Visit the Papercraft Museum online to make your own super cool paper orangutan!

http://www.papercraftmuseum.com/samatran-orangutan/#comment-318

Isabella goes ape over palm oil products
By CARLY TAWHIAO - Auckland City Harbour News | Friday, 19 September 2008

Young conservationist: Isabella Wilson, 10, led a campaign against palm oil to help save orang-utans. Photo: JASON OXENHAM/Auckland City Harbour News

“Truly amazing.”

That’s how Isabella Wilson felt after being named Young Conservationist of the Year.

She won Auckland Zoo’s inaugural award last week for her commitment to orang-utan conservation.

“I absolutely screamed,” the 10-year-old says.

“It feels amazing - like I could change the world.”

Isabella campaigned against palm oil because of its toll on the orangutan’s natural jungle habitat.

“The orangutans aren’t doing anything to us, but we are killing them,” she says.

“We all need to stop buying products that contain palm oil from these countries and demand manufacturers to use other sources of vegetable oil.”

Isabella became aware of the issue after visiting the orang-utan enclosure at the zoo in February.

She immediately set out to rid her pantry of products containing palm oil, and her grandparents and neighbours; too.

The Pt Chevalier Primary pupil also gave a presentation to her school about the threat palm oil production, resulting in the school removing products containing palm oil from the tuck-shop.

Auckland Zoo conservation officer Peter Fraser commends Isabella for standing up for what she believes in, even though it has involved personal sacrifice. “She is a shining example of how people with passion and drive can really make a difference,” he says.

Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/sundaystartimes/auckland/4697242a6497.html

Last May, as the school year was drawing to a close, 9-year-old Kegan Miller gave a presentation on orangutans to his classmates.

Kegan is involved in the Academically Talented Program at Martin Luther King, Jr. School in Westwood in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He is currently 9 years old and has entered the 4th grade for the 2008-09 school year.

Kegan had decided that he wanted to raise money to help protect orangutans so he came up with an action plan that included advertising to do odd jobs before and after school (His dad is a teacher there.) When all was said and done, Kegan had managed to raise $57 for Orangutan Outreach.

In order to prepare for his presentation, Kegan made several trips to the Toledo Zoo to learn more about orangutans. After doing his research, he prepared visual aids for the speech and finally gave the speech in front of his classmates.

Thank you for caring about the orangutans, Kegan! We’ve sent you a surprise to show our appreciation!

Click on the drawing to see a larger version in a new window.

By Kami Lanting

Our daughter Hannah thoroughly enjoys the Orangutan Island program. It has truly inspired her and she now has a huge place in her heart for the orangutans. She often tells anyone new she meets about the orangutans on the island, what they have gone through and some of the dangers they still face, such as the pit viper.

Hannah adores Lone and her staff and is grateful for all they do. One day she wants to go to Borneo to help them. For now, she spends all her time drawing pictures for Lone! She is even saving her money so that she can make a donation to help protect the orangutans.

When I asked Hannah what she would like to say about the orangutans, she told me:

“I want those people who are cutting down those trees to please stop! The orangutans need them for their homes. Please don’t cut down anymore! I hope they stop so that Daisy, Donald, Cha-Cha and Jasmine have a long life.”

