- September 13, 2018
The Mawas Conservation Program is a BOS Foundation program protecting 309,000 hectares of natural habitat for wild orangutans. Administratively, Mawas encompasses two main districts — South Barito and Kapuas districts — as well as five sub-districts and 53 villages with a population of 29,000 families. The Mawas peatland also sustains one of the largest remaining orangutan populations with an estimated 2550 orangutans inhabiting the area.
The Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) is a Critically Endangered species and protected by law. The Mawas Conservation Program plays a very important role in the conservation of this species of orangutan and its habitat, as well as in the conservation of more general biodiversity, environment and local community development.