Can Tourism Save the Orangutan?
Surayyal Hizmi, PATA’s Face of the Future 2021, is a lecturer at Lombok Tourism Polytechnic and a co-founder of Andakara Tourism Organization, focusing on sustainable destination development. In this article, she explores how tourism can provide orangutans with a brighter future.
Orangutans have experienced a devastating decline of more than 50% over the last two decades. Their habitat has been seriously threatened by illegal hunting, logging, and deforestation from the palm oil industry. As a result, the population of orangutans in Kalimantan is currently only 35,000 individuals.
Solutions are required, and COVID has taught that the absence of tourism exacerbates difficulties for conservation organisations through the loss of much-needed financing to protect and preserve habitats and species. How then can tourism help save the orangutan?
To gain insight, we visited Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOSF), located on Kaja Island Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. BOSF cooperates with local communities, Indonesian authorities and international tourism partners to protect orangutans through a rehabilitation and survival school for orphaned orangutans before returning to their natural habitat. BOSF welcomes responsible tourists to support their activities by observing and learning about orangutans through carefully planned and supervised non-invasive experiences. Apart from entrance fees BOSF benefits from tourism through donations to support the conservation of orangutans and the selling of merchandise.
To visit Kaja Island, tourists can both pre-book the tickets online or purchase on the small settlement called Telok Kaja, Sei Gohong. There is only one way to get to Kaja Island. First, it takes about one hour to drive from Palangka Raya, the capital city of Central Kalimantan, to Telok Kaja, where visitors then take a local boat through Telok Kaja, Sei Gohong. In Telok Kaja, visitors will meet the local guide who will charter the boat to reach Kaja Island. For $25, visitors can have one round trip to Kaja Island, which takes 1 - 2 hours depending on the boat’s condition and season.
“Selamat Datang di Desa Wisata Telok Kaja”, Indonesian greeting to start the journey to the wildlife at Telok Kaja, Sei Gohong (Photographed by Hizmi in 2021)
On arrival at BOSF, visitors must fill in a registration form before taking a local boat ride along the jungle lined Rungan River to the orangutan area. Tourists are only allowed to observe the orangutans from the boat which is kept 15 meters from the shore. Visitor regulations include no eating or drinking around the orangutan, strictly no feeding the orangutan, and of course no contact keeping a safe distance at all times. These rules are set to protect orangutans from creating a dependence on humans, as they are unique creatures that can directly observe and mimic human actions. The act of imitating will affect their endurance and instinct to survive in the real jungle. Thus, it is vital to avoid direct contact with humans as they are trained to become wild before releasing to their natural habitat.
Sei Gohong, a place to reach Kaja Island (Photographed by Hizmi in 2021)
Due to these rules and regulations, Kaja Island is worthy of a visit for tourists to not only experience seeing orangutans in the real-life, but more importantly getting an education on the rehabilitation concepts, sightseeing on a local boat in amazing jungle habitat and experiencing local life along the river.
Orangutans on the Kaja Island (Photographed by Hizmi in 2021)
Rules and regulations during visiting Kaja Island (Photographed by TravelPixelz)
Can conservation sites open for tourism?
Some may question if tourism can be sustainable and conserve nature in one action. Tourism practitioners believe it is possible through Conservation Tourism. As Ms Agustin, Secretary of the Association of The Indonesian Tours and Travel Agencies (ASITA) of West Nusa Tenggara stated, “Conservation and tourism can be combined because conservation tourism is the same as education tourism”.
Conservation tourism can bring an opportunity to tourists to learn by carefully planned and executed experiences with wildlife. Tourists can learn the regulations and actions to conserve endangered species, which is indeed part of education. Referring to the conservation aspect of Kaja Island’s tourist destination, observing or seeing orangutans in their natural habitat with strict rules and regulations is a part of educating tourists about the rehabilitation concepts and the importance of rewilding the orangutans. This can be one of the greatest examples of conservation tourism.
Can conservation tourism also benefit humans?
Apart from contributing to environmental protection, conservation tourism also generates income for local communities. The existence of Kaja Island for the rehabilitation of orangutans provides job opportunities to the local people in Telok Kaja, Sei Gohong. They can earn money from visitors from boat rentals and guides. This incentivises local people to protect and promote Kaja Island as a conservation tourism area to both domestic and international tourists. These activities are clear examples of sustainable conservation tourism, which bring back benefits to the locals and preserve orangutans. This is certainly in line with SDG Number 8, where sustainable tourism aims to “promote sustainable tourism that creates jobs and promotes local culture and products”.
Kaja Island also supports SDG Number 15 to “protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss”. BOSF aims to achieve SDG Target 15.5, to “take urgent and significant action to reduce the degradation of natural habitats, halt the loss of biodiversity and, by 2020, protect and prevent the extinction of threatened species”.
Will tourism have a positive impact on orangutans?
Reintroducing orangutans into their natural habitats is a challenge. A dedicated effort is required, especially during this COVID-19 pandemic. Avoiding or minimising contact with humans is essential to reintroduce orangutans back into their natural habitats. However, it also takes money and tourism is helping BOSF to finance its goals. However, as with all forms of tourism strict rules and regulations are needed to offset negative effects.
As responsible tourists, who respect the rules, provide donations and income to locals by visiting Kaja Island support the BOSF to provide a better infrastructure for orangutans and economic welfare for the local community. Responsible tourism is supporting BOSF in maintaining the integrity and vitality of the destination.
So, are you interested in observing orangutans on Kaja Island?
This article is reposted with permission from Lombok Tourism Polytechnic, one of the teams in UNWTO Student Leauge focusing on sustainable destination development by promoting the important assets of the tourism industry to the local environment. PATA proudly supports discussions around sustainability through the SDGs Matters guest post initiative. Please note that the views and opinions expressed in the article may not necessarily reflect the official policy, position or views of PATA or any of its employees.