26 October 2009
Indonesia is destroying its forests faster than any other country, according to the Guinness Book of Records, with an average two million hectares disappearing every year, double the annual loss in the 1980s.
26 October 2009
A vital safeguard to protect the world's rainforests from being cut down has been dropped from a global deforestation treaty due to be signed at the climate summit in Copenhagen in December.
21 October 2009
During what was at times an emotional speech, Sabah's Minister of Tourism, Culture, and Environment, Datuk Masidi Manjun, called on the palm oil industry to stop polluting rivers and work with NGOs to save orangutans and other wildlife.
Australian Wildlife Projects Australian Walkabout Wildlife Park “Conservation through Education” This animal sanctuary is one of the few places in Australia where you can meet and interact with wild kangaroos, wallaroos, emus, wombats, bettongs, echidna, koalas,... View Article
11 October 2009
WEAVING its way through the jungle, nibbling on fruits and tree bark, an orang utan suddenly finds itself in unfamiliar territory.
8 October 2009
Wednesday 30th September saw an historic moment in Australia’s fight for sustainable palm oil - a Palm Oil Stakeholder Meeting took place at Woolworths’ head office in Sydney.
7 October 2009
An "environmentally friendly" tropical crop could lead to hazardous increases in levels of the air pollutant ozone according to new research published in the US journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
30 September 2009
Fleur Butcher from Melbourne Zoo visited Nyaru Menteng earlier in the year and caught up with her orangutan friend Melvin. The trip was the next stage in the skills exchange program with Melbourne Zoo and was funded by BOS Australia.
29 September 2009
Australians' saturated fat consumption remains unacceptably high because of food manufacturers' reliance on cheap imported palm oil.
24 September 2009
In Southeast Asia, the world's smallest bear species faces poaching, deforestation and a host of other woes, according to Siew Te Wong, a graduate in wildlife biology from the University of Montana.
23 September 2009
For decades, the roar of the chainsaw has meant one thing in Indonesia's national parks: illegal loggers ripping down the rainforest.
23 September 2009
About five percent, or two million tonnes of the expected crop of 40 million tonnes of Crude Palm Oil produced in 2009 is expected to be certified as sustainable this year, environmental standards watchdog, the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) estimates.
20 September 2009
In Central Kalimantan, the hunters and poachers have the blood of orang utan on their hands. The forests that are home to these animals are also being cleared at an alarming rate in the name of development. A rehabilitation centre offers some measure of hope, writes Amy Chew.
Woolworths has reduced the use of palm oil in its Select range food products and has committed to working through the Homebrand range. However it admits to challenges in removing palm oil including performance attributes of alternatives, nutritional issues and increased costs.
It is now about to review its policy. Make sure Woolworths knows your opinion.
9 September 2009
Idyllic scenes of palm trees swaying in the breeze over sandy beaches have long decorated brochures designed to lure tourists to Indonesia and Malaysia. But few visitors see the giant palm plantations away from the shore.
6 September 2009
The Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOSF) has successfully released 46 orangutans back into the wild.
Trilogy, producer of natural skin and hair care products, has launched an ongoing campaign to support endangered orangutans in South East Asia. Trilogy will donate NZ$1.00 from the sale of each specially marked box of its hero product, Certified Organic Rosehip Oil to the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation.
2 September 2009
Indonesia says it could cut its carbon emissions by more than 40 per cent by 2030, by reducing deforestation, peatland degradation and power use.
2 September 2009
Australia's food regulatory body has rejected a call for food manufacturers to name the source of vegetable oil in their products.
In Australia BOS is always looking for people with all sorts of skills to be involved in our committee work, fund raising activities, website maintenance, education, public relations and marketing. BOS is only as strong as... View Article
Volunteering in Borneo Borneo Orangutan Survival (BOS) Australia has teamed up with ENRICH, an Australian volunteer program that focuses on animal welfare and enrichment. You now have the amazing opportunity to volunteer with orangutans and sun... View Article
Samboja Lodge Samboja Lodge is an eco-lodge located within Samboja Lestari and managed by BOS Foundation. Guests are able to stay at the Lodge and simply enjoy the forest or become involved as volunteers in conservation... View Article
Purchase of rainforest You can assist in the development of Samboja Lestari by making a symbolic purchase of rainforest. The cost to purchase 1 square metre is AU$10.00. From this sum of money the following costs... View Article
Of the nearly 250,000 flowering plants known, 170,000 or 68 percent occur in the tropics and subtropics, making tropical rainforests among the most diverse and complex living environments on Earth.
The Rehabilitation Process The method of reintroduction at Nyaru Menteng tries to imitate, as closely as possible, the life the orangutans would have had, were they still with their mothers in the forest. Quarantine All new... View Article
Rescue The team at Nyaru Menteng also operates a rescue service and has rescued over 300 wild orangutans. With the orangutan’s habitat being destroyed to make way for palm oil plantations, orangutans have insufficient food and have no... View Article
25 August 2009
THE federal Forestry Minister, Tony Burke, has approved changes to an election promise to ban imports of illegally logged timber to instead ''promote the trade'' of legal timber.
There are numerous threats to the viability of the remaining wild orangutan population in Indonesia and Malaysia.
Loss of habitat The most important risk factor for orangutans is the loss of habitat. Suitable orangutan habitat in Indonesia and Malaysia has declined by more than 80% in the last 20 years. It is estimated... View Article
Illegal pet trade Wild orangutan numbers are also affected by the illegal pet trade – particularly the socially inclined baby. Estimates suggest that more than 1000 orangutans are smuggled into Java and overseas each year. Indeed, a recent... View Article
Poaching Easier access and encroachment of people into the orangutan forests also leads to increased hunting of orangutans for meat, babies, skulls or, more recently for orangutan penises. As well as being consumed as bushmeat, body parts find... View Article
Timber products Some 70% of all timber exported from Indonesia is illegally logged. In Australia, it is estimated that 9% of wood imports or $400 million is from illegal sources. (Jaakko Poyry Consulting 2005: Overview of... View Article
The name orangutan derives from the Malay and Indonesian phrase ‘orang-hutan’, meaning ‘person of the forest’. Orangutans are highly intelligent with an ability to reason and think. These large, gentle red apes are one of our... View Article
Biology An orangutan’s lifespan is about 35-40 years in the wild, and sometimes into the 50’s in captivity. Orangutan females only give birth about once every eight years – the longest time between births of any... View Article
Behaviour The orangutan is the only strictly arboreal ape and the largest tree-living mammal in the world. Although other apes do climb and build sleeping nests in the trees, they are primarily terrestrial (spending their lives... View Article
Diet The orangutan diet is made up of bark, leaves, flowers, a variety of insects, and most importantly, over 300 kinds of fruit.Termites and ants are part of their diet to obtain protein and for minerals... View Article