What is the Orangutan Foundation International?
Donations to the Orangutan Foundation International (OFI) help them in their mission to protect and preserve orangutans and their habitats.
OFI funds patrols in Tanjung Puting National Park to keep illegal loggers and miners from destroying orangutan habitat. The group also plants new trees in areas that have been disturbed to help restore the rain forest, growing the seedlings and saplings in their nursery and hiring locals to plant the mature trees.
OFI also manages the Lamandau Nature Reserve with the Natural Resources Department of the Indonesian Forestry. The reserve is the result of OFI’s work with local and national government officials to save a former logging concession from being converted to a palm oil plantation. The reserve also serves as a secure release site for orangutans “graduating” from the Orangutan Care Center and Quarantine. The care center built by OFI was designed for confiscated orangutans that medical treatment and care in order to reintroduce them to the wild.
An education center and herbarium allows OFI to educate and train local students and academics about issues regarding orangutan and rain forest conservation and research.
OFI was founded in 1986 by Dr. Biruté Mary Galdikas, who has researched orangutans in Borneo for 38 years and is the world’s foremost authority on orangutans. As president of OFI she oversees the organizations operations in Indonesia, including Camp Leakey where orangutans are researched and, in many ways, lived with. Dr. Galdikas also leads orangutan tours annually.
After nearly four decades of tireless work in the Indonesian rain forest, Dr. Galdikas has earned the respect of the Indonesian government and conservationists worldwide. From 1996 to 1998 Galdikas served as a Senior Advisor to Indonesia’s Ministry of Forestry on orangutan issues. In 1997, she won the prestigious “Kalpataru” award, the highest honor given by the Republic of Indonesia for outstanding environmental leadership. She is the only person of non-Indonesian birth and one of the first women to be so recognized by the Indonesian government.
Featured twice on the cover of National Geographic, and the author of numerous scientific articles and two books, Galdikas has also been featured in Life, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, and numerous television shows.
Dr. Galdikas has been recognized by many national and international organizations, including the United Nations and the Sierra Club. Her awards include:
- Indonesia’s Hero for the Earth Award (Kalpataru)
- Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement
- Institute of Human Origins Science Award
- Officer, Order of Canada
- PETA Humanitarian Award
- United Nations Global 500 Award
- Sierra Club Chico Mendes Award
- Eddie Bauer Hero for the Earth
- Queen Elizabeth II Commemorative Medal (Canada)
- Chevron Conservation Award
- Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Medal (Canada)
