Volunteers on the Samboja Lestari Orangutan Project over in Borneo have been hard at work over the past year helping to improve the lives of some of the 200 orangutans and 40 sun bears that live at the sanctuary. Their work has been varied and sometimes difficult under the heat of the Bornean sun, but we thought that to celebrate Volunteer Week 2017, we would take a look at all that they have achieved over the last 12 months!
The beginnings of a new playground for the baby orangutans…
The last few months have seen work begin on a playground to accompany the brand new baby house that has been built at the project site. Upon completion the young orangutans that will be going through Forest school will move into their new home and have the chance to explore the swings, ropes and other pieces of equipment that have been installed by The Great Projects’ volunteers! As you can see from the images below, it is still very much a work in progress, but with foundations already dug and poles and ropes installed, the baby playground is coming together very nicely thanks to the hard work of volunteers!
Volunteers are busy at work on the baby house!
A member of the Samboja team attaching a tyre rope swing!
Volunteers have been busy building!
The team at Samboja have been busy working alongside volunteers to complete the construction on Island 5 to prepare for the release of alpha male Romeo. The orangutan islands at Samboja are used to give the apes a home as close as is possible to their natural rainforest habitat, and to keep them stimulated on the islands volunteers have been working to build platforms and rope swings. Volunteers have helped to create the concrete needed for the platforms, raise the huge ironwood poles the orangutans can use to climb, and paint all of the platforms a lovely shade of green to blend in with the surrounding trees. The volunteers work has been worth it as we can bring you the fantastic news that Romeo is due to move into his new home next week! Keep your eyes peeled for updates about this.
Volunteers have been keeping the orangutans entertained!
Enrichment plays a huge role in the volunteers work at Samboja and without the manpower volunteers provide, the orangutans would not get as much enrichment as they currently do! Volunteers have been busy creating leaf parcels for the orangutans, happy sacks for the sun bears and even heading out into the forest to chop down huge ginger leaves for the orangutans to play with. There can never be enough enrichment at the project so this is a constant job!
They’ve even helped with the releases!
The work that volunteers do at the project enables the project staff to concentrate their efforts on preparing for and then executing orangutan releases, as without volunteers the staff would be required to spend their time on other tasks! Volunteers may not contribute directly to the releases, but the work they do enables them to happen. So well done to all of our volunteers and a big thank you!
If you want to add to the fantastic wok volunteers are doing at Samboja then why not consider becoming a volunteer yourself? 2017 dates are almost completely sold out, so take a look at 2018 and plan your holiday with a difference!
