My two week trip ends tomorrow (Sunday). I’ve had a wonderful trip. A rollarcoster of a journey both physical and emotional. The scale of the issues in Sumatra have overwhelmed me, to read about them is one thing but to be here and see them is another thing. I love wildlife thats what I do and love, capture nature’s beauty. I have seen things here that have upset me, angered me and my only way to help these voiceless animals is to show the world my images and with the help of SOS that’s what I intend on doing.
I already miss the Orangutans, their peacefulness, their human like behaviours. I have made a firm commitment to myself and SOS that I will help our closest relative. It’s easy to blame the palm oil but for me the blame lays with the government here, it’s they that don’t protect the national parks, it’s they that grant logging licenses, it’s they that allow the vile palm plantations to grow and increase, destroying the rainforests.
Global warming, weather patterns and much more are all affected by the brutal culture of deforestation that’s happening here in this region. Those wet and cold summers all down to changing weather, greenhouse gas and so on. So if the orangutans’ survival is not something you’re interested in then the changing weather we are getting should be.
Sumatran Orangutans are afforded the highest protection in law, these species are classified as critically endangered by the world conservation union – IUCN yet they are killed, kidnapped and poached, shot at, trapped and hurt each day in Sumatra. They are in the way, their home of protected park is being eroded around the edges with illegal logging each week and the Indonesian government does nothing to protect them or their homes.
I have seen burning of land and only yesterday I was taken to an area of primary forest inside the national park that has been cut down and burned. A westerner like myself, with a camera at such a sensitive site could have meant trouble for me should I have been compromised but it was my choice, my decision to see this place so I can show what’s happening. 300 year old trees lying on the ground, plants upside down still clinging to them as I filmed and photographed this I just couldn’t get my head around it. The place looked like a massive crime scene and in the distance I could hear a lone bang of an axe as someone deep inside the forest was felling yet another tree.
My last photo here before I head home is of a female with a baby in her arms, she’s wild and outside of the park in an area where 18 Orangutans are hanging on. Darma my guide and truly amazing man showed me this area. She paused here for a spilt second having seen me, its wasn’t until I looked through the viewfinder I could see she only had one eye. As I took a couple of photos I was saying to myself “you’re alright I’m not going to hurt you”, silly I know but I could see she was jumpy as I had caught her out here. She was scared, fearful of another attack maybe, I sensed her unease at seeing me.
My long lens also looked like a long gun which added to her nervousness. She moved and soon after disappeared back into this area where they are safe for the moment. Once I reviewed the image I showed it to the vet and he told me it’s probably through being shot, he then saw another pellet under her right eye, embedded into her skill, which confirmed she had lost her eye through being shot at, probably by a farmer who had taken the land she once lived and hunted in.
I just sat and zoomed in, this image for me sums up just how these amazing and enduring animals are treated by those that see them as a problem or a pest in Sumatra, how we as humans can do this to another living creature is beyond comprehension for me. I’ve cried, I’ve got mad, I’ve asked why so many times during my time here, I’ve been given amazing access by SOS to the work that’s going on here, I’ve seen the cruelty, the destruction for myself and you cannot fail to become angry.
The world really needs to see what’s going on and put pressure on this government to end this annihilation of the Orangutans and their habitat. If not these animals will disappear forever within a decade or sooner should current trends continue and then the forests will slowly die and the global warming, greenhouse gases and much more will impact every single one of us. If anyone thinks this is not the case take a flight out here and you’ll see what’s coming our way weather wise, with the sun being blocked out once they start the fires here again -something I’ve witnessed.
Never in all my life have I seen what I have seen out here, I’m moved to tears and all I want to do is help and go back into the jungles to see these guys. I’ve lived rough, washed with rainwater, climbed trees on ropes to gain a level viewpoint on them, joining them in their world on their terms, I’ve sweated in the intense heat and humidity to photograph these amazing animals.
I’ve seen wild, injured, ex pet Orangutans. I’ve witnessed a rescue in which mum and son where pulled apart while she was checked out by the vet. Images that I hope with the help of SOS will move the world to act.
I’ve hated mankind while I have been here but at the same time loved it, seeing the wonderful people that are helping these animals on a shoe string budget: cars that need repairing, equipment that needs updating. They have only just got a full time vet yet they work weeks and weeks sleeping on floors helping the Orangutans.
I am convinced that without the pressure from the few charities on the ground in Sumatra alot more Orangutans and forest would have vanished by now. And it’s to them all I give thanks and also Helen from SOS who has helped me to get out here and work alongside the teams. A trip I will never forget and its been an honour for me as a person to see these truly beautiful animals we share so much of our DNA with. I only hope the world can act and save them before its to late.
Thank you for reading everyone
longcall 