August 6, 2007 – Santa Monica, CA. - In villages and classrooms across the provinces of North Sumatra and Aceh, thousands of villagers learn about the ecological role played by orangutans in the nearby rainforest.  They also hear about the national laws that protect this endangered species and the consequence of hurting or killing orangutans. With funding from the Orang Utan Republik Education Initiative (OUREI) and led by group of educators from the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Program (SOCP), Sumatran Orangutan Society (SOS), Fauna and Flora International (FFI) and the Orangutan Caring Club of Indonesia (CPOI), local Indonesian people are being educated in a variety of ways to reduce the degree of conflict between the local people and this endangered arboreal ape. 

 

 

 

Only 7,000 wild orangutans remain in the dwindling forests of the two northern provinces of Sumatra. As their habitat is converted to agricultural uses, desperate orangutans increasingly come into contact with villagers, farm workers, and soldiers. Sadly, these encounters are frequently fatal to the apes because the local people are afraid, upset, or misinformed about the intentions of the orangutan as they seek out food in gardens, plantations, or orchards. They shoot, burn, beat, or machete these strong animals with horrifying results. Other humans have another agenda: they see the encounter as a way to make some fast money by killing the mother and selling the orphaned baby into the illegal pet trade. At the current rate of killing and habitat destruction, Sumatran orangutans may become extinct in most of their range in 10-15 years.

During the Sumatran Orangutan Education Conference, Workshop and Summit (CWS) in mid-November 2006, OUREI worked with the four above mentioned NGOs, now collectively called the “Consortium”, and other individuals from academia and government to identify and agree upon the education curricula standards needed to alleviate the level of ignorance and fear by various target groups.  These target groups include the local people, military and police, local government, and logging and palm oil concession workers. The standards were formally accepted at the Summit with the commitment to deliver the education curricula in 2007.  With funding provided by the United States Fish and Wildlife Department (USF&W) through OUREI, several approaches have been taken to reach out to the various communities throughout North Sumatra and Aceh provinces.

The Consortium, led by Mr. Susilo Sudarman of SOCP, first developed a set of printed materials that were given out to all the members of the group. SOCP took the various proposals and budgets developed by Consortium members for curricula delivery and obtained approval by OUREI.

SOCP and SOS took the approach of meeting with village leaders in North Sumatra and Aceh in advance and getting their approval to visit their respective villages to present the education programs that included the approved curricula. Visits to villages frequently are planned for several days and involve periods of socialization, and repeat presentations to multiple audiences. For example, SOS visited the village of Sekoci from April 9 through April 14. During that period, educators met with different groups of people at the village to present the curricula in the formats of film, lecture, discussions, and printed materials. Presentations were made during the morning at schools and at government offices and in the evening to adult villagers and their families. Over 300 people in Sekoci received the presentations which involved taking pre and post curricula assessments for evaluation purposes.

SOCP educators also visited villages and towns in North Sumatra and Aceh to present a variety of programs to members of the target groups identified during the November workshop.  Meetings in villages involve the participation of village leaders and other government officials who also make presentations during the organization’s education program.

FFI and CPOI opted to conduct programs that brought people from the various target groups to an event where the curricula were presented. FFI held a multi-day workshop for leaders of dozens of villages adjacent to the Gunung Leuser National Park to develop strategies for Park protection as well as deliver the approved curricula. As the most junior member of the Consortium, CPOI has been delivering their education programs in elementary schools in the Medan area while building capacity by participating with other members of the Consortium.

The programs are being delivered and will continue under the current grant through most of 2007. Members of the Consortium will continue to meet regularly to assess their progress and provide reports to OUREI.

Collaboration by SOCP, SOS, FFI, CPOI and OUREI has served as a model for other NGOs illustrating the positive effect of coordinating limited financial resources to tackle common issues. Furthermore, the program fosters trust between NGOs while building cooperative bridges thus enabling additional partnerships to develop in projects outside the Consortium.

For more information, contact OUREI at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

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