Orangutan Land Trust

OBJECTIVE

The Orangutan Land Trust objective is to provide permanent solutions for the long-term survival of the orangutan in the wild by ensuring safe areas of land for their continued existence.

What the Trust Will Endeavour to Support*:

• Protecting existing orangutan habitat, especially that which contains significant populations of orangutans
• Forest rangers/anti-logging operations
• Supporting alternative livelihoods and sustainable harvesting of forests (timber and non-timber forest products) in exchange for their protection in cooperation with local communities, eg. Rattan Project.
• Exploring options for REDD/ Carbon Funding programmes in order to protect orangutan habitat
• Purchasing orangutan habitat by outbidding palm oil companies and logging companies
• Fire fighting efforts in orangutan habitat
• Reforestation and regeneration activities
• Working with palm oil companies to set aside more than the required conservation areas and to develop buffer zones
• Creating wildlife corridors
• Finding, surveying and securing permanent release sites for both wild and rehabilitated orangutans, including taking measures to protect those sites indefinitely
• Finding, surveying and securing river islands for the penultimate step in the rehabilitation process of orangutans, and taking measures to protect those sites indefinitely
• Finding, surveying and securing river islands to serve as permanent sanctuary for rescued and rehabilitated orangutans not suitable for total release into the wild, such as those with chronic disease or disabilities, and taking measures to protect those sites indefinitely.
• Finding, surveying and securing new forest sites for the use of orangutans undergoing the rehabilitation process.
• Providing infrastructure for above sites, such as security posts, feeding platforms, fencing, etc.
• Education, outreach and empowerment in communities living in orangutan habitat areas to avoid the selling off of forest for conversion to palm oil

• Lobbying local and national authorities to protect orangutan habitat

(*Wherever orangutans may live: Malaysia, Indonesia, Borneo and Sumatra THE OLT

How this will be achieved?

Our organisation has been established to receive funds from many streams and via a variety of mechanisms. The funds raised are used to support organisations that work towards all aspects of conserving the orangutan and their habitats. Furthermore, we are in the process of developing our own projects in cooperation with other NGOs such as those with local social development expertise.

It is envisioned that funds donated to OLT will remain unrestricted within the description of the Fund’s activities as set out above, whenever possible, but there will also be funds that would also deal with restricted funds, e.g. those set out through a carbon funding agreement.

The Scientific Advisory Board as well as the Board of Trustees of OLT, along with advice from other organizations, are very integral and respected by this Trust in providing guidance for the best use of funds and providing robust evidence of achievements.

Funding will come from a number of potential sources, including:

* Carbon funding/offset agreements
* Ecosystem Services Payments and Biodiversity Credits
* Fees paid into Orangutan Friendly Palm Oil logo
* Debt for Nature Swaps
* Grants from government agencies
* Grants from grant-giving agencies
* Corporate support
* Investors for income generating activities such as rattan
* Donations from members of the public
* Sponsorship from corporations and other groups, including zoos
* Symbolic Sponsorship of land (Square Meter Programme)
* Symbolic sponsorship of tree planting for reforestation and regeneration initiatives
* Gifts in kind (e.g. infrastructure items, seedlings, educational materials)
* Services in kind (e.g. community development projects, fire-fighting assistance)
* Auctioning of large symbolic parcels of land
* Fundraising events
* Other organisations