The Sumatran Orangutan Education and Awareness Programme (SOEAP) will implement various environmental education and awareness programmes in local schools and communities around orangutan habitat, develop field research and surveys of Sumatran orangutan populations for local youths and university students, and develop and disseminate promotional information and media throughout the communities surrounding the orangutan habitat in North Sumatra. The programme will encourage participation and action from communities living adjacent to orangutan habitat areas to help support conservation efforts for the species.

The project activities are as follows:

1. Campaigns and exhibitions by members of “Orangutan Friends Club” to raise awareness of the plight of the Sumatran orangutan.

2. Promote environmental education in local schools through the “Conservation School Programme”. In 2006 we established a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Ministry of Education to pioneer conservation lessons for all state schools in the Deli Serdang region. This includes school visits and ‘Conservation Camp’.

3. Disseminate information and promotional materials about orangutans and conservation to raise awareness throughout all sectors of local communities.

4. Hold regular discussions and meeting forums on environmental issues.

5. Implement tree nursery and replanting programmes for schools to promote practical conservation and complement our existing reforestation programme.

6. Utilise local and national media (television, newspapers, radio) to highlight the plight of the Sumatran orangutan.

7. Liaise with government agencies and NGOs to consolidate conservation work in the area, and develop a network for conservation.

8. Provide more funds for the ‘Care about Orangutans Scholarship Programme,’ which the SOS-OIC has implemented in conjunction with the Orangutan Republik Education Initiative (OUREI). This scholarship promotes research on orangutan populations in the Leuser Ecosystem amongst Indonesian university students.