Nature features

The unlikely setting of a semi-detatched house in Brockenhurst is the centre of an international organisation dedicated to saving orangutans on the other side of the planet.

It's been an incredible journey for Sue Sheward whose interest in the orangutan led her to visit a sanctuary near the town of Sepilok in the Malaysian Sabah region of Borneo.

Sue Sheward

The loss of rainforests and illegal hunting in Malaysian and Indonensian Borneo has meant that numbers of the apes living in the wild have dropped from 100,000 to just 20-30,000 in the last 20 years.

'So human'

Despite not having any wildlife or zoological experience, she wrote to the Wildlife Department volunteering to work for them.  As no-one had offered before, they agreed.

Sue found the creatures captivating: "It was certainly an experience.  They are just so human - they are your close cousin, they look into your eyes and they hold their hands out to you begging for contact.  It's so emotional and we're losing them fast."

Osama and Miko at Sepilok

"It's criminal to let such a beautiful creature become extinct.  They are an integral part of the rainforests.  They are seed dispersers so keep the rainforest going, and without the rainforests we know what happens - global warming." 

However, the centre suffered from a lack of facilities and basic equipment: "They had 40 babies living in the nursery, but many were kept in cat baskets so they couldn't move around or climb.  They didn't have the staff to look after them as they just didn't have the money."

"I came back promising to build them an exercise pen - what I thought would be a one-off - and that was 8 years ago!"

She set up a charity and spent a year fundraising and persuading the local government officials to back her efforts.

Feeding time at the Sepilok sanctuary

Successes and obstacles

The centre is now an important base for research into breeding programmes and  rehabilitating Borneo's orangutan into the wild.  It's also a must-see on the eco-tourism trail in Sabah.

The charity sponsors a vet, nurse and provides research effort, liaison officers and medical equipment.

Sue and her team are motivated by the success stories: "Every time we've been able to release one back into the wild, every time we rescue a baby, every time we see a rescued mother come back to the reserve with their own baby. I think we're all very very committed and we're all so proud of the work we do."

Across the border in Indonesia however, Sue describes conditions for the orangutan as "absolutely terrible" with political instability and less rigidly enforced conservation laws making environmental campaigns difficult:

Aman - a male who underwent a cataract operation

"It doesn't mater how many obstacles are put in your way, there's always something else we can do.  If we save one in every ten, it's got to be worth it."

Sue co-ordinates a team of volunteers around the world who go to Borneo to lend their expertise and time to the work to save orangutans.  Others raise funds or take part in events like the Great South Run and London Marathon:

"There is a lot of interest and a lot of people who really want to help us and realise how important it is. We need the rainforest to keep our world as beautiful as it is, and the orangutan plays a huge part in that."

"The pure and simple fact is the closeness of this ape to humans, how can we just let it drift into extinction? - it shouldn't happen."