The donation made by the Chubb Charitable Foundation will help to extend a wildlife corridor of 2,472 acres in the Leuser Ecosystem, which is situated in Sumatra. The forest is home to many endangered species, including orangutans and Sumatran elephants and tigers.
- There are thought to be as few as 7500 Sumatran orangutans left in the wild. They are listed as critically endangered.
- The Sumatran tiger is also critically endangered, with numbers at around 400 in the wild.
- It is estimated that only 2400 Sumatran elephants remain in fragmented ranges across the island.
This particular stretch of rainforest is also important as a carbon dioxide ‘sink’, and stores the equivalent of 3 million driven miles of average vehicle emissions.
On their website, The Rainforest Trust explains that the Leuser Ecosystem is the last place on earth where orangutans, tigers and elephants co-exist in the wild, and the corridor will enable wildlife to migrate more freely.
Read more about why protecting such valuable land is critical to our planet here and find more information on how you can help here!