Orangutans - Wildlife Conservation Network

Designing new ways to protect orangutans in the Anthropocene

When you support Hutan, you ensure that orangutans and other species in Malaysian Borneo can thrive in human-transformed landscapes through practical solutions for people and wildlife.

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Hutan empowers local communities to manage and protect wildlife.

Hutan's vision is to sustain meta-populations of orangutans across the mixed-use Bornean landscape encompassing both fully protected forests and production areas.

Orangutans play a critical role in seed dispersal, keeping forests healthy, with over 500 plant species recorded in their diet.

The word orangutan comes from the Malay language, “orang” meaning “human,” and “hutan,” meaning “forest,” identifying the species as our close cousins, “people of the forest.”

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Improving our understanding of wildlife needs in fragmented and highly transformed landscapes.

Hutan has documented over 25,000 hours of direct observations of orangutans to show that orangutan can thrive in degraded forests if sustainable practices and wildlife corridors are established.

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Orangutans play a critical role in seed dispersal, keeping forests healthy, with over 500 plant species recorded in their diet.

The word orangutan comes from the Malay language, “orang” meaning “human,” and “hutan,” meaning “forest,” identifying the species as our close cousins, “people of the forest.”

Find out more

Improving our understanding of wildlife needs in fragmented and highly transformed landscapes.

Hutan has documented over 25,000 hours of direct observations of orangutans to show that orangutan can thrive in degraded forests if sustainable practices and wildlife corridors are established.

Find out more

Unfortunately, due to habitat loss and their low reproductive rate, orangutans, only found in Borneo and Sumatra, are Critically Endangered. The major threat in Borneo is the loss of the ecological integrity of the islands’ lowland ecosystems and hunting.

Hutan believes that a crucial approach to preventing the extinction of orangutan populations in Borneo is to actively engage and support stakeholders in creating innovative mechanisms where local development becomes compatible with the long‐term conservation of the orangutan and of its habitat.

In 1998, with the full support of the Sabah Wildlife Department, Hutan established the Kinabatangan Orangutan Conservation Program in the village of Sukau, Sabah, Malaysia. They have since grown to a team of 80 dedicated men and women from the local community across 5 teams: 1) the Orangutan Research Unit, 2) Wildlife and Survey Protection Unit, 3) Forest Restoration, 4) Pangi Swiftlet Recovery, and 5) Environmental Awareness.

Conservation Solutions

Boosting Local Economies

Guiding Policy

Restoring Habitat

Hutan is working to recreate contiguous corridors of forest along the Kinabatangan to support key populations of forest-dependent species and increase the overall availability of food sources for wildlife. Their work aims to enhance practical knowledge of the design and the methodologies of forest restoration programs. Since the beginning, the team has planted more than 200,000 trees that are still thriving today.

Reducing Conflict

Hutan also studies Bornean elephant ecology and movements in the Kinabatangan to design adequate strategies leading to peaceful co-existence between people and elephants. The HUTAN team engages with several oil palm estates and villages to find long-term solutions for people and elephant co-existence. One approach is to create elephant corridors within several estates to provide safe passage for the animals within the agricultural landscape. They have also trained and empowered “Elephant Guardian Units” from 5 villages to be able to monitor elephants and use mitigation techniques. These units are now able to raise awareness with their own communities about dealing with elephants.

Scientific Research

In 1998, Hutan established the Kinabatangan Orangutan Conservation Program (KOCP) intensive study site, which in 2005 became part of the Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary. They recruited a team from the local community to follow wild orangutans at this site. The KOCP Intensive Study Site is the location for the longest uninterrupted orangutan research study in Borneo. In the early 2000’s, HUTAN designed a new way to survey orangutans from the sky by using helicopters, this allowed them to determine the status of the species across the entire state of Sabah.

Expanding Education

The Hutan Environmental Awareness Program or HEAP strengthens the impact and effectiveness of the other HUTAN units by raising awareness and encouraging behavioral changes in the people of Sabah. HEAP introduced the concept of “Junior Rangers” in Sukau where kids from the community follow a 5-year curriculum where they learn about environmental management and protection. The model has been so successful that several schools in Sabah have requested HEAP to assist them in developing similar initiatives. Annually HEAP activities reach more than 10,000 people, primarily students and teachers from schools in rural villages and in oil palm plantations.

Empowering Women

The forest reforestation team is comprised entirely of local women. They are in charge of planting, maintaining, and monitoring seedlings of native tree species at selected reforestation sites within or adjacent to the Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary. They also run a small tree nursery to provide seedlings that are used for reforestation activities.

Boosting Local Economies

Since the beginning of its operations, Hutan has invested several millions of USD in the Sukau community. Supporting the villagers’ livelihood is done primarily through direct employment and capacity building, but also through the various local initiatives that HUTAN is supporting and engaged in such as their reforestation initiative, which purchases native tree seedlings from home run nurseries.

Guiding Policy

Hutan is part of several committees in charge of developing policy documents, such as Forest Management Plans, Species Action Plans for orangutan or elephant such as the Biodiversity Conservation Strategy. They are also an active member of the Elephant Task Force or the Oil Palm Jurisdictional Approach Steering Committee. They also use the results from their field activities to influence the palm oil industry and its political framework toward better practices by creating policy documents such as “Standard Operating Practices for Managing Elephant Corridors within Plantations”, or “Biodiversity Management within Plantations”.

