Overview
Volunteer with Orangutans in Sumatra

On this unique volunteer project, Global Vision International offers you the opportunity to volunteer in the breathtaking Sumatran rainforest and take part in important wildlife research. You will join a 12-day volunteer team to perform various research tasks (including jungle-based fieldwork), to help the understanding and conservation of graceful orang-utans and contribute towards bringing knowledge to basic science, public health and wildlife conservation management.

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What better way to appreciate these engaging creatures and explore some of the most magnificent rainforest habitat on earth. I have thoroughly enjoyed this opportunity.

James Nolan, 2007 volunteer

What Difference Does This Project Make?

This Project, the first of its kind for orang-utans, investigates which special behaviours and ecological conditions are necessary to maintain health in wild orang-utans. It is the only ongoing, long-term research project studying orang-utan health anywhere in the world. This understanding will help rehabilitation programs teach orang-utans how to keep themselves healthy, so they are more likely to survive in the wild after reintroduction.

Highlights

Learning about Indonesian Orang-utans, studying these fascinating creatures in the wild, trekking and camping out in the forest, mixing with international volunteers and working alongside passionate conservationists.

Location

The Indonesian island of Sumatra is tropical to the core, being a fascinating mix of rainforest, mangroves, Amazon-like rivers and flamboyant flora and fauna. The project itself is based near the Gunung Leuser National Park, one of the largest national parks in Indonesia. Here you will experience several ecosystems ranging from vast mountains to lowland rainforest, that are the home to species such as giant flying squirrel, Sumatran elephant and dancing lemur, as well as the orang-utan.

Field Conditions

Resting accommodation in the rice-fields will be basic, but clean, with limited amenities and no hot water. You will live extremely close to nature and need to be at home sharing your living quarters with a variety of small critters and probably another volunteer! Toilets will be traditional Asian ‘holes in the ground’. When trekking, we will be camping in the jungle for up to five nights at a time with only a tarpaulin and thin foam mat separating you from the forest floor.