Some of the funds raised by the EAZA Ape Campaign will go towards supporting this programme.
The Malaysian state of Sabah, located in the northern part of Borneo, is home to 11,000 orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus morio), making it one of the major strongholds for the conservation of the species. However, orangutan numbers in Sabah have decreased dramatically over the past decades because of habitat loss, degradation and fragmentation, primarily due to poor logging practices and subsequent land conversion to agriculture. The Kinabatangan Orangutan Conservation Programme (KOCP) addresses the severe threat of habitat loss to the survival of orangutans in the wild.
What does the Kinabatangan Orangutan Conservation Programme do?
KOCP promotes the importance of maintaining viable orangutan habitat through the sustainable management of forests outside of protected areas. Therefore innovative environmental management practices are necessary to be developed and to be linked with the local communities to ensure the long-term survival of orangutans in Sabah.
The vision for this project embraces two different levels:
- Locally, KOCP aims at understanding how orangutans can survive in highly degraded forests and to further the re-establishment of the ecological integrity of the Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary (home to about 1,000 orang-utans).
- Regionally (State level), KOCP aims at designing and assisting relevant partners to implement land-use strategies that are respective of the ecological needs of orangutans and that are compatible with their long-term survival.
What are Kinabatangan Orangutan Conservation Programme’s objectives?
- To ensure the long-term survival of orangutans in Kinabatangan;
- To monitor trends over time of the major orangutan populations found in the state; and
- To develop policy documents that will promote orangutan survival in unprotected forests.
How do Kinabatangan Orangutan Conservation Programme’s goals align with the EAZA Ape campaign aims?
The EAZA Ape Campaign addresses three main issues that are related to the decline of apes in the wild:
- Habitat loss
- Hunting and illegal trade of apes
- Ape disease and health
Recent surveys by Hutan have established that 65% of the remaining orangutan populations are currently found in unprotected areas – forests exploited for timber or plantations of acacias and oil palms – which increases their vulnerability and the risk of further population loss. This new situation results in several major issues: (1) increased conflicts between apes and human activities; (2) intense population fragmentation and isolation jeopardizing a proper gene flow and resulting in local extinction; (3) increased sensitivity to natural and man-made catastrophes. Embracing a wide landscape conservation approach and addressing the fate of orangutan populations living in unprotected areas are therefore a crucial need to ensure the long-term future of wild orangutans in Borneo.
