Provi­ding holi­stic protec­tion for Suma­tran orangutans

The disco­very of the Tapa­nuli oran­gutan in 2017 caused quite a stir: it was the first new species of ape to be iden­ti­fied since 1929. ‘At the same time, this meant that the Tapa­nuli oran­gutan was the most endan­ge­red great ape in the world,’ says Irena Wett­stein, Co-Mana­ging Direc­tor of PanEco. The charity campaigns for conser­va­tion and nature protec­tion, both in Switz­er­land and Indo­ne­sia. When it was foun­ded in 1996, it focu­sed on oran­gut­ans in Sumatra. 

The Suma­tran Oran­gutan Conser­va­tion Programme (SOCP) that PanEco runs in colla­bo­ra­tion with its Indo­ne­sian sister orga­ni­sa­tion Yaya­san Ekosis­tem Lestari (YEL) takes a holi­stic approach to protec­ting the oran­gutan, an animal at risk of extinc­tion. ‘We want to protect their habi­tat, tropi­cal rain­fo­rests,’ says Irena Wett­stein. In addi­tion to protec­tive measu­res, SOCP’s conser­va­tion work for these apes also invol­ves encou­ra­ging the forma­tion of new popu­la­ti­ons and brin­ging toge­ther frag­men­ted popu­la­ti­ons. Along­side this, SOCP carries out long-term studies of oran­gutan beha­viours and the condi­tion of the rain­fo­rest, enab­ling it to make well-foun­ded state­ments for its lobby­ing and PR work. 

Disco­ver the orga­ni­sa­tion PanEco on stiftungschweiz.ch