In this month FNPF staff and our Belgium volunteers along with the villager have finished most of the water purification unit for each couple who live at Tanjung Harapan Village. Lately we have worse water problem not only at the village but also along Sekonyer river from Tanjung Harapan area until up river of the gold mining area. We have made any necessary action to respond the problem.

In this occasion we would like to invite you to sign the petition for Sumatran Orangutan Here with our staff report for November - Dec 07 period in detail

Thank you very much for all of your support.

Sincerely yours,

Drh I Gede Nyoman Bayu Wirayudha
Director of FNPF.

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Activities report by FNPF staff

Orangutan rehabilitation program

We are still doing our orangutan rehabilitation program in Kumai as we still could not enter the park area. We just built a cage for Butet and Lady because we think that he could not stay with Butet and Lady anymore.

We did the faecal examination to the three babies on the first week of this month. We did not find any significant finding. Butet got diarrhoea problem on November 24. He was quite dehydrated. We give him an intensive care and isolate him with the other two babies. In the end of November he had recover from his problem.

Morinda Project

We have tried to plan some of Morinda tree at some different places to find out in which area it will grow the best at Tanjung harapan. The 1300 seedlings that we have in our nursery unit are growing well. We are now try to socialise the idea to the villager. We would like to convince the villager that it is very useful plant. They could consume the fruit daily to increase vitality and also to prevent and cure some diseases. Beside that we could sell the bark of the root for natural dye material.

Even this project will not give an instant impact / result some of the villagers already willing to plant this tree on their land.

Water Quality Survey

On December 06, 2002 we got information from our Belgium Volunteer that there were a lot of fishes found died and struggle at Sekonyer river. The day after that we went to Tanjung Harapan along with CII staff and other local NGO to see by our self and try to get any necessary action that we may could do. We took some water sample and roots started from Kumai bay to Sekonyer River. At Sekonyer river we started from the estuary, Rantau Panjang area, Tanjung Harapan village area, Camp Leakey - Natai Lengkuas intersection, Natai Tengah and the last sample that we took was at Aspai area ( illegal gold mining area ). We sent the sample to the BAPEDALDA office ( the local environment office ) along with other water sample and died fishes that Safier group ( the Belgium volunteer ) have been taken at Cerukcuk area and the palm oil plantation area up river from Aspai.

According to some gold miners in Aspai the pollution had happened about a week ago and it is also been told by the farmer who work near by this area at Natai Tengah. The said the pollution came from up river from Aspai. They also informed us that when they used the water to take a bath they feel itchy on their skin. According to them the water came from the palm oil plantation who drain their waste product to Sekonyer river. According one of the villager at Tanjung Harapan he got stomach problem when he consume shrimp and fish from Sekonyer river. Right now they could not use the water from the river anymore.

During our survey we saw quite a lot dying and died fishes, the water smell very bad and could make us had ache.

The survey was supported by CI-I and other local NGO PILEK.

Sincerely yours

Drh. I Made Sugiartha and FNPF Staff

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Michelle Desilets
Balikpapan Orangutan Survival Foundation UK
Buckinghamshire, England

Dear Friends,

Many of you have heard from me in the last week regarding the Ladia Galaska and other road-building schemes currently threatening the Sumatran rainforest (where I studied orangutans in 1999). After Ian and Yarrow's announcement here on the orangutan network, I posted a website with some sample letters and further information: http://www.duke.edu/~mym1/ladia_galaska.htm

One way to fight the roads is to encourage international donor agencies to put pressure on the central government of Indonesia -- making future funding conditional on halting the destruction now. Based on letters that others have written to the World Bank, I have initiated a petition to the president of the World Bank group, which is now online at: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/935075622

Please sign the petition, and help spread the word. The goal is to get 5,000 signatures very quickly (within the next 4-6 weeks) so we can act on this before it is too late.

You can find out more about the situation on my website at:
http://www.duke.edu/~mym1/ladia_galaska.htm

Thank you all for your help in averting this impending crisis.

Peace,
Michelle