Nyaru Menteng Orangutan Reintroduction Project

The Nyaru Menteng Orangutan Reintroduction Project is situated 28 km (18 miles) outside Palangka Raya, the capital of Central Kalimantan. It is located within the boundaries of the Nyaru Menteng Arboretum, a 62.5 ha lowland peat-swamp forest ecosystem, founded in 1988 by the Ministry of Forestry Regional office of Central Kalimantan.

The clinic, quarantine facilities and socialisation cages are inside a fenced area of 1.5 ha, while mid-way housing is at the farthest end of the Arboretum.

The project has good forest for the smallest orangutans and is undisturbed by visitors. The larger orangutans are situated on half-way islands in Rungan river, located eight km away by road. On these islands the orangutans are free to roam and learn important forest survival skills.

The Head of the project is Lone Dröscher-Nielsen. Lone spent four years volunteering in Tanjung Putting, caring for small infant orangutans, before deciding to go out on her own and open the Nyaru Menteng Orangutan Project.

The centre now employs more than 150 people including vets, technicians and babysitters.

The project works closely with The Wanariset Orangutan Reintroduction Project and works in co-operation with The Department of Konservasi Sumber Daya Alam (a department within the Department of Forestry) for Central Kalimantan.

The aim of the Nyaru Menteng Project is to rescue orangutans (and other protected primates) displaced from their habitat or held in captivity as illegal pets, and through quarantine and half-way housing release them back into their natural environment.

Nyaru Menteng also aims to help protect large areas of untouched forest for this purpose. One of the biggest challenges BOS faces today is finding suitable and safe habitat for release.

As of August 2009, there are about 600 orangutans being rehabilitated at Nyaru Menteng - a number well beyond the intended capacity of the centre. The centre is also home to 7 sunbears currently.

Rehabilitation Process

Rescue

27 January 2012
As bounty hunters with bush knives entrapped them in a circle and moved in for the kill, the only thing this mother orang-utan could think to do was to wrap a giant protective arm around her daughter. Read Article »

18 January 2012
When fruit is scarce, try chomping on a slow loris. That seems to be the strategy adopted by the normally vegetarian orang-utans, which have been spotted knocking the small primates out of trees and killing them with a bite to the head. Read Article »

18 January 2012
Indonesia's certified palm oil production is expected to reach about 5.6 million tons by 2015, or one-fifth of its total palm oil output throughout the year, the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) auditing body estimates. Read Article »

17 January 2012
An Indonesian rock band, Navicula, is highlighting the plight of orangutans in their native country through a new song entitled, aptly, "Orangutan."

4 January 2012
Maria Agatha van Noordwijk raised her eyebrow as she crossed out several Indonesian names on the list of orangutans she and her fellow experts and students studied in conservation projects in Sumatra and Kalimantan. Read Article »

27 December 2011
Eight-month-old baby orangutan Elaine would have never survived without her carer Rosa.

25 December 2011
Solaris Paper Pty Ltd, which supplies the Australian market with private label tissue products, is an Australian operated and managed affiliate of Asia Pulp & Paper Group (APP), a brand umbrella for paper products manufactured by a number of mills in Indonesia. Things got nasty recently when its tussle with Greenpeace over sourcing of rainforest timber became public. Read Article »

30 November 2011
The ambition of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) was always to bring sustainable practices to the mainstream. Read Article »