Volunteering for an OrangUtan conservation programme | Sarawak Malaysia Borneo
Become a volunteer with Orangutan Project Sdn Bhd, a conservation company offering alternative solutions and sustainable funding opportunities for the endangered wildlife on Borneo, and help them hands-on in their quest to save the Red Apes of Borneo! This is a fixed departure on every 18th of the month.
This is a summary of the tour.
| Days | Tour | Meals | Overnight |
| Day 1 |
Kuching – Batang Ai National Park Transfer to Batang Ai lake and longboat ride to the National Parks’ Headquarters |
-/ – /D | Batang Ai |
| Day 2 – 7 |
Batang Ai National Park Work towards conservation of endangered flora and fauna at Batang Ai National Park & community projects at longhouses adjacent to Batang Ai National Park |
B/ L /D | Batang Ai |
| Day 8 |
Batang Ai National Park – Semenggoh Nature Reserve – Kuching Longboat ride and transfer back to Kuching with an en-route visit of the Semenggoh Nature Reserve |
B/ – /- | — |
B = Breakfast / L = Lunch / D = Dinner
DETAILED ITINERARY
KUCHING – BATANG AI NATIONAL PARK (-/-/D)
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Day 1
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You will be picked up from your city hotel in Kuching and depart together with the other volunteers and staff of Orangutan Project Sdn. Bhd. on a 4 hours journey to Batang Ai. Along the way you will pass local villages, rice fields and plantations. You will also stop at a local market where the staff of ‘Orangutan Project’ will buy the food rations for the next few days. This is your opportunity to do your last-minute shopping before you spend the next few days in the Bornean rainforest! Upon arrival at the scenic Batang Ai lake, you will board native longboats for an hours’ ride across the lake and further upriver to reach Batang Ai National Park. Register & check-in at the National Park’s Headquarters. In the evening the staff of ‘Orangutan Project’ will show you how to prepare a delicious meal from the local ingredients available. Watch carefully as for the next few days at Batang Ai the volunteers will take turns to prepare the meals! Overnight at Batang Ai National Park, ROH (simple accommodation). |
| Meals included: | Dinner |
BATANG AI NATIONAL PARK
The area of Batang Ai is located 290 km south-east of Kuching into the interior of Sarawak. In the old days, during the tribal wars, fierce battles and aggressive headhunting raids were going on in the area of Batang Ai. Nowadays the area of Batang Ai is not only home to about 30 Iban longhouses, but also to the Batang Ai National Park which provides a natural habitat for some of Borneo’s most endangered and magnificent wildlife. Together with Lanjak Entimau Wildlife Sanctuary and Indonesian conservation areas, Batang Ai National Park forms the largest trans-boundary protected area of the wet tropics. With its rich dipterocarp forest and clear streams this region is home to Sarawak’s only remaining population of wild orangutans.
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Day 2 – 7
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The next few days you will have the unique opportunity to work towards conservation efforts of endangered flora and fauna within Batang Ai National Park. This is a chance to be a very small, but very valuable part of a truly meaningful and unique effort to conserve an area of wild orangutan habitat with the ultimate goal to save the red apes of Borneo, the orangutans! Your contributions towards conservation here may include, but are not limited to.
There will also be work assisting local communities that live adjacent to the park, trying to support them and securing their future on their land. Besides your contribution to conservation and support of the local community you will have opportunities for treks to try to spot the wildlife that lives there – it is the only spot in Sarawak that there is a chance to see wild orangutan! The terrain here is challenging to say the least. For your best chance to spot the elusive orangutans, the treks will start early and you will be trekking up steep ridges in areas of forest that have rarely been walked. Do not expect well cut paths that are easy to navigate. However, the exertion is more than worth it – how often can you say you have been in the middle of virgin Bornean rainforest? Overnight at Batang Ai National Park, ROH (simple accommodation). |
| Meals included: |
Breakfast Lunch Dinner |
BATANG AI NATIONAL PARK – SEMENGGOH NATURE RESERVE – KUCHING (B/-/-)
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Day 8
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Time to say goodbye to this rainforest paradise. Travel back to Kuching with an en-route visit of the Semenggoh OrangUtan Centre for the chance to see semi-wild orangutans. The entire facility occupies an area of 740 acres and acts as a sanctuary for orangutans that have been rescued from captivity. These animals have been trained or re-trained to survive in their natural habitat, learned how to forage for natural food and build nests in the trees, and were then released into this nature reserve. There are daily scheduled feeding times. However, sightings of these primates during feeding times are not guaranteed due to the fact that they are semi-wild and roaming freely within the nature reserve. After this unforgettable experience you will be transferred to your city hotel in Kuching. |
| Meals included: | Breakfast |
Note:
- Minimum age for participation is 18 years.
- Guests have to sign an indemnity form upon booking of this tour package.
- Volunteers do not need any special skills or experience to be of use on this project. But much of the work on this project is physical, and the heat and humidity add an extra challenge to this. Therefor a certain level of fitness is required.
- Sightings of wildlife depend on several natural factors (e.g. weather) and therefore cannot be guaranteed.
- Please travel light for the overnights at Batang Ai National Park. Suitcases can be stored at your hotel in Kuching.
- Accommodation is in twin-shared rooms. Single travellers will be allocated a roommate by the facilitators of ‘Orangutan Project’. Basic bedding and mosquito netting will be provided.
- The facilitators of ‘Orangutan Project’ will buy food rations for the 8 days stay at Batang Ai National Park within a certain budget that is included in the package. Volunteers with special dietary needs can follow the facilitators during the shopping and will be able to have an input into the rations within the given budget. The volunteers will have to take turns and help with the preparation of the meals at Batang Ai National Park.
This volunteer programme ground handler is Diethelm Travel Malaysia
