Orang Utan Republik Foundation Receives Tax-Exempt Status
December 1, 2008 - Santa Monica, CA. The Orang Utan Republik Education Initiative (OUREI) has been operating since 2004 as a project under the legal umbrella of Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs (SEE) to create and deliver education and outreach programs benefitting orangutan survival. Through SEE’s tax-exempt status in the United States, founders Gary and Inggriani Shapiro have raised public funds to support OUREI’s diverse programs in Indonesia.
Biofuel Boom Endangers Orangutan Habitat
October 19, 2008- reprinted from the Los Angeles Times. Palm oil plantations are encroaching on rain forest reserves on the Indonesia island of Borneo, where the endangered primates live.
TANJUNG PUTING NATIONAL PARK, INDONESIA - In the rush to feed the world's growing appetite for climate-friendly fuel and cooking oil that doesn't clog arteries, the Bornean orangutan could get plowed over.
A Mark of Distinction for First Orangutan Caring Scholarship Recipient
October 22, 2008 - Santa Monica, CA. The Orangutan Caring Scholarship (OCS) was established in 2006 as a joint program of OUREI and the Sumatran Orangutan Society (SOS). The purpose of the program was to award talented and needy Indonesian students in Sumatra with tuition funding allowing them to attend postgraduate programs in Forestry and Biology. Through the program, recipients would develop an understanding of the plight of the orangutan from the perspective of the nongovernmental organization. They would then graduate as an advocate of orangutan conservation when entering the government workforce. The collaboration between OUREI and SOS has allowed this program to expand each year to include a larger number of recipients. OUREI has been providing the funding and SOS administers the actual competition via outreach to schools, evaluation of submitted proposals, and selection process to determine the recipients.
Orangutan Caring Week 2008 Highlights Cooperation
October 11, 2008 - Santa Monica, CA. Orangutans will be celebrated once again by individuals and organizations during Orangutan Caring Week, November 9-15, 2008. It is an opportunity for the public to learn more about this marvelous species, their role in the rainforest environment of Borneo and Sumatra, and their continuing struggle to survive. It is also a time where people can consider how they can help save the species and their forest habitat for future generations.
OUREI Acknowledges Current and Former Recipients of Scholarships and Fellowships
August 17, 2008- Medan, Sumatra. During an Indonesian Independence Day dinner held at a seaside restaurant with members of OUREI's inaugural Sumatran Ecotour, former and current recipients of the Orangutan Caring Scholarships and the LP Jenkins Fellowships were honored and acknowledged for their academic achievements and efforts to better understand the orangutan. Seven of the eight recipients of the Orangutan Caring Scholarship (OCS) were in attendance as well as three of past and current LP Jenkins Fellowship recipients.
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