Rainforest Rescue has funded the planting of 5000 trees in the Gunung Leuser National Park in North Sumatra, restoring vital Orangutan habitat and empowering local communities to protect and improve their environment and surrounding forests.

The Gunung Leuser National Park is in a state of rehabilitation and is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site with protection rights. Through its partner organisation, Rainforest Rescue is empowering local people in farmer groups to provide security to the tree planting sites. The farmer groups also monitor and replace any dead trees. Main pests are wild pigs who scratch and uproot new plantings.

The project is managed through a system that supports the local community to carry out the work. The community self-managed group, ‘Ketapel’ work every afternoon of every day on-site, weeding, maintaining plantings and the nursery, and planting new seedlings. The location for the Rainforest Rescue planting has been identified and is approximately 1km from the nursery.