Reflections on Sumatra by Craig Jones

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

Message from Craig Jones in Sumatra

Hello! It’s Monday evening in Sumatra as I type and I have just enjoyed my first proper shower for 8 days and its was magic! I am in a hotel in Medan after a truly amazing 7 days so far. The Orangutans are so beautiful, just so beautiful, the devastation of this country though is hard to believe once you see it. The palm plantations are massive and just everywhere, heart breaking to see.

Tomorrow I head out again until Saturday photographing different projects etc. My first three days in Sumatra were spent in and around Gunung Leuser National Park with Darma. A brilliant and very passionate naturist. Sleeping in a small hut and washing with rain water from a tank and a bucket. Have to say it wakes you up though. We walked 20km a day, up and down among primary rainforest, with my kit at around 70 pounds and daytime temp of 35c and the humidity at around 70-80% its truly been the toughest conditions I’ve faced photographic wise. The air you breath out feels like the same air you breath in is the best way I can explain, or go run a bath, close the door when you leave, go back after ten minutes, and thats what its like…

But every ounce of graft and sweat has been worth seeing these amazing Orangutans. For two days we tracked the Orangutans in the national park seeing a mixture of rescued ones and wild and on the third day Darma took me to a place where 18 Orangutans live and are hanging on. I saw some wonderful moments but more on that when I get back.
After those days with Darma that I truly loved and was sad to leave him and his family that had looked after me we headed to another place but on the way we had a call and everything changed. A female and her baby were trapped in an area known to SOS and OIC the guys on the ground here. I found myself on the way north to an area thats totally ravaged by palm oil. We stayed in a local’s house, almost ten of us sleeping on the floor on mats. I watched and photographed the vet and staff getting ready for the resue before getting a little sleep. Dawn broke and we were up, coffee is amazing in Sumatra one of their many exports. The team went through what everyone was going to do just before the final drop off as we all prepared to see if the female and her baby could be moved and in turn saved from the vile landscape that had surrounded her. The team were successful, but its was hard to watch as the Orangutans became very stressed. This is the very last resort the team have and try all other possibilities beforehand. Hearing their dislike and upset is tough and in the end they managed to dart the female and she dropped from the tree into the net below. She was then moved up on to flat land so the vet could do his checks. Before this though the baby has to be separated from its mother straight away. Both where released successfully in a safe place and lets hope they survive.

I won’t have much wifi now so this maybe the only images I post, I hope this image not only tells the story of that day but also shows theres hope and that people are working so hard to keep these animals alive.
Goodbye for now from Sumatra as I enjoy my first mattress too for 8 days :0) I hope you all like the image.

Spotlight Sumatra

Sumatra is an incredibly special island. The Gunung Leuser National Park in the north is the only place in the world where orangutans, elephants, rhinos and tigers all coexist.

Spotlight Sumatra is a celebration of the breathtaking array of life found in the island’s unique rainforests, and a call to action to collectively do all that we can to save this fragile ecosystem, the last stronghold for many critically endangered species.

Wildlife photographer Craig Jones will be travelling to Sumatra in September 2012, capturing images which will help us show the world all that there is to lose if we don’t act now to protect Sumatra’s forests. This is the first of Craig’s guest blogs, as he prepares for the trip of a lifetime into the Sumatran rainforest.

I will be travelling to the island of Sumatra in mid September for two weeks. Alongside my guides, we will venture deep into the jungles for up to three or four days at a time, even longer if we are lucky, to track and photograph wild Sumatran orangutans. Jungle life will be basic but great, trekking by day and sleeping in hammocks by night. I have many ideas and plans for different images and photographs, that SOS can use to help raise awareness of the plight of this Great Ape – maybe the first Great Ape to become extinct should current trends continue in the destruction of their forest homes.

With many tour operators, photographers and members of the public venturing to the island of Borneo to see and photograph orangutans, I was shocked that very few people go to Sumatra. I hope to show the world Sumatra needs help just as much in saving its rainforests as the neighbouring island of Borneo.

Only 6600 critically endangered Sumatran orangutans remain in the wild. Most of these depend on the rainforest habitat provided by the Gunung Leuser National Park in northern Sumatra for their survival. Removal of illegal palm oil plantations, replanting and guarding the orangutans’ home territory along with education and public information campaigns are carried out by the Sumatran Orangutan Society and their partners in Sumatra, the Orangutan Information Centre.

