Balancing new capital development with orangutan habitat preservation by Fardah

 The Joko Widodo (Jokowi) administration is accelerating the development of the new capital named Nusantara— an old Javanese word that reflects Indonesia’s archipelagic status as a nation of 17 thousand islands.

The government has picked a part of North Penajam Paser District and a part of Kutai Kartanegara District in East Kalimantan Province as the location for the new capital, which is often referred to as IKN.

"The most ideal (location for) the new capital city is in part of North Penajam Paser District and part of Kutai Kartanegara District, East Kalimantan Province," President Widodo said at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on August 26, 2019.

East Kalimantan is located on Kalimantan Island or Borneo, which is known as the “lung of the world” on account of its vast primary forests that are vital for absorbing CO2 emissions and thereby, mitigating the impact of climate change.

The new Indonesian capital will span 256,142 hectares of land, or four times the present capital Jakarta's size, and 68,189 hectares of marine area.

The government, however, has assured that the location chosen for the IKN project contains no primary forests, but industrial forest areas.

It has also assured that the development of IKN would not damage local forests, as natural conditions would be taken into account during construction.

"We must not perceive that our efforts to relocate the capital will damage the forests," Widodo said on February 22, 2022, while speaking about the US$32-billion IKN megaproject.

The government is committed to ensuring that 70 percent of the new capital area is reserved as a green area to ensure the capital remains green, according to the President.

"The new capital will have many green areas and forests. All aspects in the capital, including the transportation system, water and electricity system, infrastructures, communications, and public services, will be managed by modern technologies," he informed.

News Focus -- Protecting Orangutans in natural habitat deemed crucial by Fardah

Jakarta, March 25, 2019 (ANTARA) - It is incredibly heartbreaking to see a picture of a tourist in Bali attempting to smuggle a drugged orangutan kept in a rattan basket into Russia.
During X-ray screening, Bali's conservation agency staff spotted the two-year-old male ape in the 27-year-old Russian's suitcase on March 22, 2019. The Bali police arrested the tourist, who had planned to bring home the "sleeping" orangutan and keep him as a pet.
Orangutans (orang means human and utan means forest) are among the rarest animals, as only 100 thousand of the protected species remain worldwide.
Preserving wildlife in its natural forest habitat is a vital step in ensuring that conservation efforts were successful in the long term.
The Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOSF), in cooperation with the Central Kalimantan Natural Resources Conservation Office (BKSDA) and Bukit Baka Bukit Raya National Park (TNBBBR) authority on March 12, 2019, released six orangutans into the park, the first of 2019's planned releases.
The six orangutans comprise three males -- Rosidin (aged 20), Tristan (16), and Borneo (1) -- as well as three females -- Borneos mother Buntok (12), Paijah (15), and Danida (13).
All six of the orangutan release candidates have come from Badak Besar Island, a forested island in the Salat Island Cluster in Pulang Pisau District, which is currently being used by the BOSF as a pre-release island.
The orangutans were released after having completed years of rehabilitation. They had to endure an approximately 10- to 12-hour-long journey across both land and river to predetermined release points in the TNBBBR forest.
The six orangutans being returned back into the wild marks the 15th release for TNBBBR since the first one conducted in the park in August 2016 and the 28th release by the BOSF Orangutan Reintroduction Program in Central Kalimantan since 2012.

KALIMANTAN FOREST FIRES THREATEN TO WIPE OUT CRITICAL ORANGUTAN POPULATION by Fardah

Jakarta, Sept 30, 2015 (Antara)- The ongoing forest fires in Kalimantan not only threaten the inhabitants of the island but also the orangutans, which literally mean "person of forest," that live in the forests.   
    The fires, which worsen due to the El-Nino induced drought, have forced animals to flee to the remaining small forest areas located near villages.

         An orangutan (pongo pygmaeus morio) recently lost its way and entered a village as the endangered animal was trying to escape the forest fires in Sampit, East Kotawaringin District, Central Kalimantan Province.

