GUNUNG PALUNG ORANGUTAN CONSERVATION PROGRAM - Q1 2019 PROGRESS UPDATE:

Gunung Palung Orangutan Conservation Program (GPOCP) continues to make great strides in their work to conserve orangutan populations and forest habitat in and around Gunung Palung National Park.  During Q1 2019, the organization created an online catalog of their NTPF products (Non-Timber Forest Products) for local and foreign tourists to place orders, met with new members of GPCOP’s organic farming cooperative, Meteor Garden, to discuss organic farming practices, produced and packaged their first batches of honey, coconut oil and coffee as part of GPOCP’s Customary Forest initiative! GPOCP’s aquaculture group also made headway towards establishing a catfish breeding program and best practices methodology.  In addition, the Gunung Palung Orangutan Conservation Program was thrilled to announce that the Head of the Regency in Kayong Utara officially signed a MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) together with NTPF- EP Indonesia (Non-Timber Forest Products- Exchange Program); officially supporting local sustainable livelihoods in West Borneo to empower and benefit both the people and the forest.  

Apart from all these initiatives, GPOCP also made headway with their goal of educating the community about orangutans and their rainforest habitat.  In meeting this goal through the quarter, they offered six one-week long environmental expeditions engaging over 2,379 students in total and provided 11 school lectures to 1,308 students.  They also put on 21 puppet shows for 1,071 kindergarteners and engaged 265 adults through 12 community discussions. Through their educational mobile cinema events they reached 2,087 people.  In addition, they held 18 field trips for 813 students and launched an inaugural new volunteer youth group in Ketapang through carrying out a Field Trip for 13 new members inducted into this youth group called ‘’Tajam’’.  They also made time to broadcast 57 radio shows discussing orangutans, their rainforest habitat, and conservation and research activities conducted by GPOCP and lastly they published 126 articles in online and print media about current issues impacting conservation in Indonesia and GPOCP activities.  Quite impressive all the great work GPOCP achieved this quarter!

Project Name: Protecting Orangutans through Education and Sustainable Livelihoods
Organization Name: Gunung Palung Orangutan Conservation Program
Year Grant Awarded: 2017
Progress Update: Quarter 1, 2019 Project Update

Gunung Palung Orangutan Conservation Program - Q2/3 Progress Update:

Q2/3 Progress Update: The Gunung Palung Orangutan Conservation Program (GPOCP), along with local partners, planted 1,800 trees in the Gunung Palung National Park (GPNP) area to rehabilitate and preserve habitats for wildlife. GPOCP deepened their community engagement efforts with over 50 conservation educational programs - including lectures, field trips, community discussions, mobile cinema events, and workshops that reached more than 4,500 children and adults - to increase knowledge in the community on how to support the orangutan population and habitat in GPNP. The organization secured over 110 print, radio and online media placements to amplify community awareness of GPOCP’s conservation efforts, made a 5-year formal agreement to work collaboratively with the Department of Environment in the Kayong Utara regency, and also hosted both an Earth Day trash cleanup activity with the local government and World Orangutan Day community awareness event. GPOCP plans to engage the community in special programming for Orangutan Caring Week in November.

About Grantee: GPOCP’s mission is to conserve orangutan populations and forest habitat in and around Gunung Palung National Park. Recognizing that most threats to orangutan survival are human-induced, we take a multi-faceted community-based approach to orangutan conservation. We have developed a variety of initiatives that enable us to respond to both immediate threats to orangutan habitat (e.g., illegal land clearance) as well as longer-term ones (e.g., attitudes of villagers towards the forest). Central to each of our initiatives is our commitment to partnering with all of Gunung Palung’s stakeholders, including local communities, NGOs, and National Park and other government offices.

Project Summary: This project protects the unique natural and cultural resources of adventure travel destinations by working to conserve orangutans and one of their last primary rainforest refuges, through environmental education and providing sustainable livelihood options to local communities as a method to deter or change livelihoods from participating in environmentally destructive activities

Project Nominated by ATCF Member: ExOfficio
Project Name: Gunung Palung Orangutan Conservation Program
Grant Amount: $30,000
Grantee Name: Gunung Palung Orangutan Conservation Program  
Location: Indonesia

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Gunung Palung Orangutan Conservation Program - Indonesia

Q1 Progress Update: The Gunung Palung Orangutan Conservation Program (GPOCP) has engaged the local community in conservation efforts with over 15 educational programs that reached a total of 1,274 people, as well as facilitated 40 media opportunities, that aimed to improve the local community’s understanding of alternative ways of living that support rather than harm the orangutan population and habitat in the Gunung Palung National Park (GPNP) area. To further engage the community, the GPOCP expanded a youth artisan group that sells handicrafts in support of the organization, and also created an organic farming cooperative called, “Meteor Garden.” Looking forward, the GPOCP seeks to provide a growing number of educational experiences to new communities and launch the first edition of their Mias newsletter.

"The Gunung Palung Orangutan Conservation Program is honored to receive the support of the Adventure Travel Conservation Fund to protect orangutans and their rainforest habitat in West Kalimantan. We share similar visions of conserving natural resources while creating opportunities for the socioeconomic stability of local communities.This project targets the root of habitat destruction by educating local communities and working with them to provide sustainable livelihood options, such as organic farming, and selling handicrafts made from non-timber forest products. We look forward to this collaboration and the positive impact this project will have throughout this biodiverse landscape.” - Dr. Cheryl Knott, Director

About Grantee: GPOCP’s mission is to conserve orangutan populations and forest habitat in and around Gunung Palung National Park. Recognizing that most threats to orangutan survival are human-induced, we take a multi-faceted community-based approach to orangutan conservation. We have developed a variety of initiatives that enable us to respond to both immediate threats to orangutan habitat (e.g., illegal land clearance) as well as longer-term ones (e.g., attitudes of villagers towards the forest). Central to each of our initiatives is our commitment to partnering with all of Gunung Palung’s stakeholders, including local communities, NGOs, and National Park and other government offices.

Project Summary: This project protects the unique natural and cultural resources of adventure travel destinations by working to conserve orangutans and one of their last primary rainforest refuges, through environmental education and providing sustainable livelihood options to local communities as a method to deter or change livelihoods from participating in environmentally destructive activities

Project Nominated by ATCF Member: ExOfficio
Project Name: Gunung Palung Orangutan Conservation Program
Grant Amount: $30,000
Grantee Name: Gunung Palung Orangutan Conservation Program  
Location: Indonesia

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