The Keruak Corridor ... links two existing forest reserves therefore enabling isolated groups of Orang-utans to travel over larger distances and to form more viable populations.
World Land Trust (WLT), the international conservation charity, has raised £1 million to save the rainforest home of Orang-utans and other endangered wildlife in the Lower Kinabatangan floodplain of Sabah, Borneo.
John Burton, CEO and Founder of World Land Trust, commented: "We have been overwhelmed by the response to our Borneo Rainforest Appeal. It was an ambitious target and we hoped our supporters would respond generously, as indeed they have done.
The Borneo Rainforest Appeal was organised in partnership with Hutan, a conservation NGO based in Sabah in Malaysian Borneo, one of the few remaining orangutan strongholds.
Orangutans and hundreds of other species will benefit
The funds raised will secure the Keruak Corridor, a critically important strip of forest along the north bank of the Kinabatangan River, which links two existing forest reserves therefore enabling isolated groups of Orang-utans to travel over larger distances and to form more viable populations.
Many other species will also benefit from the purchasing of the land between the protected areas including Pygmy Elephants and Proboscis Monkey.
To promote the Borneo appeal abroad, World Land Trust partnered with Rainforest Trust, a US-based non-profit conservation organisation, whose donation on the eve of World Land Trust's 25th Anniversary helped to reach the £1 million target.
Endangered by palm oil
Dr Paul Salaman, CEO of Rainforest Trust, said:
"The rapid expansion of oil palm plantations in Borneo has resulted in an unprecedented destruction of unique and rich tropical rainforests, putting the future of Borneo's Orang-utans in serious jeopardy.
"Thanks to thousands of donations, this appeal will help ensure the survival of important Orangutan and Pygmy elephant populations"
Dr Isabelle Lackman, Co-Director of Hutan, said: "We are now in the process of purchasing and permanently protecting a strategically important corridor of forest along the River Kinabatangan.
"The protection of the forest is crucial for the protection of species, and by connecting forests that are fragmented; we know we can save viable populations of Orang-utans."
More information: World Land Trust.
