Volunteering in Borneo

Borneo Orangutan Survival (BOS) Australia has teamed up with ENRICH, an Australian volunteer program that focuses on animal welfare and enrichment. You now have the amazing opportunity to volunteer with orangutans and sun bears in Borneo at the Samboja Lestari centre where more than 200 orangutans and 52 Malayan sunbears have found shelter from human destruction and neglect.

Without BOS, they would surely have been killed or sold into the illegal pet trade.  Looking after so many orangutans and sun bears and preparing them for life back in the forests is a very costly operation and so we need your help. By contributing your time and money to this project, you will enhance the lives of orangutans and sunbears through enrichment activities, in preparing them for life back in the wild, and helping in the reforestation of previously logged lands.

About the Volunteer Expedition

Samboja Lestari (Samboja Forever) is a project that was started by BOS' founder, Willie Smits, and is located in the Indonesian state of Kalimantan, on the world's third largest island, Borneo. To read more about Samboja Lestari click here or watch founder Willie Smits on TED talks.

As a volunteer you will be part of a project team working together on the ground to improve captive conditions for the orang-utan and sun bears as they wait for a chance to be released back into the wild.

You will be based at the special and luxurious Ecolodge at the project itself.  During this time you will be involved in many activities designed to improve the orangutans' and sun bears lives.  As the ultimate goal is to release the orangutans, we must ensure that they do not get used to humans and do not catch a communicable disease. This means that the activities will involve no touching or cuddling of orangutans – not very good for the orangutans.

Why do we need volunteers?

As part of a dedicated team of volunteers, you are needed to further the enrichment of the animals to improve their quality of life, building and maintenance work on enclosures and infrastructures and tree replanting.

Your trip to Borneo and your participation in the volunteer expedition can now directly help BOS progress the rehabilitation and release of the resident orangutans and sun bears. Places are limited so please enquire now before it’s too late.

To find out more:

If you wish to find out more, contact us at volunteer.enrich@gmail.com

For Australian volunteer opportunities, click here.

For further information about the ENRICH Borneo volunteer project trips, click here.

15 July 2010
Why should we protect the orangutan? It is a frequently asked question when lay-people, including businesspeople, discuss the need to protect orangutans, Asia's only great ape, which is greatly endangered. Read Article »

23 June 2010
If an orangutan blows a raspberry, smacks you on the side of your body or gives you a nip on the arm, don't worry. Read Article »

21 June 2010
Some New Zealand food companies are being slippery about whether they use palm oil, according to a Green Party survey.

6 June 2010
Borneo Orangutan Survival (BOS) Australia and its Indonesian counterpart have secured a 112,000 hectare site in Kalimantan, Indonesia for the release of rehabilitated orangutans.

27 May 2010
Indonesia will introduce a two-year moratorium on deforestation to help tackle climate change, the country's president has said. Read Article »

28 May 2010
United States congressman Earl Blumenauer has called on the Australian Government to legislate to ban illegal timber imports into Australia.

27 May 2010
Cash-strapped Indonesia remains committed to protection of its rainforests as part of the global initiative to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) Plus scheme, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono says.

27 May 2010
Indonesia will honor palm oil companies' existing contract despite its pledge to suspend new concessions to clear the nation's natural forests and peat lands for two years, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono says.