Due to the trafficking of wildlife from all over Indonesia through north Sulawesi to cross the border to the Philippines (and from there onto the global market beyond), there are some species confiscated from smugglers here that originate from Borneo, Sumatra and Java.
These include slow lorises, langurs, gibbons, long-tailed macaques, orangutans, sunbears and even leopards.
Thanks to wide-scale deforestation of these areas, many confiscated individuals are unlikely to be returned to the wild, simply because their habitat no longer exists.
Deforestation is driven by a variety of factors, including logging, pulp & paper, mining, and largescale agriculture (such as palmoil plantations) to supply cheap cash crops to the global market.
There is hope we can find solutions for these species, but it requires a global commitment to sustainability, slower population growth to reduce the number of consumers, overall responsible consumerism and political will. Locally we try to educate on sustainability issues and the Masarang Foundation strives for sustainable solutions to slash and burn agriculture, and other drivers of deforestation. We aim to seek options for sending these wildlife back to their original province, however rescue centres in Indonesia are often limited in capacity to accept more wildlife – largely due to the lack of release options caused by the widescale deforestation.