Images of Nyaru Menteng

Annie Marie Musselman began her conservation project last year when she learned of deforestation by palm oil plantations in Borneo.

Click here to view Annie Marie's slideshow

Here is what she has written about her exhibition, "For The Innocents".

"The life we live as humans is, for the most part, something we have created. Our surroundings have affected and changed us. There is a life however, that many animals like orangutans, chimpanzees and elephants lead that is subject to cages, torture, neglect, and forced over-breeding. These are the horrors of captivity.

Animal's lives have little worth in our culture. Their habitats are ruined for commodities such as palm oil, or soy. They are put into cages, while their bodies are made sick and used for scientific research. These realities cause me to pause and ask, "What makes humans and animals so different that these practices go on unchecked?" I have experienced amazing bonds with animals in my quest for the universal answer to this question.

I sensed that the human world needed to come face to face with creatures in their sanctuaries. My work is encouraged by the belief that if humans witness the innocence and beauty of these animals in my pictures, they will realize what they have lost due to technology, overpopulation, and the rejection of nature, and maybe stop endangering them. It is my intent therefore, to document the world of sanctuaries and animal refugee camps. With the urgent issue of climate change and the state of environmental catastrophe it is important to document the lives of these animals, some on the verge of extinction, and how they are saved by sanctuaries in an artful way. Two of my current projects have come together to create a larger exhibition I am calling For The Innocents.

My animal conservation project began last year when I learned of deforestation by palm oil plantations in Borneo. I visited the Nyaru Menteng Orangutan Sanctuary in Central Kalimantan, Borneo with Eco writer, Hillary Rosner. Eleven of the photographs were published in Rosner's article Searching for Sanctuary in Newsweek, August 2009.

Annie Marie Musselman On behalf of Nyaru Menteng Orangutan Sanctuary

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.