It was a real honour for us to be invited to attend the biannual Derby Eco-Fest, which was held at Markeaton park on the weekend of 19th/20th September.



Our stand was in the ‘Do One Thing for Wildlife’ marquee, and it was exciting to be surrounded by local advocates of conservation, whose aim is to educate the general public about what we can all do to promote a healthy environment for wildlife, on a both a local and a global level.



We are very grateful to Dawn Foote of Katapault, one of our orangutan volunteers, who has donated her beautiful photo art to raise funds for our wildlife and orangutan rehabilitation centres in Malaysia and Indonesia. Her colleague, Rhiannon, manned the stand, which drew crowds of orangutan aficionados and new converts alike. To view these beautiful pictures, please click on the following link


We were very fortunate that renowned artist, Jaq White, from Hertfordshire, donated an original work of art of a baby orangutan for our raffle, which was won by lucky Derbyshire resident, Mr. Stevenson. Here is a link through to some more of Jaq’s art. A percentage of her sales from this link will be donated to the orangutans. Many thanks, Jaq!

Our Rainforest Riddles quiz intrigued and amazed children and adults alike, and we had many suggestions as to how to make an orangutan happy! With a cracking score of 27, the winner of our T-shirt and bag is James aged 12, who wrote a beautiful and moving poem for the tie-break question, how do you make an orangutan happy. We wanted to share it with you, so here it is.

Give us trees to make our nests,
Free from man-made noise and pests.
Let us live up in the trees
Swaying gently in the breeze

Our babies need a forest home
With space to play and grow and roam,
With berries, fruit and lots of food –
These all help to lift our mood

The jungle gives us all we need;
Don’t take our homes for human greed.
Keep our forests safe and free
For us to live in harmony.

Thank you, James, for being the voice of the orangutan in its plea for help!!

Samuel also got 27 questions right, so we will also be sending him a T-shirt. For those of you, who would like to know the answers, please see below? Many thanks to all the children and parents who came to see us and who supported the cause of the orangutans!

Thank you, too, to Derby Council, for organising such a spectacular and pertinent event.





Fiona Gustafson

Labels: Derby Eco-Fest, matang wildlife centre, orangutan, orangutan volunteer

Hi All,

Some news from the Dream Team who are currently out in Samboja getting the project up to speed!

We are slowly being allowed access to more areas which means we can start to work on and improve the areas the orangutans are kept in. We started in the quarantine area, making hammocks and putting in ropes and tyres and preparing daily food enrichment, but last week we gained permission into an area called “wanariset”, so we have to start looking at what we need to do. Mostly building and installing hammocks and ropes. We also have now been asked to do the same in the holding area for the orangutans in forest school and tidy up and improve the play ground area for the baby orangutans, which should be fun!

In the quarantine area we have already installed several hammocks and puzzle feeders, and it is great to observe the difference, keeping the orangutans entertained and engaged in something."

A tired young orangutan with one of the BOS team


Dream Team providing enrichment to the orangutans.


More enrichment work.



One of the resident orangutans at Samboja.



2 resident babies at Samboja at play.


More photo's and updates to follow very soon.

If you want to find out more about how to join this project then please click here

Labels: BOS, orangutan enrichment, orangutan rehabilitation centre, orangutans, samboja lestari

As no doubt you are aware, internet connection is not the best at Samboja. We do encourage our volunteers to send through pictures as often as they can, so apologies to those of you who follow this blog and have been starved of new images recently!


A view of the Samboja Lestari grounds


Samboja is home to over 50 sunbears. As a volunteer you may be involved in preparing enrichment to encourage more natural behaviour from the sunbears.


Preparing orangutan enrichment. Enrichment is a vital part of these orangutans daily routine. Encouraging natural behaviour and making their day more interesting.


Orangutan Island - just one of the Islands that are home to these beautiful creatures.


One of our volunteers working hard on construction.


One of our volunteers securing a newly made hammock to one of the holding cages.

If securing the future of orangutans is something you wish to be part of then why not volunteer with us?...... we will help make your dreams come true.

Labels: dream, dream team, orangutan, orangutan enrichment, orangutan island, orangutan rehabilitation centre, samboja lestari

Labels: orangutan rehabilitation centre, rainforest, samboja lestari, work