Southeast Asia has some of the most precious and endangered rainforest habitat on the planet. It is also facing the highest rates of deforestation and habitat degradation, putting some of the rarest endemic species at risk of extinction. At AWF we aim to conserve these species by working with local communities and small grassroots organisations, to create awareness of these issues; provide education and conduct research.
Indonesia
We’re looking forward to having some new conservation and humanitarian projects in Indonesia. The Indonesia Team here at our Tenerife base; fronted by myself, Sam and Emma have been working very hard to make this happen! And the works really been paying off now, as we now have 5 or 6 small local grassroots organizations that are interested in working with us.
In May we will be going out to meet them, so that we can get things rolling and start sending volunteers out there as soon as possible. One of my favourite projects which is looking very promising, if not definite, have some awesome research opportunities and community work to be done. It’ll be really great if we can help these guys. They are based in the unique island of Siberut, in the Mentawai Islands- off NW Sumatra. It’s a little trek to get there, but I think this makes it all the more exciting! After all, volunteering in Indonesia is one of the last places in the world you can truly have an adventure! To get there you have to hop on a few speedboats and walk through the jungle for a little while, but once your there it will be incredible. There are no roads on the island and the Mentawai people are almost self-sufficient! In terms of ecology the island has some of the only primary rainforest left in the world, 4 types of endemic squirrels, 17 species of mammals and 130 species of birds! We can’t wait to go out there and see what awesome volunteering opportunities they have.
On the map…
Siberut…
We’ve also got several other projects which we will be meeting in May, who are interested in collaborating with us; a fantastic turtle project in North Sumatra, a wild cat project in South Sumatra, a big tree planting and environmental education project in Java; and humanitarian and community development projects. So things are looking pretty good!
Will be keeping you posted on our progress!
Ruby and the Indo Team
AWF Borneo & Sumatra Project 