Keep up the great work and thank you for inspiring my daughter!

~~~~~

Thank YOU, Hannah and Kami… for inspiring us to keep working to save the orangutans! ~ Rich

5th grader Maya Lynch is a proud adoptive parent of Lomon.

She loves orangutans so much that she recently did a school report on them.

Maya had to give a presentation in front of her whole class, and during the report, she says, “At least 3 of my 10 classmates cried when I told them about Lomon’s and Kesi’s past.”

Maya was born in Brooklyn in 1996 and moved to San Francisco the next year.

She is the proud caretaker of two lovely cats, Patsy and Winston, as well as Lucy the Maltese.

Her love and understanding for all animals led her to the Orangutan Island TV show and the Orangutan Outreach sponsorship program.

By the way, Maya got an A!

Check out the report.

Read our thank-you post to Kylie here.

By Ruth Longoria

Kylie Johnson, this week’s All-Star, with a plush orangutan. Courtesy Johnson familySo far, she “owns” four orangutans and 6.5 acres of Costa Rican rain forest. She hasn’t yet decided on next year’s acquisition, but, whatever it is, you can be sure 9-year-old Kylie Johnson’s next birthday party will provide another altruistic benefit for animals or nature around the globe.

Kylie, a fourth-grader at La Cañada Elementary School, is this week’s Valley Sun All Star. She was nominated for her self-sacrificing nature and sincere desire to help others.

“Kylie always has been wise beyond her years,” said family friend, Jennifer Herzer. Kylie’s choice for a birthday party to help preserve the rainforests and another one to protect red apes (orangutans) is a prime example of the child’s maturity, Herzer said. “Most kids are ‘all about me,’ but not Kylie,” Herzer added. “She’s a really smart, funny and compassionate kid.”

Kylie is the youngest daughter of Matthew and Cassie Johnson of La Cañada. She was born in Glendale and has two sisters, Tara, 18, a senior at La Cañada High School, and Jessica, 22, a student at California State University, Chico. Kylie has a cat named Russell and a Portuguese water dog named Spencer.

She loves to read mysteries and hopes to become a veterinarian someday.

Kylie’s love of nature is what inspired the youth last year to begin a quest to “save the rainforest” and improve the lives of monkeys and apes. Kylie said she loves to climb trees with her friend Caroline Bush-Crispo. Both girls also have an appreciation for monkeys, and their tree climbing abilities.

Kylie has been interested in trees and forests since the first-grade when her then-teacher at La Cañada Elementary School, Mrs. Rappleye, taught an extensive lesson on Northern California’s redwood forest and all of the animals who live within it. In order to inspire and engage her students, the teacher transformed her classroom into a life-like forest, complete with netting on the ceiling and a floor cover of bark.

Later that year, when Kylie’s family took a trip to Costa Rica, Kylie became concerned with the fate of that country’s rain forests. “I heard that trees were being chopped down for palm oil, which is used in some makeup and perfumes,” Kylie said, adding, “And I really don’t care about that kind of stuff, ’cause I’m a tom boy.”

Kylie’s world was transformed through her newfound knowledge, her mother said. “There is no turning back for Kylie now,” Cassie Johnson said. “She understands that our world and its creatures are in need of help and she knows she can make a difference.”

So when her eighth birthday came around, and she and her mom were discussing how many kids to invite to the party and what to do about gifts, Kylie told her mom she’d rather receive donations for the rainforest than items for herself.

Kylie’s rainforest party last year garnered $800 in donations from about 25 guests. That money was sent to Costa Rica and resulted in a framed “deed” the child now cherishes, which proclaims she’s the proud owner of 6.5 acres of the rainforest.

In May, Kylie celebrated her July 6, ninth birthday with a rainforest and orangutan party. Each child was told to bring a handmade jungle-themed birthday card and a donation to save orangutans in Borneo.

Kylie had learned about the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation when she watched an episode of Animal Planet channel’s Orangutan Island, which told of the need for funding to help conserve orangutans in their native habitat. Kylie visited the foundation’s website, www.redapes.org, and decided to make her party beneficial to those deserving animals.

That party netted $500, which was sent to Orangutan Outreach, and made Kylie the adopted parent of four bouncing young orangutans. Kylie was sent pictures of her pets and will receive updates throughout the year.

