OUREI Awards Two Fellowships for Understanding Human-Orangutan Conflict
June 4, 2008 – Santa Monica, CA- The Orang Utan Republik Education Initiative (OUREI), a Santa Monica-based conservation education group, has awarded two L.P. Jenkins Memorial Fellowships to Gail Campbell-Smith and Panut Hadisiwoyo in support of their research to better understand the factors influencing human and orangutan conflict in North Sumatra, Indonesia.
One of the recipients, Gail Campbell-Smith (University of Kent), was a previous recipient of the fellowship, named in honor of Lorraine Phyllis Jenkins, mother of Dr. Gary Shapiro, OUREI Chairman. Ms. Campbell-Smith will use the US$1,000 fellowship to complete her doctoral research on the first study of human-orangutan conflict and on the behavior of isolated orangutans in various agricultural-forest zones within North Sumatra. Such understanding is vital in order to distinguish between the perceived and actual conflicts as well as develop strategies to mitigate those conflicts. Because encounters between human and orangutan typically lead to the death of the latter, reducing or eliminating the threat to both species is in the best interest of orangutan and human alike.
Panut Hadisiswoyo, an Indonesian national who is completing his Master’s Degree (University of Oxford), will be working in a different area of North Sumatra than Ms. Campbell-Smith. He will apply his US$1,000 fellowship towards examining the social and economic impacts of crop raiding by the orangutan and other species as well the types of crops and perceived temporal patterns of crop raiding. He will also examine crop raiding prevention methods being used by farmers and the relationship of human-wildlife conflict and the illegal pet trade.
Both recipients are members of the Sumatran Orangutan Society (SOS), an nongovernmental organization (NGO) who has been involved in developing conservation education programs in Indonesia for over 10 years. OUREI has been partnering with SOS and other Indonesian NGOs to develop more effective education and outreach programs with the goal of insuring orangutan survival by inspiring and enrolling local Indonesians to be part of the conservation solution.