        "It has been several days since this orangutan has been spotted roaming around in the forest here. It has been seen eating leaves on the trees as there is nothing else to eat. But, in the evening, it might come down to the settlement area in search of food. Therefore, we are afraid that it might attack us," Jitu, an inhabitant of Sampit, stated on Sept, 27.

        The male orangutan, believed to be 11 years old, lost its way in a forest near the construction site of a water boom recreational park in Baamang sub-district.

ORANGUTANS NEED IMMEDIATE PROTECTION by Fardah

   Jakarta, Aug 30, 2015 (Antara) - The world celebrated International Orangutan Day on August 19 to recognize the great ape and to help encourage the public to take action in preserving the endangered species.  
      This year's theme of the day was "Come play a role in saving and conserving orangutans!". 
    Indeed, there was nothing to celebrate on that day because according to information on www.worldorangutanevents.org , the population of the Sumatran orangutan is considered to have declined by more than 50 percent during the period of 1992-2000.

         The population of  Bornean orangutans found in Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam, fell nearly 43 percent in the past decade, from 35,000 in 1996 to 20,000 in 2006.

         Since these studies were done, deforestation rates have continued to climb which means the actual populations could be well below these.

         The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), however, in its press release recently said an estimated 55,000 Bornean orangutans remain in the wild, split into three distinct subspecies.

PROTECTION OF ORANGUTANS NEEDS HARD WORK, DEDICATION by Fardah

Jakarta, Oct 22,2013 (Antara) - Even though the orangutan, literally translated as "Person of the Forest," is one of  humankind's closest relatives in the animal kingdom, sharing some 96.4 percent of human DNA, the animal's existence remains under constant threat.

          Last September, villagers of Pelangsian, Ketapang Subdistrict, East Kotawaringin District, Central Kalimantan Province, were shocked when they came upon a decapitated body in the area. At first, they thought it was a human corpse, but it turned out to be the body of an adult male orangutan that had been beheaded.

News Focus - ORANGUTANS LIVING OUTSIDE NATURAL HABITAT NEED ATTENTION by Fardah

    Jakarta, Feb 9, 2013 (ANTARA) - Orangutans are usually cute, adorable and smart that some people want to keep them as pets. Besides, orangutans and other big apes are always the center of attractions at zoos in many countries.

        Are those apes happy being cuddled as pets or given public attention at zoos? The recent death of Virang, a 15-year-old male orangutan at Punti Kayu Zoo in Palembang, South Sumatra, gave a picture of tragic life of orangutans outside their natural habitats.

EMERGING EVIDENCE SHEDS SOME LIGHT ON ORANGUTAN KILLING CASE by Fardah

      Jakarta, Nov 28, 2011 (ANTARA) - At the beginning, some people considered a report on the slaughtering of Kalimantan (Borneo) orangutan (pongo pygmaeus morio) a "mere rumor" despite the fact that several photos showing dead orangutans were received by a local newspaper last September.
       The killings of orangutan often considered as pest by oil palm plantation companies, reportedly had occurred from 2009 to 2010 at Puan Cepak village, Muara Kaman sub district, Kutai Kartanegara District, East Kalimantan Province.

RAINFOREST CONSERVATION, LAW ENFORCEMENT CRUCIAL FOR ORANGUTAN'S SURVIVAL by Fardah

     Jakarta, Oct 4, 2011 (ANTARA) - Indonesia is home to the world`s remaining population of critically endangered orangutans found on Sumatra and Kalimantan (Borneo) Islands.
      It is estimated that around 50,000 to 60,000 orangutans are left in the wild, 80 percent of them in Indonesia and the rest in Malaysia. Of the total number, about 7,300 orangutans are to be found in Aceh Darussalam and North Sumatra provinces, and many others in Central, West and East Kalimantan provinces.