Collaboration of Orangutan Organizations Support Debate/Discussion of Environmental Position of Candidates for Next President of Indonesia
Jakarta, Indonesia.
In advance of the upcoming Indonesian presidential elections on July 9th, OC has joined a group of nonprofit organizations with a focus on orangutan conservation to co-sponsor a debate and discussion on the environmental position of the two candidates for Indonesia’s highest office. Representatives for the president/vice-president teams of Prabowo Subianto/Hatta Rajasa and Joko Widodo/Jusuf Kalla will face off on Thursday, July 3, 2014, at the Gallery Cafe Taman Ismail Marzukiin Jakarta.
The debate/discussion was suggested by members of the Indonesian group, Yayasan Inisiatif Pendidkan Orangutan Indonesia (YIPOI) to their sister organization, Orang Utan Republik Foundation (OURF) during a recent visit to Indonesia by OURF president Dr. Gary Shapiro. Shapiro was able to enroll other orangutan organizations to help sponsor the debate/discussion in an effort to better clarify how each presidential team plans to address the environmental and natural resource challenges facing Indonesia over the coming years.
“The Indonesian people deserve to know how their future president will prioritize the environment, natural resources and wildlife issues in addition to the usually discussed topics of development, jobs, law, and the economy,” stated Shapiro.
The organizations sponsoring the educational event with OURF are The Orangutan Project (Australia), Orangutan Conservancy (USA), Orangutan Outreach (USA), and Orangutan Land Trust (UK). All organizations have been supporting conservation and education programs in Indonesia for many years in an effort to save the orangutan from extinction.
