Why It's Important

There is something about having eye contact with these peaceful vegetarians that just makes you think. They are one of humankind’s closest relatives in the animal kingdom sharing 94.6% the same DNA as us. This perhaps gives us a moral obligation to ensure their survival. But more importantly they are a keystone species and a symbol for the threatened rain forests that are their home.

If we can protect the orangutan we also save literally millions of insects, thousands of plants and hundreds of birds and mammal species. But ultimately we also help human beings. These forests are important for the people that live in or near them. But there are also wider implications of their benefit to the world as CO₂ sinks.

The work of the Orangutan Foundation is vital to ensure that there is a future for the orangutan and its habitat. Please visit their website for further information on their projects: www.orangutan.org.uk

To read my article on the current situation in Tanjung Puting please click here .