Her four orangutans are: Lomon, Fio Grendon and Kesi. According to the information Kylie received, Lomon spent several years chained up in a wooden box before being rescued. Fio also had a tragic start, and her mother died prior to her rescue, and Kesi had her hand chopped off with a machete by plantation workers, who had killed her mother, before the young ape became a star pupil at the Orangutan Forest School. Grendon has a more pleasant past and is the star of a BBC show, Orangutan Diary. Grendon is said to resemble Homer Simpson and is a popular ape.

Kylie is glad to be able to help the animals and their habitat. “It really makes me feel good,” she said.

Source: http://www.lacanadaonline.com/articles/2008/07/10/youth/lyo-allstarkylie0710.txt

By Cassie Johnson

Kylie’s love of nature and environmental awareness came alive in first grade. Her teacher, Mrs. Rappleye, taught an extensive lesson on the Red Wood Forest and all the important creatures within. The classroom was transformed into a living forest from the netting on the ceiling to the bark covering the floor, it was an amazing year. That following summer our family traveled to Costa Rica. We steered away from the zip-line rides and ATV activities; instead we concentrated on exploration of the rainforest wild life.

Knowledge is a powerful thing. There is no turning back for Kylie now. She understands that our world and its creatures are in need of help, and she knows she can make a difference.

Kylie celebrated her 9th birthday much like her 8th, a philanthropic rainforest / orangutan themed party. Along with a swimsuit and towel, she asks her guests to each bring a handmade birthday card (jungle themed) and in lieu of a gift, make a donation to save endangered orangutans through “Orangutan Outreach”. (Last year, at her 8th birthday guests donated and adopted six and a half acres of the Costa Rican rainforest).

All twenty-five children participated and were excited to help, as most had heard about the killing of orangutans and the rainforests disappearing to the plantations of palm oil trees.

Kylie raised $500.00!!!!!!!!!!! Kylie describes her birthday as “the best party ever!” We call it the gift that keeps giving. She gets so much joy, deciding on an organization to support, reading the orangutan stories, laughing at all the creative cards her friends made, and counting up the piles of checks and cash. Then there is the writing of her story for websites and our local paper, and a certificate of giving we frame on her bedroom wall.

The gift of empowerment and confidence Kylie receives from these birthdays can not even come close to the short-lived joy of material birthday gifts. We are so proud of Kylie and hope she inspires other children and families to discover the joy of giving in the pursuit of raising global environmental consciousness.

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We couldn’t agree more! Thanks so much, Kylie! You have joined the ranks of a growing number of young supporters who are doing their part to help save the orangutans…. The world needs more kids like you, Isabella Velez and Lainie Hampton! And stay tuned for more from Girl Scouts Rhiannon Tomtishen and Mady Vorva.

Six-year-old Lainie Hampton loves orangutans. So when her school, Pleasant Valley Montessori (in Boring, Oregon), completed their Earth Day fundraising for the World Wildlife Fund, she wanted to do something special just for the red haired apes.

She was familiar with Orangutan Outreach from watching ‘Orangutan Island’ on Animal Planet– and had already seen her older sister Johanna help raise funds for the new orangutan habitat at the Oregon Zoo. We had just announced our Mother’s Day campaign, M.O.M. - Missing Orangutan Mothers, and Lainie had an idea. She decided to download and print several of the posters from the Orangutan Outreach website. She then recycled a science fair poster board and made her own fundraising poster for school.

To raise money, Lainie connected with a local fundraising company that transfers children’s artwork to cards, mugs, t-shirts, etc. and encouraged her schoolmates to participate. “We were so thrilled when Lainie came up with this brilliant idea to help the Orangs. She has inspired other students in the pursuit of environmental consciousness. We are very proud of her!” said Diane Overtuf, director at the school.

Together the Pleasant Valley Montessori School raised $328.90 for the Nyaru Menteng orangutan rehabilitation center and orphanage. When asked why she wanted to help, Lainie replied, “Because they are endangered and they’re cute!”

Sounds good to us, Lainie! We provided the entire class with two orangutan adoptions, and they chose to adopt Kesi and Fio.

On behalf of the orangutans, Lainie, thank you so much for your incredible efforts!

