At first, it looks like just another clump of leaves. A large clump of leaves, but otherwise unremarkable in this dense forest. Look closer.
As I strain my eyes, this isn’t just another rainforest plant. You can see the leaves and branches have been constructed as a platform. It’s been carefully constructed, almost like a hammock high above the rainforest floor. An orangutan nest.
Our little group has been on a hilly hike through rainforest in Kalimantan, Borneo. So far, we haven’t really seen any wildlife, other than the ubiquitous leeches that attach themselves to our legs. In this thick forest, seeing wild mammals or birds requires time, patience and luck. But the signs are here.
If orangutans are largely out of sight, they’re not out of mind. I’m visiting several sites in East Kalimantan with TNC’s corporate partner Arhaus. Arhaus has made a commitment to help conserve vital rainforest habitat, and a key component of that is ensuring a future for orangutans.
Orangutans, the only great ape found outside Africa, are a focus of conservation efforts in Borneo. If you follow wildlife or conservation, you likely know that the news for orangutans is not often good. They’re often listed alongside black rhinos, tigers and other charismatic species that face a perilous future.
That’s because orangutan populations have declined since 1960 as habitat shrank. As more Indonesian forest is developed for infrastructure, mining, agriculture and other purposes, this trend will likely continue.
But this isn’t a doom-and-gloom story. While orangutans face very real threats, the reason why I’m here is to see reasons for hope. With science, strong governmental protection policy, community partnerships and land protection, orangutans and the rainforests they rely on can have a hopeful future here in Kalimantan.
It Takes a Village
Indonesian Borneo is home to nearly three-quarters of the world’s remaining wild orangutans. But much of their forest is logged and cleared (often illegally) for coal mines and oil palm plantations. The biodiversity in such areas is reduced to only the most adaptable species. And animals that do stray into these areas are frequently killed or captured for trade, consumption or due to competition.
The Nature Conservancy is working with its main local Indonesian partner, Yayasan Konservasi Alam Nusantara (YKAN) to secure the orangutan’s future. This requires a variety of conservation actions at a variety of scales. But first, conservationists must know what areas are being used by orangutans and, then, if conservation actions are actually making a difference.
This isn’t easy. As we would find during our trip, orangutans don’t parade around in the open. “They’re shy animals,” says Arif Rifqi, YKAN’s endangered species habitat project specialist. “You can’t just go walk in the rainforest and count them. But you can count their nests.”
Researchers have developed a methodology for using nests to make accurate orangutan population estimates. It isn’t as simple as going out and finding nests. You have to determine how often orangutans build nests (in Kalimantan, it’s once a day), the proportionate number of nest builders in the population and how quickly the nests decay.
Studies found that 78 percent of orangutans were found around villages. To conserve orangutans, you need healthy forest. But you also need partnerships with local communities.
Orangutan counts in 2016 found the highest East Bornean orangutan densities in East Kalimantan were in Kutai National Park, coincidentally the only place we saw a wild orangutan during our trip.
Surrounding forest provides critical connections that would enable orangutan populations to persist. That is why YKAN has worked with local villages on forest protection, management and enforcement. One such community is the Nehas Liah Bing, the largest village of the Dayak Wehea community.
This has resulted in a 29,000-hectare protected area as well as sustainable management of 532,000 hectares of forest in a wider landscape.
“The Wehea landscape supports some of the best habitat for this orangutan subspecies,” says Rifqi. “The habitat is there to support orangutan populations. The next step is ensuring community support.”
Guardians of the Forest
From years of studying and working to conserve orangutans, Rifqi knows that just declaring an area as “protected” isn’t enough. One important component is mitigating human-orangutan conflict. When land is developed, orangutans may stick around, but soon find themselves in trouble when they raid village fruits and crops.
“Female orangutans, in particular, stay in the forest where they grew up, even if it was converted,” says Rifqi. “This leads to human-orangutan conflict. We’ve been training local people how to deal with that.”
This includes communication campaigns and relocation of orangutans if necessary.
Another important component is making sure forests are adequately protected. TNC developed the initial landscape assessment at Wehea but knew that was just the first step. Local community members were trained to be Forest Guardians, actively patrolling the protected forest for illegal clearing or poaching.
“These Forest Guardians are also trained in biodiversity monitoring,” says Rifqi. “They’re trained to assess habitat and record data. These guardians are ensuring that the protected forest is actually protected.”
Eddie Game, lead scientist and director of conservation for TNC’s Asia Pacific Region, agrees. “Rangers make a huge difference,” he says. “In a forest without rangers, you often have little areas of forest being cleared for agriculture. This adds up. At the edges of many concessions around Wehea, you can also see hunting pressure.”
“An Incredibly Well-Managed Forest”
A few years ago, due to changing timber markets, a number of private logging concessions simply ceased logging operations. Good news for the forest, right?
Not quite.
Research found that when logging companies moved out, biodiversity actually decreased on these concession lands. How could that be possible?
The logging companies were operating under regulations and also had an active presence in the forest. When they left, with no one to enforce regulations, there was small-scale land clearing for crops, and poaching.
“It becomes no one’s land, becomes a free-for-all,” says Eddie Game, lead scientist and director of conservation for TNC’s Asia-Pacific Region. “When logging concessions became inactive, it resulted in more forest loss.”
In some cases, Game says, after the initial small-scale clearing, the land was then opened up for full-scale palm oil plantations.
“This is the core starting point that made us realize that managed logging concessions had to be part of the future here, for the forest, for the community and for orangutans,” Game says.
TNC and YKAN have developed a methodology called Reduced Impact Logging for Climate Change Mitigation (RIL-C) and trained several logging concessions on RIL-C implementation
“RIL-C logging has proven to minimize the impacts of logging opportunities on a healthy forest and reduce carbon emissions from logging activities,” says Rifqi.
It’s also conducted in ways that minimize impacts on orangutans. “The logging is conducted selectively so it does not destroy orangutan habitat,” says Rifqi. “The concessions are not cutting the trees that orangutans need for fruit and figs. We want to manage the forest in a way that benefits the community while minimizing impacts on biodiversity.”
The overall vision for this area of Kalimantan – an area that includes Wehea and logging concessions – is for a connected, healthy forested that supports local communities and where orangutans and other wildlife thrive.
“Evidence shows that if we are able to protect a few of these concessions plus Wehea, you pretty much guarantee the survival of this subspecies of orangutan,” says Game.
It’s not often where conservation can create such a tangible and lasting future for a large, charismatic and endangered species. It’s in no small part because YKAN’s conservation planning took a landscape-scale approach in addressing the issue.
Orangutans get a lot of the attention here. On our trip, we spend time looking for them, peering up at their nests, talking about them, discussing their conservation. But the orangutan is just the most well-known species here. By taking this multi-faceted approach in addressing the issues orangutans face, it’s really shaping a more hopeful future for the whole landscape.
“You’re not just saving orangutans with the research, enforcement and sustainable management,” says Game. “You are ensuring the future of the forest. There are going to be a lot of species that benefit, species that wouldn’t be here without these actions. There is the opportunity for this to be an incredibly well-managed forest.”
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