/details.php/17975/all, retrieved 2008-
04-02
8. ^ Density and population estimate of gibbons (Hylobates albibarbis) in
the Sabangau catchment, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia.
9. ^ "NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC: Wild Orangutans: Extinct by 2023?".
News.nationalgeographic.com. 2010-10-28.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/09/0930_030930_orangut
anthreat.html. Retrieved 2011-04-02.
10.^ By NINIEK KARMINI, Associated Press Writer (2006-11-15).
"Orangutans in Losing Battle in Indonesia". Fox News.
http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2006Nov15/0,4670,OrangutansBesieged,
00.html. Retrieved 2011-04-02.
11.^ "United Nations Environment Programme: The Last Stand of the
Orangutan – State of Emergency: Illegal Logging, Fire and Palm Oil in
Indonesia's National Parks" (PDF).
http://www.unep.org/grasp/docs/2007Jan-LastStand-of-Orangutan-
report.pdf. Retrieved 2011-04-02.
12.^ "The Organisation". Orangutan Land Trust.
http://www.forests4orangutans.org/who-we-are/. Retrieved 31 March
2010.
13.^ The Nyaru Menteng Sanctuary. "Save the Orangutan".
http://www.savetheorangutan.co.uk/?page_id=17. Retrieved 31 March
2010.
14.^ Orangutan Diaries – Series 1 (DVD). Borneo: BBC. 9 July 2007.
OCLC B000R343IU.
http://www.bbcshop.com/Science+Nature/Orangutan-Diary-
DVD/invt/bbcdvd2352.
15.^ Orangutan Diaries: Series 2 (DVD). Borneo: BBC. 6 April 2009.
Event occurs at 290 minutes. OCLC B001UHNXQK.
http://www.bbcshop.com/Science+Nature/Orangutan-Diaries-Series-2-
DVD/invt/bbcdvd2985.
16.^ Richard Zimmerman (5 March 2009). "Orangutans and palm oil:
What's the connection?". TED Blog.
http://blog.ted.com/2009/03/orangutans_and.php. Retrieved 31 March
2010.
17.^ Bowditch, Gillian (22 February 2009). "TV shows Stranrear doctor
curing orangutans". The Sunday Times (London).
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/scotland/article5779796.ece.
Retrieved 7 June 2010.
18.^ a b "Nyaru Menteng". redapes.org. http://redapes.org/bos-
projects/nyaru-menteng. Retrieved 2011-04-02.
19.^ Hickman, Martin (27 July 2009). "Hope of freedom for orang-utans
dashed". The Independent (London).
 http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/hope-of-freedom-for-
orangutans-dashed-1762058.html. Retrieved 7 June 2010.BHP Billiton
did not in fact withdraw, and in January 2010, agreed to sell a 25% stake
in the concession instead."BHP Billiton to sell stake in Maruwai to
Adaro". The Jakarta Post. 4 January 2010.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/04/01/bhp-billiton-sell-stake-
maruwai-adaro.html. Retrieved 8 June 2010.
20.^ "BOS Australia website". Orangutans.com.au.
http://www.orangutans.com.au/Orangutans-Survival-
Information/Samboja-Lestari-128959069771931264.aspx. Retrieved
2011-04-02.
21.^ "Samboja Lodge website". Sambojalodge.com.
http://www.sambojalodge.com/AboutBOSFoundation/BOSSambojaLesta
ri/. Retrieved 2011-04-02.
22.^ Thompson 2010, p193
23.^ "Welcome to the Frontpage". Masarang.or.id. 2009-07-31.
http://masarang.or.id/. Retrieved 2011-04-02.
24.^ ""Create Rainforest website". Createrainforest.com.
http://www.createrainforest.com/en/idea. Retrieved 2011-04-02.
25.^ "''"Google Earth Hero: BOS, Borneo rain forest"'' on YouTube".
Youtube.com. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JhcRKlGuCA.
Retrieved 2011-04-02.
26.^ "About BOS". http://www.sambojalodge.com/AboutBOSFoundation/.
Retrieved 27 March 2010.
27.^ "Sarvision website". Sarvision.nl.
http://www.sarvision.nl/index.php?page=about. Retrieved 2011-04-02.
28.^ October 16, 2009 (2009-10-16). "Environmental Hero – Willie Smits :
Green Kampong – Inspiring a greener today". Greenkampong.com.
http://www.greenkampong.com/green_reporter/environmental-hero-
willie-smits/. Retrieved 2011-04-02.
29.^ "Willie Smits Shares Methodology for Sustainable Forests - ArcNews
Winter 2009/2010 Issue". Esri.com.
http://www.esri.com/news/arcnews/winter0910articles/willie-smits.html.
Retrieved 2011-04-02.
30.^ Borneo Orangutan Survival (BOS) Australia. "Mawas".
http://www.orangutans.com.au/Orangutans-Survival-
Information/Mawas.aspx. Retrieved 5 April 2010.
31.^ "Bali to host orangutan conservation workshop". The Jakarta Post. 26
May 2010. http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/05/26/bali-host-
orangutan-conservation-workshop.html.
32.^ "Indonesia pledges forests for orangutan conservation". AFP. 16 July
2010.
 http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iXKwt_Tg8Z50q
dRqSqyHgDCCeFjQ.
33.^ "Orangutans in rehabilitation to get new homes in Kalimantan". The
Jakarta Post. 24 August 2010.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/08/24/orangutans-
rehabilitation-get-new-homes-kalimantan.html. Retrieved 4 September
2010.
34.^ "BBC programme information on Orangutan Diary". Bbc.co.uk. 2009-
01-12.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/tvradio/programmes/orangutandiary/about.shtml
. Retrieved 2011-04-02.
35.^ "One Programmes - Panorama, Dying for a Biscuit". BBC.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00r4t3s. Retrieved 2011-04-02.

[edit] References

 Schuster, Gerd; Willie Smits and Jay Ullal (2008). Thinkers of the
Jungle: The Orangutan Report. H.F.Ullmann. p. 320. ISBN 978-3-8331-
4623-7.
 Thompson, Shawn (2010). The Intimate Ape: Orangutans and the Secret
Life of a Vanishing Species. Citadel Press. p. 292. ISBN 978-0-8065-
3133-5.

[edit] External links

[edit] BOS Sister organisations

 BOS International – www.savetheorangutan.org

 BOS Indonesia – www.orangutan.or.id
 BOS Australia – www.orangutans.com.au
 BOS Denmark – www.orangutang.dk
 BOS Germany – www.bos-deutschland.de
 BOS Japan – www.bos-japan.jp
 BOS Sweden – www.orangutanger.se
 BOS Switzerland – www.bos-schweiz.ch
 BOS UK – www.savetheorangutan.co.uk
 Orangutan Outreach (USA) – www.redapes.org
 Primates Helping Primates (The Netherlands) -
www.primateshelpingprimates.nl

[edit] Other links

 The Orangutan Conservancy

 Samboja Lodge website
  Documentary on Samboja Lestari on YouTube
 Create Rainforest website
 TED.com TED talk: "Willie Smits restores a rain forest"
 Google Earth Hero: BOS, Borneo rain forest on YouTube

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