Did you know Orangutans play a part in planting their own forest?

Did you know Orangutans play a part in planting their own forest?

From observations made by the Tanjung Puting National Park Rangers  and other researchers, Orangutans have been seen to help maintain their own forest. They turn over the soil on the forest floor searching for termites, in so doing ‘planting’ seeds fallen from trees above.

As orangutans feed, moving across the canopy from fruit tree to fruit tree, they spit out or defaecate seeds, spreading their special trees across a wide area when they germinate below.

Many seeds need to be processed through a digestive tract to germinate.


Young Orangutan spreading their special trees across a wide area

Monkeys such as Long Tailed Macaques also do this, the proof being the forest now surrounding the Rimba Orangutan Ecolodge on the Sekonyer River, Kalimantan. Built in 1998 on bare agricultural ‘ladang’ on the edge of the swampy river, Macaques were fed there till about 2015, as an attraction for guests, but the monkeys brought seeds from their normal food with them. Now there are enormous buttress rooted trees all around, so large that orangutans and Proboscis monkeys pass through the canopy. Once there were trees then of course there were birds joining in!

Macaques monkey at Rimba Ecolodge

The trees which will be planted in the reafforestation project beginning this month will be from seeds collected from trees sought by orangutans.

Each tree has a GPS position and genus name, recorded as it is planted, so mortality can be recorded and trees replaced if possible.

More exciting information on the tree project next time!

See the beautiful profile of Tanjung Puting National Park here…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?fbclid=IwAR11-axzNpt6O1Fa2WNyc9qKvvr1oX_jLeEYwLnOqTmrGiN6tY4uWvKa8JE&v=UDQTDNP0t9o&feature=youtu.be

Please pass this information to interested parties on Social media through our links to :

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TWITTER (@ecolodges_ID)

For DONATE, Visit our official pages on our website https://ecolodgesindonesia.com/conservation-foundation/ with guidelines how to donate.

We need your support to protect this vital group of conservationists around key Indonesian national parks.

BAHASA INDONESIA

Tahukah anda kalau Orangutan berperan dalam menanam pohon di hutan mereka?

Dari observasi yang dilakukan oleh Balai Taman Nasional Tanjung Puting dan peneliti lainnya, bahwa Orangutan telah membantu menjaga hutan mereka sendiri. Mereka menggemburkan tanah di hutan untuk mencari rayap, lalu melakukan ‘penanaman’ benih yang jatuh dari atas pohon.

Saat Orangutan mencari makan, mereka bergerak melintasi kanopi dari satu pohon ke pohon buah lainnya, kemudian mereka meludahkan biji atau membuang kotoran, yang secara tidak langsung membantu meyebarkan benih pohon di hutan.


Orangutan menyebarkan pohon khasnya di area yang luas

Monyet ekor Panjang juga melakukan hal ini, ini bisa dibuktikan dengan hutan yang kini mengelilingi Rimba Ecolodge di Sungai Sekonyer, Kalimantan. Rimba Ecolodge dibangun pada tahun 1998 di ‘ladang’ pertanian kosong di tepi sungai, Monyet tinggal disekitar disana dan diberi makan sampai sekitar tahun 2015, sebagai daya tarik bagi para tamu. Kemudian monyet membawa benih dari makanan dan menyebarkannya sehingga sekarang ada banyak pohon di sekeliling lodge, bahkan banyak yang sekarang sudah tinggi sehingga orangutan dan bekantan bisa lewat diantara pohon tersebut. Begitu ada pohon, kemudian burung akan dating dan bergabung!

kera di Rimba Ecolodge

Pohon yang akan ditanam dalam proyek reboisasi mulai bulan diantanya berasal dari benih biji yang dikumpulkan dari sisa-sisa makanan Orangutan.

Setiap pohon memiliki posisi GPS dan nama genus yang dicatat saat ditanam, sehingga kematian dapat dicatat dan pohon diganti jika memungkinkan.

Informasi lebih menarik tentang proyek pohon akan kami ulas di kesempatan yang akan datang!

Harap berikan informasi ini kepada pihak yang berkepentingan di media sosial melalui tautan kami ke:

FACEBOOK (www.facebook.com/ecolodgesindonesia),

INSTAGRAM (@Ecolodges_indonesia)

TWITTER (@ecolodges_ID)

Untuk Donasi, silahkan kunjungi situs web kami https://ecolodgesindonesia.com/conservation-foundation/ dengan pedoman cara berdonasi.

Kami membutuhkan dukungan Anda untuk melindungi kelompok penting konservasionis di sekitar taman nasional utama Indonesia.

Gede Ariandika

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