Restoring Habitat

Hutan is working to recreate contiguous corridors of forest along the Kinabatangan to support key populations of forest-dependent species and increase the overall availability of food sources for wildlife. Their work aims to enhance practical knowledge of the design and the methodologies of forest restoration programs. Since the beginning, the team has planted more than 200,000 trees that are still thriving today.

Reducing Conflict

Hutan also studies Bornean elephant ecology and movements in the Kinabatangan to design adequate strategies leading to peaceful co-existence between people and elephants. The HUTAN team engages with several oil palm estates and villages to find long-term solutions for people and elephant co-existence. One approach is to create elephant corridors within several estates to provide safe passage for the animals within the agricultural landscape. They have also trained and empowered “Elephant Guardian Units” from 5 villages to be able to monitor elephants and use mitigation techniques. These units are now able to raise awareness with their own communities about dealing with elephants.

Scientific Research

In 1998, Hutan established the Kinabatangan Orangutan Conservation Program (KOCP) intensive study site, which in 2005 became part of the Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary. They recruited a team from the local community to follow wild orangutans at this site. The KOCP Intensive Study Site is the location for the longest uninterrupted orangutan research study in Borneo. In the early 2000’s, HUTAN designed a new way to survey orangutans from the sky by using helicopters, this allowed them to determine the status of the species across the entire state of Sabah.

Expanding Education

The Hutan Environmental Awareness Program or HEAP strengthens the impact and effectiveness of the other HUTAN units by raising awareness and encouraging behavioral changes in the people of Sabah. HEAP introduced the concept of “Junior Rangers” in Sukau where kids from the community follow a 5-year curriculum where they learn about environmental management and protection. The model has been so successful that several schools in Sabah have requested HEAP to assist them in developing similar initiatives. Annually HEAP activities reach more than 10,000 people, primarily students and teachers from schools in rural villages and in oil palm plantations.

Empowering Women

The forest reforestation team is comprised entirely of local women. They are in charge of planting, maintaining, and monitoring seedlings of native tree species at selected reforestation sites within or adjacent to the Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary. They also run a small tree nursery to provide seedlings that are used for reforestation activities.

Boosting Local Economies

Since the beginning of its operations, Hutan has invested several millions of USD in the Sukau community. Supporting the villagers’ livelihood is done primarily through direct employment and capacity building, but also through the various local initiatives that HUTAN is supporting and engaged in such as their reforestation initiative, which purchases native tree seedlings from home run nurseries.

Guiding Policy

Hutan is part of several committees in charge of developing policy documents, such as Forest Management Plans, Species Action Plans for orangutan or elephant such as the Biodiversity Conservation Strategy. They are also an active member of the Elephant Task Force or the Oil Palm Jurisdictional Approach Steering Committee. They also use the results from their field activities to influence the palm oil industry and its political framework toward better practices by creating policy documents such as “Standard Operating Practices for Managing Elephant Corridors within Plantations”, or “Biodiversity Management within Plantations”.

You are Making an Impact for Orangutans

When you get involved, donate, or spread the word on social media, you are truly making a better world for orangutans and the communities that live alongside them. Here’s a few ways you can help:

Connect with Hutan on social media to learn more about their work and be a voice for orangutans.

Visit Hutan’s website and sign up for their newsletter to deepen your connection with conservation.
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Donate to support their work protecting orangutans in the wild. Through our donation model, 100% of your donation goes to field with zero taken for overhead or administration.

I hope that we can understand the significance of the wildlife distribution in this unique part of Borneo where reforestation and palm oil plantations entwine. This knowledge will be invaluable in helping to guide our conservation of the ecosystem in the years ahead.

Amanda Shia, Scientific Officer, Hutan

Shepherding the Forests of Malaysian Borneo

As hints of sunlight bloomed over the horizon, Norinah Braim and Mariana Singgong assembled their teams and climbed into the... Learn More

Adapting to Agricultural Sprawl

The baby’s grip tightened around shocks of her mother’s red hair as they descended from the high tree limbs. It... Learn More

Building Bridges to Break Barriers for Orangutans

In the forests of the Kinabatangan region of Malaysian Borneo, you might spot a shaggy, reddish-orange, long-haired orangutan swinging through... Learn More

Bornean Orangutans Are Now Officially Critically Endangered

Guest post by Marc Ancrenaz, HUTAN, Scientific Director Learn More

Photography Credits: Hutan

Hutan

Designing new ways to protect orangutans in the Anthropocene

Hutan empowers local communities to manage and protect wildlife.

Orangutans play a critical role in seed dispersal, keeping forests healthy, with over 500 plant species recorded in their diet.

Improving our understanding of wildlife needs in fragmented and highly transformed landscapes.

Orangutans play a critical role in seed dispersal, keeping forests healthy, with over 500 plant species recorded in their diet.

Improving our understanding of wildlife needs in fragmented and highly transformed landscapes.

Species Impact

Team Values