Thank you for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.  I will be running the Brighton Marathon in April 2017 for International Animal Rescue (IAR), a charity that is saving animals from suffering around the world. 

While the charity cares for a wide variety of animals, I first heard of them when I read the shocking headline that “orangutans will be extinct from the planet within 10 years unless action is taken to preserve forests in Indonesia and Malaysia where they live” (Alan Knight, CEO IAR for Independent.co.uk, 2016).  The orangutans are suffering and dying because of the systematic destruction of the rainforest, primarily for palm oil production, particularly in Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo.

The IAR team is working in West Kalimantan to come to the aid of orangutans left stranded when their forest home is destroyed and translocates these vulnerable animals to safe areas of protected forest.  Any that can no longer survive in the wild are given a permanent home at their centre.  Their project is an ambitious one, but they are committed to rescuing and rehabilitating as many orangutans as possible and giving them a second chance to live safely in their natural environment. 

By rescuing individual animals belonging to species like the orangutan and reintroducing them into protected areas in the wild, IAR’s work plays a crucial role in the conservation of the species as a whole.

“It is surely our responsibility to do everything within our power to create a planet that provides a home not just for us, but for all life on Earth” (David Attenborough, 2016).

The thought of running the Brighton marathon is both exciting and incredibly daunting, with lots of training ahead.  However, if I can help critically endangered orangutans in some small way by supporting the incredible work that IAR are undertaking in Kalimantan, I am sure it will spur me on towards the finish line!

This is how the money you donate will help the plight of the orangutans in Indonesia:

• £3.00 will buy enough bananas to feed ten baby orangutans.
• £10.00 will buy a tire swing to get orphaned orangutans off of the ground and up amongst the tress where they belong – they can take a snooze in them too!
• £15.00 will buy three lifesaving syringes full of essential nutrients and vitamins to help save any malnourished baby orangutans arriving at the centre.
• £25.00 will buy a wheelbarrow to carry a barrowload of playful primates to their forest enclosure in style – orangutans spend 90% of their time in the trees, so it’s no surprise that they’re not that keen on walking!
• £50.00 will provide the constant care of a human “babysitter” for a frightened and vulnerable orangutan orphan.
• £100.00 will buy a climbing frame to help the rescued orangutans build up the strength and skills they will need once they are back in the forest and swinging in the trees.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and for anything you might be able to donate!

For more information on International Animal Rescue, please go to:

Website: https://www.internationalanimalrescue.org

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/internationalanimalrescue

Twitter: https://twitter.com/IAR_updates

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/AnimalRescueVideos