Updated on Jul 24th 2011 at 6:42 PM from the JustGiving API
1st of a few car boots done this am! Wud only get up at 5am on a sunday for charity!! Thanks for all donations so far!
Thank you for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.
In November I am taking part in a trek through the rainforest in Borneo to raise money with the WSPA for the NyaruMentengOrangutan sanctuary.
Orangutans are a critically endangered species; they once lived throughout the whole of Asia but now are found only in South East Asia on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. The main reason for the decline of the orangutan is the destruction of its habitat. Orangutans are wholly depenedent upon trees for their survival.
I want to raise money to help save these fantastic creatures who just want to live their lives quietly up in the trees undisturbed. It is down to humans that they are in such an endangered state, our unsustainable demand for palm oil, illegal logging and mining is destroying the rainforest at a such a state and the orangutan is the innocent victim.In Indonesia three million hectares of rainforest is destroyed every year which is the equivalent to ten football pitches every minute. It is estimated that by 2022 98% of Indonesia’s rainforest will be gone.
It is common practice in the palm oil industry to burn the land to clear it for plantations,orangutans living up in the trees have no escape from these fires and are trapped. The ones who do getaway have lost their homes and their food source and so have to go looking for food elsewhere and often they stray into villages and farms. Here they are met with hostility by humans who will kill them on sight or catch them and sell them into the illegal pet trade.
Kesi is one such victim. Starving and looking for food Kesi’s mother was forced to travel to a village in the search of food. Her mother is too weak to climb and so walks with Kesi holding on, when suddenly they are attacked by villagers with machetes. Kesi’s mother is killed and she herself, just three months old at the time, has her hand cut off with a machete as she is holding tightly to her mother. Luckily Kesi isn’t killed, probably to be sold into the illegal pet trade. Kesi also has a scar on her left foot which is possibly from the same machete that cut off her hand and killed her mother while she clung to her.
With the help of the carers at the sanctuary Kesi can now climb smaller trees using her toes to hang on. However she still needs help getting back down and when a carer doesn’t get to her fast enough she will shout as loudly as she can
The Nyaru Menteng Centre founded in 1999 is now the world's largest orangutan conservation facility, looking after around 650 orphaned orangutans. Its teams work in difficult conditions and have managed to save over 300 orangutans from palm oil plantations and they also confiscate pet orangutans. Howver, the good work the sanctuary does can only continue with your help. If the centre were to close then the governemnt would come in and take over, most of the orangutans would be euthanized with only a few left to draw in the tourists and then who would save the orangutans who have lost their homes, who have been captured to be sold, orphaned infants who have lost their mothers? So many more would die without the Nyaru Menteng sanctuary.
Anything you can do to help me to raise money to save these magnificent creatures would be greatly appreciated. Whether it be a donation, no matter how small or fundraising ideas to help me on my way. You can donate either online via the donate button below, or text FAYE86 followed by the amount you would like to donate e.g. FAYE86 £1 to 70070. Thank you for all your help it means a great deal both to me and to the orangutans you are helping to save.
