The situation in Nyaru Menteng has become very desperate. We are faced with the task of finding approximately $1.5 million annually to keep the project running. If we fail to achieve this, the government, who owns all the land, facilities and the orangutans themselves, could take over. If this happens, it is likely most orangutans will be euthanised, and a few left to bring in tourists. Rescues and confiscations will cease, as the Indonesian government would not want to admit there is a problem. The recent fires which reached unanticipated levels of destruction have only made matters worse. Already many more orangutans have been rescued, and in the months to come, as a result of a severely diminished habitat, many more orangutans will be flushed out of the small pockets of forest and need rescuing. It is hard to anticipate accurately what impact this will have on the Nyaru Menteng project.
We are therefore grateful for any amount of assistance we may get, big or small, so that we may continue this important work, and not be faced with making the decision that we cannot afford to rescue any more orangutans.
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