Tapanuli Orangutan Faces New Threats After the Sumatra Disaster

JAKARTA - Efforts to preserve the Tapanuli Orangutan face increasingly difficult challenges after flash floods and landslides hit Sumatra last year. The very small population, habitat damage, and the fact that most individuals live outside conservation areas make this species increasingly vulnerable to various pressures in the landscape where it lives.

The issue came up in an online discussion of the FOKSI Talk titled "Conservation in the Middle of a Crisis: Tapanuli Orangutans and Post-Disaster Landscape Resilience of Sumatra" which was held by the Indonesian Wildlife Conservation Forum on Wednesday, March 11.

The discussion featured the Head of the North Sumatra Natural Resources Conservation Agency, Novita Kusuma Wardani, and the Chairman of the Indonesian Orangutan Conservation Forum, Aldrianto Priadjati.

Aldrianto explained that the Tapanuli Orangutan was only identified as a large ape species that is different from the Sumatran Orangutan in November 2017. This designation makes it the third known Orangutan species in the world.

Based on the Population and Habitat Viability Assessment (PHVA) study in 2016, the Tapanuli Orangutan lives in the Batang Toru Ecosystem area, especially in the West Block and the East Block. Its population is estimated to be only around 700 to 800 individuals, making it the rarest Orangutan species in the world.

Physically, the Tapanuli Orangutan is not much different from the Sumatran Orangutan. However, this species has longer and denser hair with more curly ends, a smaller head size, and a relatively flatter face.

Novita said the conservation of the Tapanuli Orangutan faces a major challenge because the protection of this species does not only depend on conservation areas, but also on broader landscape management.

"The population of the Tapanuli Orangutan is very small, so losing even one percent is a big loss for this species," he said.

According to Novita, since the Tapanuli Orangutan was designated as a separate species in 2017, attention to its conservation efforts has increased. Local governments, the private sector, and non-governmental organizations have begun to engage in conservation efforts in the Batang Toru Ecosystem.

He explained that the management of areas outside the conservation area is now beginning to adopt conservation principles. This is strengthened by the issuance of Law Number 32 of 2024 which regulates that areas outside the conservation area are still managed with a conservation approach, considering that most of the habitat of the Tapanuli Orangutan is in that area.

In an effort to protect habitats, the North Sumatra BBKSDA together with the South Tapanuli Regency Government also involves the community in the Batang Toru Ecosystem area. One of them is the community in four villages in Hatabosi, Aek Sabaon District, which has local wisdom in maintaining water sources, which indirectly protects the Orangutan habitat.

"From this process, we have mapped the areas that have the potential to become the habitat of the Tapanuli Orangutan," said Novita.

However, mapping activities were delayed due to the unstable post-disaster conditions. Several areas are still experiencing flooding so that field activities cannot run optimally. Mapping is planned to resume after Eid al-Fitr.

Natural disasters in the region also have a direct impact on the Tapanuli Orangutan population. Novita revealed that an individual Orangutan was found dead by volunteers on the Aek Garoga River in the Batang Toru area.

"Volunteers who found the body did not immediately report it because at that time they also had to maintain the psychological condition of the community which was facing a disaster," he said.

Based on preliminary studies through desk studies by experts and satellite image analysis, it is estimated that around 6 to 10 percent of the Tapanuli Orangutan population is affected by the disaster.

The impact is not only in the form of individual deaths, but also habitat damage. Many trees where Orang Utans make nests fall so that it is likely that some individuals will move to other safer areas.

Novita added that the topography of the habitat of the Tapanuli Orangutan, which is dominated by cliffs and steep slopes, makes the impact of disasters on the ecosystem even greater.

On the other hand, conflicts between Orang Utans and the community actually decreased after the disaster. Previously, conflicts usually occurred during the durian season or other fruit seasons.

According to Novita, Orangutans actually do not lack feed in their natural habitat. However, they are often interested in entering other areas of use because of the variety of food that is more abundant and easy to obtain.

BBKSDA North Sumatra continues to appeal to the public not to take extreme actions if they find Orang Utans around settlements.

"We educate the public not to shoot immediately. Just chase it until the Orangutan goes back into the forest," he said.

The evacuation or translocation of Orangutans to other locations, said Novita, is only carried out as a last resort if the situation does not allow it.

A number of other area users have also begun to provide special land as part of the habitat diversity approach to support the existence of the Tapanuli Orangutan in a wider landscape.

However, he admitted that balancing economic interests and conservation was not easy, so it required the support of various parties.

Novita also emphasized the importance of tightening land opening in other areas of use as well as in the habitat of the Tapanuli Orangutan so that the pressure on the habitat is not greater.

In addition, he assessed that there should be a payment mechanism for ecosystem services or payment for ecosystem services (PES) so that people who maintain the ecosystem also get economic benefits.

On the other hand, Novita admitted that efforts to mainstream biodiversity in accordance with Presidential Instruction Number 1 of 2023 still face various obstacles in the field, including sectoral ego among various parties.

The government is currently also drafting a Conservation Strategy and Action Plan for the Tapanuli Orangutan, which is targeted to be completed in the first semester of 2026.

During the discussion, the Secretary General of the Indonesian Zoo Association, Tony Sumampau, also reminded that the threat of illegal trade of Orangutans is still a serious concern.

He said that until now, the management of Orangutans in conservation institutions of PKBSI members has not completely separated between the Tapanuli Orangutan and the Sumatran Orangutan.

However, Tony added that Orangutans in ex-situ conservation facilities are relatively not experiencing difficulties to breed.