By Cassie Freund, Program Director On June 26th, GPOCP awarded six new Bornean Orangutan Caring Scholarships, bringing the total number of young conservationists that we support to an impressive 19 students. This program, known in Indonesia as the BOCS, is a university scholarship program funded by the Orang Utan Republik Foundation and Orangutan Outreach. GPOCP […]
By Cassie Freund, Program Director The Community Forest Initiative, or Hutan Desa, as it is known in Indonesia, is one of GPOCP’s core orangutan conservation programs. For the past two years we have been working with over 90 people in five villages to the north of Gunung Palung National Park, helping them through the process […]
By Dr. Amanda West, GPOCP GIS Consultant Last year, I was recruited by GPOCP to evaluate critical habitat for the Bornean orangutan in and around Gunung Palung National Park. Map results from this research will provide explicit geographic information that can be used to enhance monitoring efforts and conservation planning in the region. This month, […]
By Cassie Freund, Program Director Disseminating information about orangutans, the rainforest, and other environmental issues through radio broadcasts has been in GPOCP’s repertoire of conservation activities for almost 17 years. During that time, we have reached an estimated 400,000 people per month, broadcasting thousands of talk shows and radio commercials promoting the conservation of the […]
By Cassie Freund, GPOCP Program Director Finding steady work and earning enough income to support a family remains a very real challenge to many of the communities living around Gunung Palung. Most adults are under-educated and there are very few employment options for them in the villages. It is no surprise, then, that people turn […]
By Cassie Freund, Program Director One of the ongoing questions for the GP conservation team lies in how to best evaluate and measure our impact on orangutan conservation. Sometimes the effects of our activities, like wildlife crime investigations, are tangible and can be seen almost instantaneously, but our environmental education and conservation awareness programs present […]
