BCA Once Agains Supports the Release of Orangutans and Organizes ‘Orangutan Goes to School’ Program at Samboja Lestari

Kalimantan Timur, 26 August 2019 – In the spirit of commemorating Indonesia’s 74^th Independence Day and Orangutan International Day which falls on 19 August, collaborating with the Borneo Orangutan Survival(BOS) Foundation, BCA continues its big mission, the #OrangutanFreedom, by releasing orangutans who have completed their rehabilitation program at the Orangutan Rehab Center of the BOS Foundation Samboja Lestari.

Attending the release was Head of BCA Balikpapan’s Main Branch Office (KCU) Eduard Hans Winarko, Head of BCA Regional Office XI for Operations Support Jedida Lauw, accompanied by Director of PT RHOI Aldrianto and Program Manager of Samboja Lestari Agus Irwanto, East Kalimantan, Monday (26/08).

On a separate occasion, Head of BCA Regional Office XI Mingto Purba stated that orangutans play a significant role in forest regeneration by spreading seeds from fruits they consume and in maintaining the balance of forest ecosystems, which is important to humans and a great number of other species. By conserving the habitat of orangutans, many other species sharing the habitat and local communities are more likely to benefit from it. 

“We continue to do our orangutan conservancy efforts in order to maintain a balanced ecosystem of flora and fauna in the area as well as adding value added and long-term benefits to the living space for the local community sharing the area. Since 2012, BCA has been actively supporting the conservation efforts in preserving these protected wildlife habitats,” said Mingto Purba. 

According to the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, in the 2019-2029 Orangutan Conservation Strategy and Action Plan, as of today, Indonesia is home to at least 60 thousand orangutans. Based on data from Indonesia Orangutan Forum (Forina), it was estimated that only 57,000 orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) remain in Kalimantan, and approximately 14,000 orangutans (Pongo abelii) in Sumatera. 

Current Biology reported nearly 150,000 orangutans have been lost in the island of Borneo in the past 16 years. Researchers revealed that the populations of the endangered species have declined by 50% as of 2015.  In addition, their populations are predicted to continue to decline by 45,000 by 2050. Deforestation and habitat loss are one of the leading causes in the endangered orangutan’s decline. 

Mingto Purba explained that today BCA and the BOS Foundation will once again release orangutans in Kehje Sewen Forest, Kutai Timur Regency, East Kalimantan. Until the mid of 2019, the BOS Foundation has released orangutans for the fourth time since the end of June 2019. This time, they will release four rehabilitated orangutans from the Orangutan Rehab Center of the BOS Foundation Samboja Lestari. In 2019, BCA has donated almost Rp350 million to support the release of orangutans, raising public awareness through the Orangutan Goes to School program and Public Awareness & Publicity program by releasing new special Flazz card design and also video screening about orangutan conservation on Jakarta’s big screens throughout the week in celebrating the International Orangutan Day.

BCA’s contribution to orangutan conservation is carried out through education. On Thursday-Saturday (22-24/08), BCA and the BOS Foundation also gave an Orangutan Conservation Education known as Orangutan Goes to School (OGTS) program to more than 450 students from 3 schools, namely SMA Negeri 1, SMK N 1, and SMK Utama Al Jabarnur Samboja. The event was also further strengthened by financial literacy activities. The Financial Literacy program was carried out as a manifestation of the vision of financial literacy in the Blue Print of the National Strategy on Indonesian Financial Literacy, which is to create the Indonesian society which have high financial literacy (well literate) so the society can choose and utilize the financial products and services in improving their welfare. The 2019 OGTS program targets an implementation at 15 schools in Samboja dan Palangkaraya. 

According to Mingto Purba, they realize that wild animals as orangutans should live freely in their natural habitats, considering they are the world’s largest tree-climbing mammal. “Going forward, we continue to strive to provide the people with education and awareness programs so they can participate and create a sustainable environmental preservation,” Mingto concluded his remarks.

BCA Supports Orangutan Release – Head of KCU BCA Balikpapan Eduard Hans Winarko (second left) accompanied by Head of BCA Regional Office XI for Operations Support Jedida Lauw (left) symbolically handed over a donation for Orangutan Conservation to the Director of PT Restorasi Habitat Orangutan Indonesia (RHOI) Aldrianto (second right) and BOSF-Program Manager of Samboja Lestari Agus Irwanto (right) at the Orangutan Release at Samboja Lestari, Kalimantan, Sunday (25/08). BCA donated almost Rp350 million for the support of the orangutan release, public awareness through the Orangutan Goes to School and Public Awareness & Publicity program. Collaborating with the Borneo Orangutan Survival(BOS) Foundation, BCA continues its big mission, the #OrangutanFreedom, by releasing orangutans who have completed their rehabilitation program at the Orangutan Rehab Center of the BOS Foundation Samboja Lestari.