orangutan land trust

GoodLight is honored to support the Orangutan Land Trust, an NGO dedicated to orangutan and forest conservation in Southeast Asia, by giving them 1% of our annual gross sales. Read more about OLT's mission below, or read this interview with OLT Director Michelle Desilets, or go straight to orangutanlandtrust.com to learn more about their projects, and to see how you can get involved and help protect these important forests and the wildlife that calls them home.

Vision and Mission of Orangutan Land Trust

• At Orangutan Land Trust our Vision is the long-term survival of the orangutan in the wild.
• Our Mission is to enable sustainable solutions that ensure safe areas of forest for the continued survival of the orangutan

We work towards this vision via 3 key strategies:

• Encourage policy makers to develop and implement strong policies and to uphold existing laws that contribute to orangutan conservation
• Support in-country initiatives and efforts to help deliver their aims
• Develop approriate and responsible partnerships to deliver tangible outcomes on the ground

Some of the activities eligible for support from Orangutan Land Trust include:

• Protecting existing orangutan habitat, especially that which contains significant populations of orangutans
• Finding, surveying and securing permanent release sites for both wild and rehabilitated orangutan
• Finding, surveying and securing river islands for the penultimate step in the rehabilitation process of orangutans, and as permanent sanctuary for rescued and rehabilitated orangutans not suitable for total release into the wild, such as those with chronic disease or disabilities
• Finding, surveying and securing new forest sites for the use of orangutans undergoing the rehabilitation process.
• Providing infrastructure for above sites, such as security posts, feeding platforms, fencing, etc
• Taking measures to protect these sites indefinitely
• Forest rangers/anti-logging operations/fire-fighting efforts in orangutan habitat
• Creating wildlife corridors
• Reforestation and regeneration activities
• Supporting alternative livelihoods and sustainable harvesting of forests (timber and non-timber forest products) in exchange for their protection in cooperation with local communities
• Working with industries that pose a risk to orangutan habitat, such as the palm oil industry, to minimise impact in these areas
• Education, outreach and empowerment in communities living in orangutan habitat areas to protect these areas
• Lobbying local and national authorities to protect orangutan habitat

 

To read more about Michelle Desilets, the founder of Orangutan Land Trust, read this interview with The Switch Report.