Glad to be saviors for endangered wildlife
Suganya Naidu, Contributor, Jakarta
As conservationists around the country desperately seek political recognition and economic aid for orangutan rehabilitation programs, children in the Jakarta vicinity undertake a similar but creative approach into securing the future of these primates.
As part of its annual social service project, students from Pondok Indah Elementary (PIE), Pattimura Elementary (PEL) and the Jakarta International Middle School (JIMS) in Cilandak, South Jakarta, engage in a four-hour walk-a-thon on campus, collecting sponsorial funds for every lap completed. The fund-raising activity generates millions of rupiah, intended for donations to the city's Ragunan Zoo and its orangutan rehabilitation efforts.
The number of orangutans in the latter's shelter has doubled during this year, increasing the demand for food drives to help out the administrators. Milk powder, seasonal fruits and vegetables are brought by the children to the center, where interaction with these curious creatures provides an enriching learning experience.
Environmentalists say the orangutan, found nowhere else in the world but Kalimantan and Sumatra, faces extinction because of the government's failure to enforce strict laws against illegal logging and prevention of forest fires. The animals have been driven from their natural habitat; those that manage to escape fires flee to areas populated by people, where they are often eaten or kept as pets in cruel circumstances.
The lucky few are brought to the rehabilitation centers.
"I love orangutans, they are so cute. I don't mind doing it for them," says sixth grader Mickey Jensen, one of the participants in the walk.
In addition to contributions in the locality, the schools extend their support for ventures of non-governmental rehabilitation centers in Sumatra and Kalimantan.
"In the future, these funds should also be used to offer a university scholarship to the child of an Indonesian staff at Jakarta International School to study biology or primates, encouraging the individual to continue helping the Indonesian rehabilitation program. That is the dream," said head of the OrangaWalk, Robert Weber.
Despite extensive measures to save them, the zoo's rehabilitation efforts are sometimes criticized in that high human-dependence and immediate provision of sustenance makes the return of these primates to their natural habitats a highly risky venture. Zoo authorities are concerned about their adaptation to forest-life after dwelling in captivity in Jakarta.
"As students, we are supposed to do whatever we can to help these poor creatures," said eighth grader Akane Omori.
Not only does the scheme benefit the orangutans, but funds and donations including clothing, bedding and toys are also supplied to Yayasan Kampus Diakoneia Modern (KDM) in Jakarta, which accommodates homeless children ranging from toddlers to teenagers.
"Half the students help out with sorting and packing of clothes and bedding while the other half go off to purchase books for constructing a proper library in that place," said Webber. "Not only does it fulfill the social service criterion, it is also a mean of assessing the kids' mathematical skills when they go off on their own."
Over the years, the OrangaWalk has reaped countless benefits on behalf of these primates as well as having taught the ecological value of the endangered species to the young generation.
The writer is a final-year student at Jakarta International Schooland is reporter/managing editor for the quarterly high school magazine, Feedback.