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.

10 March 2010
It is no secret that orangutans are threatened with extinction because their rain forests are being destroyed at an alarming rate. Ten years ago, Shawn Thompson, a writer, former journalist and university professor, set out to chronicle the threat to orangutans in a book released in March 2010. Read Article »

10 March 2010
Research into the long calls of male Orangutans in Borneo has given scientists new insight into how these solitary apes communicate through dense jungle. Read Article »

2 March 2010
'Environmentally-friendly' biofuels have been found to be more harmful to the planet than normal fossil fuel. Read Article »

22 February 2010
BBC documentary shows Indonesian company clearing protected rainforest.

18 February 2010
Gorillas, orang-utans and a cyanide-eating lemur are among the world’s 25 most critically endangered primates, scientists have said. Read Article »

5 February 2010
The European Commission and some EU member states hope to redefine palm oil plantations as "forests," according to a leaked document from the EU executive. Read Article »

26 January 2010
Project to create sustainable palm oil project undermined by Western firms

25 January 2010
Payments to developing countries to reduce emissions from deforestation will only succeed if corruption and lack of financial management capacity are addressed, says new report. Read Article »