Johanna Hampton of Boring, Oregon is an 8-year-old with a huge passion for orangutans.

When she accompanied her father, a Metro employee, to his holiday party at the Oregon Zoo in December, she was drawn to a tabletop display seeking to raise funds for the zoo’s new orangutan exhibit, Red Ape Reserve.

Inspired by her school’s just-completed fundraiser for Doernbecher Children’s Hospital, Johanna wondered why she couldn’t raise money for the orangutans’ new home. She put together a PowerPoint presentation for Deep Creek Elementary School’s student council, proposing a “Family Movie Night” that would include a donated movie and food.

Her project received the council’s approval and served as the focus of her school’s Earth Day kickoff assembly April 16. Oregon Zoo primate keepers Asaba Mukobi and Dave Thomas brought a model of the zoo’s exhibit to the event and discussed the plight of orangutans.

Matthew Hampton said some of his daughter’s enthusiasm has been fueled by the Animal Planet series “Orangutan Island.” The show documents the lives of several dozen orphaned orangutans at the Nyaru Menteng rehabilitation center in Borneo. Johanna, determined to visit Borneo, has been exchanging e-mails with Richard Zimmerman, director of Orangutan Outreach, a nonprofit dedicated to orangutan conservation.

The organization has donated a copy of the BBC documentary “Orangutan Diaries” for the 6 p.m. fundraiser Friday at the school. The students also secured donations of organic fruits and vegetables from Organically Grown Co. and DiGiorno pizzas from Kraft Foods for the event.

Orangutan Outreach is the U.S. affiliate of the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation, the Indonesian nonprofit that runs Nyaru Menteng. Information is available at http://redapes.org.

Source: http://www.oregonlive.com/metroeast/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/metro_east_news/1208899517149580.xml&coll=7

Deep Creek Elementary student leads April 25 fund-raiser for Oregon Zoo orangutans

PORTLAND, Ore. — Johanna Hampton is a petite 8-year-old with a huge passion for orangutans. When she accompanied her father, a Metro employee, to his holiday party at the Oregon Zoo last December, she was drawn to a tabletop display seeking to raise funds for the zoo’s new orangutan exhibit, Red Ape Reserve. Inspired by her Damascus school’s just-completed fund-raiser for Doernbecher Children’s Hospital, Johanna wondered why she couldn’t raise funds to help the orangs get a new home.

“She thought the orangutan habitat expansion was a great idea,” said her father, Matthew Hampton. “I told her to ask the principal, and he directed her to the student council.”

Johanna put together a PowerPoint presentation for Deep Creek Elementary’s student council, proposing a “Family Movie Night” that would include a donated movie and food. She made her pitch, and her project received the council’s approval — and cooperation.

“I think it’s pretty neat that it’s the kids who are pushing this forward,” Hampton said.

The students have secured donations of organic fruits and vegetables from Organically Grown Co. and DiGiorno pizzas from Kraft Foods for the fund-raiser.

According to Jeff Hays, principal of Deep Creek, Johanna’s project has provided a focus for the school’s Earth Day celebration.

“The student council was inspired by Johanna’s project and immediately thought it would tie into Earth Day,” said Hays. “As a Premier Green School, our students are well educated in waste reduction, and energy and water conservation, so her orangutan project helps them to branch out and think globally.”

Endangered species will be the feature of the school’s Earth Day special assembly, Wednesday, April 16, at 12:40 p.m., with Oregon Zoo primate keepers Dave Thomas and Renee Cressa appearing as special guests. Thomas and Cressa will discuss the plight of orangutans in the wild and give students a peek at a model of the zoo’s new orangutan exhibit.

Family Movie Night will be held at the school, 15600 SE 232nd Dr., in Damascus, on Friday, April 25, at 6 p.m. Entrance fee is by donation. Proceeds benefit the zoo’s Red Ape Reserve exhibit.

According to Hampton, some of his daughter’s enthusiasm has been fueled by the Animal Planet series “Orangutan Island,” which documents the lives of several dozen orphaned orangutans at the Nyaru Menteng rehabilitation center in Borneo. Johanna, determined to visit Borneo, has been exchanging e-mails with Richard Zimmerman, director of Orangutan Outreach, a nonprofit dedicated to orangutan conservation. The organization has donated a copy of the BBC documentary “Orangutan Diaries” for the Family Movie Night fund-raiser.

