ORANG UTAN REPUBLIK FOUNDATION INC

The main goal of the Orang Utan Republik Foundation and its partner, The Orangutan Project, is to ensure the long-term survival of individual and populations orangutans through the stewardship of Indonesian people. Only if the needs of people living near the orangutans are met will orangutans be valued enough to be saved. Only if students are educated in biology and conservation will they come to appreciate the importance of the species for the health of the forests they also depend upon. Another goal is to promote the institutional capacity of Indonesian conservation organizations to provide education and higher education opportunities for local people in need of information or resources. Another goal is to save and manage existing forests or restore degraded forests through partnerships in Indonesia. Finally, another goal is to support the conservation activities of other orangutan-focused organizations working in other parts of Borneo and Sumatra.

The strategies we take to achieve our goals include the following:

Educating Youth: Local conservation educators are supported to plant and nurture the seeds of knowledge for a new generation that will be respectful and caring of orangutans and rainforests so as to value the species and their habitat in the years ahead.

Improving Livelihood of Villagers Near the National Park: Just educating villagers about orangutans is not enough. We provide them with options and alternatives that will improve their livelihood so they shift from destructive practices to sustainable ones.

Reducing Human-Wildlife Conflict: Understanding the levels of human-orangutan conflict near habitat areas is key to developing strategies to reduce that conflict. That is the goal of the Community Education and Conservation Program.

Engaging in Policy: Participating in the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) enables OURF to have a voice in the policies needed to make this global commodity less onerous to orangutans.

Investing in Higher Education: Supporting college education and research in the natural sciences: biology, forestry, and veterinary science will build an educated citizenry that will advocate for orangutan survival.

Creating Partnerships: Leveraging the power of other organizations in the common mission of conservation education is leading towards a sustainable population of orangutans and enlightened communities that ensure their survival.

Capacity Building: Providing our NGO partners with the funds and support needed to implement the programs as well as move towards independent operations.

Facilitating Outreach Events: Spreading the message of our organization requires using the technologies available (website, Facebook, Twitter) as well as person-to-person approach typical of outreach events.

The Orang Utan Republik Foundation partners with numerous organizations, including The Orangutan Project, and relies on volunteers to administer and manage our various programs. Because of this, we operate as a lean organization with little overhead. Through our partnerships, we leverage funding to optimize our performance. Foundation leadership has a long record of creating and overseeing programs and projects in Indonesia. Since our founding in 2004, we have established and are currently supporting the following programs:

1) Orangutan Caring Scholarship Program. We raise funds and partner with implementing organizations in Indonesia to annually offer Orangutan Caring Scholarships, to college-bound or college students from orangutan range provinces (N Sumatra, Aceh, W. Kalimantan, C. Kalimantan, E. Kalimantan). The students must seek degrees in the fields of biology, forestry, or veterinary science. The scholarships are competitive and provide basic support (tuition and thesis write-up, internship for vet students). The awarded students are obligated to work and participate with the implementing nonprofit to understand the issues impacting orangutans and methods being taken to help ensure their survival.

2) L.P. Jenkins Memorial Fellowship Program. We provide an annual fellowship for post-graduate students conducting research on orangutans or rainforest ecology through the LP Jenkins Memorial Fellowship program. A better understanding of the orangutan and its challenges within the dynamic rainforest ecosystem can provide information and improved protocols to advise wildlife managers.

3) Community Education and Conservation Program. We provide funding to support operations and capacity-building of the Indonesian-based Yayasan Sumatra Hijau Lestari (Sustainable Green Sumatra Foundation). YSHL and its staff carry out the Community Education and Conservation Program (CECP) to provide conservation and basic education to villagers along the border of Gunung Leuser National Park, home to the critically endangered Sumatran orangutan. The program is holistic and seeks to improve the livelihoods of local communities as well as better understand the level of human-wildlife conflict and teach methods to mitigate the conflict. Additionally, the program includes tree-planting and ecosystem restoration activities in partnership with local communities

4) TOP-USA Support Program. As the USA chapter of The Orangutan Project (TOP-USA), we provide fiscal sponsorship to TOP, the largest orangutan support organization in the world. As such our collective organization can support one another as well as the efforts of dozens of other organizations working to save the species.

The Orang Utan Republik Foundation (OURF) has a website where the accomplishments are listed and updated. Interested readers can find the information at https://www.orangutanrepublik.org/about-us/our-accomplishments/

OURF has completed its goal of establishing a scholarship program in all of the orangutan range provinces in Indonesia with competent local partners who implement the program with local universities. At this writing, 244 multi-year scholarships have been awarded since 2006. At this writing, 148 recipients have graduated, many continuing with careers in conservation, wildlife management, and academia. We will continue to offer the Orangutan Caring Scholarships and build an educated constituency that values the importance of maintaining healthy populations of orangutans as well as rainforest ecosystems.

OURF has been able to support and mentor groups of young conservation educators in North Sumatra who provide education and training to local villagers who live and work around the iconic Leuser Ecosystem, particularly Gunung Leuser National Park. The currently supported organization, the Sustainable Green Sumatra Foundation, has been working with hundreds of farmers and villagers through the Community Education and Conservation Program (CECP) to mitigate wildlife conflict, improve livelihood outcomes, and educate elementary school children both at the government schools and village learning locations. Additionally, tree planting and forest restoration programs provide opportunities for positive local involvement in improving buffer zones, wildlife corridors, and food trees for wildlife. Finally, the organization has been increasing its capacity to seek funding from alternative sources.