Wanariset Orangutan Reintroduction Project

Wanariset Orangutan Reintroduction Project is a forestry research station located 38 km from Balikpapan, the Capital of East Kalimantan.

The centre was set up and opened in 1991 by Dr Willie Smits. It followed the research and reintroduction model developed by the well-known conservation and orangutan expert, Dr. Herman Rijksen.

The concept is based on introduction of rehabilitated animals into areas where there are no wild orangutan populations but only after a strict period of quarantine. This reduces the risk of any spread of human disease into wild populations and also ensures that the delicate balance between the food supply in a forest and the number of orangutans living there is not disturbed.

As of 8 January 2007, the Wanariset Orangutan Reintroduction Project had released 381 rehabilitated orangutans into the wild in the protected Sungai Wain forest and the Meratus forest.

Most of the orangutans and all the sunbears previously housed at Wanariset have since been moved to Samboja Lestari. It is hoped to remove the remaining orangutans when funding and facilities become available.

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.