Project Wings: our new partner for Orangutan conservation in Sumatra
- Greta Liscio
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
The largest recycling village on Sumatra and in the world: creating jobs, educating on environmental issues and protecting fragile ecosystems and wildlife
When I first visited Sumatra in May 2024 I was on a mission to find a project to support Orangutan conservation. After arriving in Bukit Lawang, I soon understood that the issue around the shrinking of Orangutan's habitat was so much more complex than what I expected it to be. Bukit Lawang is a small village at the edge of the Gunung Leuser National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site home to multiple critically endangered species: Orangutans, the Sumatran Tiger, the Sumatran Elephant, and many others. It's a magical place within the Jungle, with a pretty hostile climate. However, one can not help but being amazed by it.
One thing I immediately noticed on my way to Bukit Lawang was the amount of palm oil tree plantations. Sumatra is an incredibly biodiverse island, however, it has suffered one of the worst deforestation process. Deforestation is only partially due to its rapid development and policies for agriculture development.
Illegal deforestation has been increasingly threatening and getting closer and closer to national parks and vital wildlife corridors. Illegal deforestation has happened due to land grabbing, logging and lack of governance supervision.
Understanding deforestation on Sumatra: lacking means of subsistence and state aid
One might think that trees plantations should not be detrimental to the survival of wildlife species. However, not all trees play the same role in one environment. First of all, monocultures, such as the palm oil plantations, are proven to have a negative impact on environments, decreasing soil fertility, causing soil erosion and decreasing overall biodiversity. On the one hand, while previous plantations in the area, such as rubber trees and durian plantations, where still aiding wildlife corridors, plant trees are too weak to support big primates in their movements. Orangutans, like other big primates, don't like to come down of trees for fear of predators. By clearing patches of forest within wildlife corridors close to natural parks, farmers are basically disrupting primates movements, sometimes trapping them in small areas, where they can't find nourishment.
On the other hand, farmers receive consistent state help through subsidies to plant palm oil, such as: fiscal incentives, replanting aid, fertilizers, biodiesel products subsidies etc. Which makes palm oil so much more attractive than other tree species, which are more labour intensive and less remunerative, like rubber trees.
This is only one of the factors that increases human-wildlife conflict in the area. Poachers are still present and illegal wildlife trade is still a threat. That's why why ranger projects are necessary to protect engangered species.
Project Wings: an holistic approach to sustainable development and conservation
I stayed in Bukit Lawang for three weeks, volunteering with a local organisation called Batu Kapal Conservation. Through them I could witness the encroaching of palm oil plantations and illegal logging in the area, through the hours long observation treks in the jungle. The project cooperates with local families by supporting them in reforestation activities and sustainable agriculture. However, to solve the problem of habitat loss and local development at the same time, the approach has to be a more radical one. Only months later I found out about Project Wings.
I knew there were other international organisations in Bukit Lawang, but since I was not staying in the village, but deeper in the jungle I honestly didn't realise much of what was actually going on. Incredibly enough, I later found out that Bukit Lawang hosts the largest recycling village in world. Project Wings identified one of the major issues in the area: plastic pollution. And turned it into a massive sustainable development project.
Plastic pollution is not only a health problem, but also a conservation problem. When litter ends up in rivers and environments, wildlife and people are severely affected by it. Through the building of eco-bricks Project Wings put into place a win-win situation: local people generates income through garbage collection, and the environment is less polluted. Moreover, the entire project along with the Eco-village employs around 30 locals to manage the trash bank and other facilities.
But that's not it: the project also organises environmental education and English classes for local kids to pass the knowledge on to their families. And last but not least, Project Wings also supports the training and equipment of ranger patrols through Care Sumatra.
Rangers patrol the buffer zone, remove traps, set up camera traps for observation, curb illegal poaching and find peaceful solutions to the human-animal conflict.
The first step to end human-wildlife conflict and support conservation is helping create other means of subsistence for rural populations
Only through approaches to conservation that involve rural communities, wildlife protection can be successful. Listening to and living first hand locals' struggles opens up a necessary perspective to protect people, wildlife and their environments.
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Bibliography
Basyuni, M., Sulistiyono, N., Wati, R. and Hayati, R., 2018, February. Deforestation trend in North Sumatra over 1990-2015. In IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science (Vol. 122, p. 012059). IOP Publishing.
Margono, B.A., Turubanova, S., Zhuravleva, I., Potapov, P., Tyukavina, A., Baccini, A., Goetz, S. and Hansen, M.C., 2012. Mapping and monitoring deforestation and forest degradation in Sumatra (Indonesia) using Landsat time series data sets from 1990 to 2010. Environmental Research Letters, 7(3), p.034010.
Molyneaux, A., 2022. Bukit lawang and beyond: primates and tourism from a provider’s perspective. In Ecotourism and Indonesia's Primates (pp. 23-43). Cham: Springer International Publishing.
Project Wings (2025), Available at: https://www.project-wings.de/en/
Mongabay (2012), Available at: https://news.mongabay.com/2012/08/rainforests-decline-sharply-in-sumatra-but-rate-of-deforestation-slows/
