Ramba Sihasur,
Sipirok
The community of Ramba Sihasur Village
declared support for the protection of tapanuli orangutan before the Wildlife
Authority (BBKSDA-SU) officers (Sipirok office), Village head of Ramba Sihasur,
and Director of Scorpion Foundation, on Wednesday (29/06/2022).
The document of the declaration was signed by
44 villagers of Ramba Sihasur at the Ramba Sihasur Village Hall, Sipirok subdistrict,
South Tapanuli Regency.
The declaration was the result of an awareness
programme conducted by the Scorpion Foundation in cooperation with the Sipirok
Field office of the Wildlife Authority (BBKSDA-SU).
Three
resource persons spoke about tapanuli orangutans and their habitats during the
awareness event. The head of Sipirok field office of the BBKSDA-SU, Refdi, Ms. Efrina
Pohan (also from BBKSDA-SU Sipirok office), and Executive Director of Scorpion
Foundation, Ali Bangun Gea, appeared as resource persons in the event. Refdi and
Mrs. Pohan talked about the characteristics of the tapanuli orangutans while
Director of Scorpion, Ali Bangun Gea, talked about status of the tapanuli orangutan
which the IUCN listing categorized as Critical Endangered. The remaining
population of the tapanuli orangutan is now less than 800 individuals, therefore, it is important to
help prevent extinction of this rare species.
The village head of Ramba Sihasur, Misno
Ritonga, also expressed his hope that the community would be willing to support
the government's efforts to save these rare animals by reporting to the
BBKSDA-SU if they find illegal hunting of tapanuli orangutan.
After the presentations from the resource
persons, a question-and-answer session was held. Following the question-and-answer
session, the farmers agreed to declare their support for the protection of the
tapanuli orangutan.
The 44 participants of the awareness programme
consisted of members of 2 farmer groups (20 person from SUBUR Farmers’ group,
20 persons from MAWAR Farmers’ group), and 3 persons from Dongan Ni Mawas Timur
(Friends of the Tapanuli Orangutan-East Block) community group.
Donation of Over 1,000 Plant Saplings
At the closing of the awareness programme, Scorpion Foundation donated more than 1,000 plant saplings to the farmers. The plants included 340 avocado (Persea americana) saplings, 330 dog fruit (Archidendron pauciflorum) and 330 stink bean (Parkia speciosa) saplings. The recipients of the saplings are members of two farmers group in Ramba Sihasur, i.e., SUBUR; and MAWAR.