SOS is dedicated to the conservation of Sumatran orangutans and their forest home and their work is helping to protect and conserve this area for the future. I first saw one of these amazing animals in the year 2000 in a rehabilitation centre in Thailand, where I saw a male orangutan, an experience that touched deep into my soul, as I watched and looked into the eyes of one of our closest living relatives in the animal kingdom.

This has stayed with me until the present day and now I am trying to help in my own way by using my photography to help SOS, in turn helping this animal. The principal focus of my trip will be the orangutan, capturing them within their natural habitat, looking for behaviours to capture and so on. I will be capturing some beautiful photographs of these animals, alongside images showing their rainforest home. I will visit some of the most magnificent forests on Earth, which are also the domain of many other beautiful and stunning animals and birds, some of which only live in this part of the world and nowhere else on the planet. I will be using my tracking skills and fieldcraft, camouflage and jungle survival, having spent some time in these environments previously as a member of the armed forces.

I will be reporting back once I reach the few places where there is internet access, and you’ll be able to read my updates from the field on this SOS blog. I will be capturing images of SOS and OIC’s different projects but on the whole my time will be spent in the jungle, listening and watching for clues of what wildlife is around us. I am looking forward to meeting and working with the locals there, whose knowledge of these jungles is second to none and without whose skills it would take me much longer to navigate this landscape.

I cannot wait to wake up to hear the sights and sounds of the jungle, the calls, the noise, the smells… It’s going to be an amazing two week adventure where I hope to capture the beauty of this animal with my lens, which is controlled with my heart and eyes. I will be getting involved also helping the locals, I will be presenting some short films and slideshows showing them wildlife outside of Sumatra. A lot of people will not have ventured outside of their native country but it’s my aim to bring wildlife to them during the time I am there using a small bicycle-powered cinema which is used for educational talks and film screenings.

The sole aim of this trip is to highlight the plight of this most beautiful of apes. I will be showing you the kit I’m taking, clothing and equipment, posting live updates and hopefully transporting you to this rarely visited part of the world.

We will soon be adding more details about special Spotlight Sumatra events and initiatives – watch this space!

Welcoming our new Patron: Suzi Eszterhas

We are proud to announce award-winning wildlife photographer Suzi Eszterhas as our new Patron. Suzi specialises in documenting the family life of wild animals, and you’ll recognise many of her gorgeous orangutan photos from the SOS website! She has won many awards, including in the prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition.

Talking about her support for SOS, Suzi said:

“I’m thrilled to be a Patron of the Sumatran Orangutan Society. It is one of those small, grassroots charities that I really believe in. They are doing real work on the ground that I have witnessed with my own eyes. I am so impressed by the organisation’s ability to use its resources wisely and have such a broad reach.”

Thank you for your kind words Suzi! We were first introduced when Suzi was planning a trip to Sumatra to photograph orangutans in the Gunung Leuser National Park in 2010 – and she has been a supporter of the charity ever since, providing stunning images to help promote the cause and spreading the word about our work at every opportunity.

Orangutan conservation is a cause that is very close to Suzi’s heart:

 “I can’t imagine not wanting to save Sumatran orangutans. As one of the world’s most critically endangered great apes, they are a species that conservationists should target. What is happening to their habitat as we speak is so appalling; I just have to do something to stop it…I have no idea how someone could be passionate about wildlife photography and not desperately want to protect the species and habitats they photograph.”

The first orangutan Suzi ever saw and photographed in the wild was a Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii) – a species that is distinct from the Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus). It was a memorable experience:

“It was a young sub-adult male sitting quietly, high in a tree. I remember his beautiful reddish fur being beautifully back-lit in the morning sun. He spent a lot of time gazing off into the forest and there was such a profound look in his eyes. I don’t want to sound too anthropomorphic, but I really think there were some incredibly deep thoughts floating around in his mind.”

We’re delighted to welcome Suzi as Patron of SOS. Her stunning images combined with her knowledge and passion for conservation make her a wonderful ambassador for the charity. SOS works hard to secure a brighter future for the Sumatran orangutan, and having Suzi on the team will help us raise awareness of the threats facing this critically endangered species, and our work to protect them.

Sumatran orangutans are critically endangered and without urgent action could be the first Great Ape species to become extinct. SOS is determined to turn this situation around through a combination of rainforest restoration, community-led conservation, and campaigning.  To find out how you can support SOS in its work to protect vital orangutan habitat please visit www.orangutans-sos.org/help

Find out more about Suzi and view her stunning portfolio of wildlife images from around the world at: http://www.suzieszterhas.com/