The Orangutan Conservancy (OC) is dedicated to the protection of orangutans in their natural habitat through research, capacity building, education and public awareness programs, and by supporting numerous on-the-ground efforts to save Southeast Asia’s only great ape.
“The worst thing that can happen-will happen-is not energy depletion, economic collapse, limited nuclear war, or conquest by totalitarian government. As terrible as these catastrophes would be for us, they can be repaired within a few generations. The process ongoing in the 1980′s that will take millions of years to correct is the loss of genetic and species diversity by destruction of natural habitats. This is the folly our descendands are least likely to forgive us.” – Edward O. Wilson, Pulitzer Prize-winning biologist
Today it is estimated that 27,000 species are extinguished every year in the world’s rainforests – or 74 species a day. Orangutans are found only in the rainforests of Borneo and Sumatra. The population of wild orangutans has declined by more than half in the last 50 years, and approximately 80% of its natural habitat has been lost in the last half century. The Orangutan Conservancy (OC) is dedicated to the conservation of orangutans and their habitat through preserving the remaining orangutan populations and by promoting the changes that are needed to preserve their natural habitat. By protecting orangutans in their natural environment, most other native species, including plants and insects, will also survive.
Specifically the Orangutan Conservancy (OC) carries out this mission as follows:
- By providing funding to a variety of orangutan protection programs
- By providing funding to various wildlife research programs in Indonesia that support and coordinate orangutan conservation
- By providing emergency funding to help protect critical habitats of the orangutan, including efforts to control forest fires where important populations exist or supporting other emergency activities
- By improving public awareness of the plight of the orangutan and their habitats on Borneo and Sumatra
The Orangutan Conservancy is an independent US nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization. OC is operated primarily by dedicated volunteers, and it strives to keep administrative costs to a bare minimum to ensure that donations reach the projects in the field. OC’s formation was inspired by the Balikpapan Orangutan Society in Balikpapan, Indonesia. OC continue a supportive relationship with the BOS in Indonesia, now known as BOS Foundation.
Become an OC member today and support the mission to protect orangutans and their rainforest home.
