Orang Utan Republik Foundation Awarded US Fish and Wildlife Grant
16 September 2010 - Santa Monica, CA. The Orang Utan Republik Foundation (OURF) received notification from the United States Fish & Wildlife Department it received a grant award of $34,896 under the Great Ape Conservation Fund. With the federal funding and additional matching support from OURF and the Australian Orangutan Project, OURF and its sister group OUREI Indonesia will purchase and manage the MECU (mobile education and conservation unit), a 4-wheel drive pickup. The MECU will enable conservation educators of the Orangutan Caring Club of North Sumatra to access villages along the border of Gunung Leuser National Park for the purpose of reducing human/ape conflict through education.
Grant Manager Dan Benveniste said that this is an opportunity to increase the capacity of the Orangutan Caring Club to deliver effective conservation education in more remote area using the curricula standards developed during the Sumatran Orangutan Education Conference, Workshop & Summit in 2006. Also the pickup will allow the Club to bring supplies for tree-planting and other conservation and sustainable agriculture activities.
The Caring Club has been upgrading its ability to develop into an effective community-based social organization to provide quality education to local people that will encourage them to save the orangutan and its forest habitat for future generations. Last year, the Caring Club acquired office space which allowed them to attract volunteers but they have been in need of their own vehicle. Despite the need, they delivered presentations to local schools and at public events. They will now be able to extend their reach to conflict areas near the Leuser ecosystem where orangutans and gibbons are at risk. As part of the process they will form partnerships with villages to help improve sustainable agricultural practices.
OURF President Gary Shapiro said the MECU was one of his priorities in 2010. With the grant, OURF can demonstrate its ability to administer a federally funded program for the benefit of orangutan and gibbon conservation.
