outreach – Anna's Alcove

On December 3, Colleen Reed, a representative from Orangutan Outreach, discussed the issues of illegal capture of orangutans, the palm oil crisis, and deforestation in Indonesia during her talk centering on “Reaching out to Save the Red Ape.”

“The more people that know, the more that can help,” she said.

There used to be 315,000 orangutans in the 1900s. Now, after 70 years, there are only 60,000 orangutans left and about 5,000 are being killed each year.

“This isn’t like 20 years from now we can turn this around.” Reed said. “We only have a few years left.”

Just this past April, said Reed, Orangutan Outreach had their youngest baby orangutan stolen from them.

Katrina Spirko, a senior elementary and early childhood education major at Edinboro, said, “the crisis that is facing the apes and the disappearance of Luna told me that the time to raise my voice in their defense is right now… if you love something, you won’t quit on it.”

According to Edinboro University’s website, the Orangutan Outreach event was organized thanks to the passion of Spirko and the teamwork of Students of Edinboro for Environmental Defense (SEED).

Some of the biggest problems for the apes is the palm oil crisis and deforestation, Reed said.

The palm oil tree has to grow on its own soil, so logging companies have to come in and clear the rainforest. They clear access roads to get into the forest and, once their in, they use the slash and burn method to completely get rid of the trees and brush, said Reed.

Palm oil is cheaper to use than vegetable oil and is considered a clean burning fuel, but “if you have to tear down an entire rainforest in order to get a cleaner burning fuel, you’re losing a whole lot more,” Reed pointed out.

A majority of the products in grocery stores contain palm oil, since it’s used as a preservative, said Reed. Cookies, candy, ice cream, shampoo and deoderant are some of the products that use palm oil and it can be found in the ingredient listings under different names: such as palmitate or palmate.

Reed said that with the largest rainforests getting torn down daily, there are fewer and fewer trees around to reabsorb the carbon that is being produced.

According to Reed, there is a lot of practical ways that people can help save the orangutans. There are volunteer opportunities at Orangutan Outreach, people can donate, or they can adopt an orangutan virtually for $120 per year.

All the information about how you can help can be found at their website: www.redapes.org.

“Only if we understand, can we care. Only if we care, can we help, and only if we help, shall they be saved.” Jane Goodall, considered to be the world’s foremost expert on chimpanzees.

– Taken from The Spectator (Vol. 3, Issue 13) December 8, 2011

At 5 p.m. on Dec. 3, Colleen Reed, from Orangutan Outreach, will inform students at Edinboro University about the fact that orangutans are facing death, torture, abuse, capture and are being illegally sold as pets at an alarming rate.

“People need to know,” said Katrina Spirko, the orchestrator of the event and a senior at Edinboro, majoring in elementary education and early childhood education, with a minor in environmental studies.

Spirko has always been interested in the great apes and became personally involved when she discovered Orangutan Outreach through her research.

According to their website, some of Orangutan Outreach’s main goals are to protect orangutans in their native habitat, to promote public awareness of conservation strategies, and to fund rescue efforts of orangutans.

Orangutan Outreach is based largely on volunteering and provides the opportunity for people to adopt orangutans and sponsor them as they go through the rehabilitation program, Spirko explained.

Last Christmas, Spirko and her boyfriend adopted Luna, the youngest and smallest of the apes at the Sintang Orangutan Center (SOC) in Indonesia, one of the centers that Orangutan Outreach sponsors.

“With her fluffy hair, her big bright eyes and her Mona Lisa smile, Luna stole everyone’s hearts,” Richard Zimmerman, executive director of Orangutan Outreach, posted on their website.

But, last April, Zimmerman received a devastating phone call. Luna had gone missing.

“I remember the day I heard about it,” Spirko said. “I cried. I love her so much and even though I’ve never met her, I feel like she’s really special [to me].”

According to Zimmerman’s blog, police and army officials were involved with the search as well as a team from Jakarta Animal Aid Network (JAAN) and Center for Orangutan Prevention (COP), which are all based in Indonesia.

“[We’re] working tirelessly to find information about Luna,” Zimmerman said, as they made regular sweeps through local villages and sought out leads on local smugglers and wildlife traffickers.

Spirko receive up-to-date emails and notices from the Outreach center and she said that when Luna first disappeared, they sounded really determined to find her. “She was supposed to be protected,” Spirko said.

Femke den Haas, founding director of JAAN, wrote, “It is simply not believable that a baby orangutan can just ‘disappear’ like that.”

But now, after months of searching and trying to figure out what had happened to her, a memorial has been posted on the Outreach’s website. According to Spirko, it seems like they’re losing hope of ever finding her again.

“She may very well have been captured by wildlife smugglers and sold,” said Zimmerman, “She may even have been smuggled out of Indonesia by now.”

In order to help raise awareness of what is happening to the great apes, Spirko and members of Students of Edinboro for Environmental Defense (SEED) are organizing a presentation.

“I hope the room is packed and that people will be willing to donate,” said Spirko. “I want people to know [Luna’s] story, because if she is dead, I don’t want her to have died in vain. For me personally… it’s a shout-out for Luna.”

More information on Orangutan Outreach can be found at their website, www.redapes.org.

Anna's Alcove

Let's do life together!

Tag: outreach

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