When they’re gone, they’re gone
At the end of 2017, we were delighted to team up with Lush to launch the #SOSsumatra campaign. The aim was to raise awareness of how perilously close to extinction orangutans are, and the effects of deforestation.
There are only 14,600 orangutans remaining in the wild in Sumatra. In tribute to them, Lush made 14,600 Orangutan Soaps, which flew off the shelves. You bought them in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Sweden, Austria, Ireland, Belgium, Norway, Czech Republic, Finland, Luxembourg, Portugal, Estonia, Switzerland and the UK! You bought so many that they sold out in many countries in a matter of days. Together, you and LUSH raised £126,014!
The money enabled our Indonesian partners, the Orangutan Information Centre, to buy 50 hectares of oil palm plantation land. They will restore native forest to an area on the edge of the Leuser Ecosystem in Bukit Mas (“Golden Hill”).
This part of the forest was under attack, with more and more orangutan habitat being lost every week as illegal agriculture encroached into the protected area.
By supporting us to buy this land on the edge of the national park, you and Lush are enabling us to hold back the tide of forest loss.