And the current sustainability laws aren’t actively enforced by anyone. Palm oil will never be completely sustainable. Sustainable palm oil is becoming an option. More and more eco-friendly trekking is becoming available. National Park Rangers have crafted large cement cylinders around the boundaries of the park so that farmers cannot sneak in at night and move the signage to claim more land. At this rate of deforestation, they predict only 5 more years until that number could be at zero. As you ride the bus into Bukit Lawang you’ll pass the massive Palm Oil plantations that Indonesia continues to create.Ĭurrently, there are only 5,000 Sumatran Orangutans left in the wild. Unfortunately, there is little we can do about Indonesia’s massive deforestation. Often it was just us and a few orangutans studying us as we studied them.Īs their habitat fades orangutans will continue to encounter humans. It was the sweatiest muggiest hike of my life, but all that fades away as soon as you see the first hairy orange ape swinging in the tree. Our trek was everything we imagined it would be. Only 5,000 Sumatran orangutans exist in the wild today and with the help of one of the ethical trekking agencies in Bukit Lawang, you have a chance to see them. Palm oil farms and the money that comes with them are seen as more valuable than an entire intelligent species. Orangutans are disappearing along with the rainforests they live in at a rapid rate in today’s world. All for a chance at seeing one of the world’s last great orange apes. So we hopped a plane from Java, Indonesia & flew into the charmless city of Medan.

The West has waterfalls and placid lakes tucked into green jungle hikes and the North…orangutans. West Sumatra and North Sumatra have the majority of the natural landscapes and rainforests that draw in tourists.

Unless you plan to stay for weeks at a time I would recommend sticking to one region. On this massive island travel between cities is slow going. An Indonesian island visited only by intrepid travelers and animal enthusiasts. A few scattered cities surrounded by some of the world’s last primary rainforests. Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share on Pinterest

Orang utan medan