Ten years. That’s how long Leif Cocks believes we have left to protect the habitat of orangutans in Sumatra and Borneo. “Once that’s gone, and it’s no longer available for conservation, there is no hope for recovery,” the orangutan expert says. Since 1998, Cocks has been working to safeguard the great ape with his organisation The Orangutan Project. As the agricultural industry ravages the land, orangutans are now in a race against extinction.
The destruction of rainforests for the monoculture of palm oil or pulp paper is not only unsustainable, but devastating for wildlife. Today, both the Sumatran and Bornean orangutan species are critically endangered. “When an animal loses its home, it becomes an agricultural pest and it dies in the most horrific way we can imagine,” Cocks says. Coming into conflict with human interests, orangutans are often injured with machetes or burnt alive as forests are cleared.
To rescue orangutans from this fate, Cocks is preserving their vulnerable habitats. “Our strategic intent is to save eight complete ecosystems,” he explains. So far, his team have managed to secure over 400 000 hectares of forest and protect 4 500 orangutans, working in conjunction with local communities and other initiatives such as Forest, Nature and Environment Aceh.
“Animals can’t change minds or protest, that’s why we need to be their voice,” Cocks says. He also established rehabilitation centres for orangutans bred in captivity or kept as illegal pets. Here, they are nurtured until they can be released back into the wild. Cocks and his team are responsible for the world’s first ever successful reintroduction of a zoo-born Sumatran orangutan into the wild. But the most crucial aspect of their efforts is habitat protection. As the countdown ensues, orangutans are dependent on people’s support to save their home. “We need to look after all living beings on our planet,” Cocks says.
Footage by The Orangutan Project was used in the creation of this film.
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