REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, BALIKPAPAN -- The Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOSF) will release four orangutans and return the one that came from Samboja Lestari to the Kehje Sewen Forest, to mark 25 years of dedicated work in the field of orangutan conservation. With this, the total number of orangutans released by the BOS Foundation to the protected Kehje Sewen Forest since 2012 will come to 49, BOSF spokesman Nico Hermanu said in a press statement here on Tuesday.

The orangutan release program is being carried out by the BOS Foundation, together with the East Kalimantan Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA). The plan to release these animals is also in support of the Kaltim Green and Economic Green programs, launched by East Kalimantan Governor Prof. H. Awang Faroek Ishak. Releasing orangutans back to their natural habitat is beneficial to the habitat and for conserving the biodiversity of our forests in East Kalimantan.

Awang said he would like to remind everyone of the importance of preserving nature to mitigate the effects of global warming. Orangutans help spread seeds and open the forest canopy. Therefore, they are our most important conservation partners. "I completely support the rehabilitated orangutan release effort and expect to see these released orangutans thrive and become an independent and sustainable wild population," Awang said.

The five orangutans, three males and two females, will be transported overland from the Samboja Lestari Centre to Muara Wahau, the sub-regent capital of East Kutai Regency. The journey will take about 12 hours, with the team making pit stops every two hours to check the orangutans. From Muara Wahau, the trip will take another five hours to reach a point located about 200 meters from the Telen River at the edge of the Kehje Sewen Forest, where land vehicles can go no further.

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