About Us
The mission of SOS is to protect Sumatran orangutans, their forests and their future. We achieve this through:
- Funding partners and projects that support the long-term conservation of Sumatran orangutans and their habitat;
- Scaling up the reach and impact of conservation programmes;
- Advocating for Sumatran orangutans and their rainforest home.
ASAP Species That We Work On
What We Do
SOS aims to protect, extend and secure the habitat of wild Sumatran orangutans and to grow the population. In order to achieve this, we strive to find a balance between economic and social needs and a flourishing, healthy environment for all species, including humans, in or depending on the Sumatran rainforest.
Through evidence-based interventions, SOS tackles the causes of deforestation as well as the symptoms. We take a holistic approach, supporting and enabling vital work on the ground in Sumatra through funding and developing effective conservation programmes and partnerships, and advocating globally for changes to government policy and corporate practices to enhance conservation outcomes.
Field projects we support in Sumatra include community-led forest protection and livelihoods projects, the restoration of degraded forest land in and around the Leuser Ecosystem, a Human-Orangutan Conflict Response Unit, and environmental education initiatives.
We support grassroots projects working with communities living next to the last remaining orangutan habitat, empowering local people to become guardians of the rainforests. We actively campaign in the UK, Sumatra and internationally against policies and practices which threaten the survival of the orangutan in the wild.
In 2017 we co-founded the Leuser Ecosystem Action Fund (LEAF) with the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation and several committed philanthropists.
Photo Credits
Featured image: Layton Thompson