Orangutan Outreach is the U.S. affiliate of the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation, the Indonesian nonprofit that runs Nyaru Menteng. To learn more about Orangutan Outreach and its efforts to protect wild orangutans, visit http://redapes.org.

Source: http://www.oregonzoo.org/Newsroom/2008releases/2008Mar.htm#johanna

Students’ project results in boycott
Monday, April 14, 2008
BY MARJORIE KAUTH-KARJALA
The Ann Arbor News

Two Greenhills Middle School students who started a project to earn a Girl Scout Bronze Award have ended up rejecting what may be the best known of their organization’s symbols: Girl Scout cookies.

Madison Vorva and Rhiannon Tomtishen, both 12, started doing research last fall on endangered orangutans in Indonesia as part of their Bronze Award project. They discovered that the habitat of orangutans is being threatened by conversion of the land to the production of palm oil, which is an ingredient in Girl Scout cookies.

Although they’ve sold many boxes of Girl Scout cookies over the years, this year they sold magazines instead because of the palm oil issues.

“Just doing the Bronze Award wouldn’t be enough,” Madison said.

Rhiannon agreed. “We have stopped selling (the cookies),” she said.

The girls have also launched an education drive, giving presentations at their school in Ann Arbor and other area schools and they have established a Web site. They also recently met Jane Goodall at a youth conference in Chicago, where Goodall signed their petition against palm oil. Goodall is renowned for her studies of primates and efforts to protect them.

Palm oil production leads to conflict between orangutans and people, the girls said. “We’ve seen pictures of orangutans set afire and beaten. You really just want to reach out and do all that you can to help save them,” Madison said.

Palm oil, which is produced from a fern-like plant, is grown after the rain forest is logged and then burned - the slash-and-burn agricultural technique practiced for centuries in tropical areas. The deforestation is spreading rapidly, partly because the demand for palm oil, which is trans fat free, has risen, the girls said.

They said that palm oil is found in numerous products, including many candies and snacks that they once enjoyed but now avoid.

Trans fat is unhealthy for humans. In 2006, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration began requiring trans fat to be listed on the Nutrition Facts labels on manufactured food products.

Lisa Raycraft, director of funds development for Girl Scouts of the Huron Valley Council, to which Rhiannon and Madison belong, said cookie sales are a vital part of the organization’s funding. Maintaining two camps that involve girls in nature and outdoor skills would not be possible without the cookie sales, Raycraft said.

She also said that ABC Bakers, which produces cookies sold by the council, has said it is committed to using palm oil grown on rehabilitated or previously cleared land rather than on land that is deforested specifically for palm oil production. Raycraft also gave The News a letter from the company that said it is researching how to use as little palm oil as possible.

The girls said the explanation does not satisfy them and they plan to continue their boycott of Girl Scout cookies.

Raycraft said the council will work with the girls and has invited them to make their presentation about the dangers of palm oil to Girl Scout leaders prior to next year’s cookie sale. The education effort is to be part of Rhiannon and Madison’s work toward the Girl Scout Silver Award, Raycraft said.

The two girls said they plan to continue as Girl Scouts despite the conflict. “Overall, it’s a pretty good organization,” Madison said.

For information on Rhiannon and Madison’s project, visit www.saveorangutan.bravehost.com.

Source: http://www.mlive.com/news/annarbornews/index.ssf?/base/news-27/1208184019126000.xml&coll=2

Earlier this month, one of our youngest supporters, Isabella Velez of Charlotte, NC, celebrated her 7th birthday. In lieu of gifts, she asked everyone at her birthday party to bring a donation for the orangutans from Orangutan Island. Isabella ended up raising more than one hundred dollars for the orangutans!!!

We were so thrilled by Isabella’s act of selflessness that we decided to reward her with an orangutan adoption. She chose to adopt Kesi. According to her mother Isabella was “very sad and upset at first to hear what happened to Kesi, but was excited that she is now doing well!”

We would like to extend our thanks to Isabella’s parents, Julia & Robert, as well as to all of Isabella’s friends (and their parents) for making a contribution to help save the orangutans!

Below is Isabella’s letter to us, which we felt compelled to post…

Thank you so much Isabella! The orangutans need more people like you!