Telaga Village Forest: When the People of Telaga Protect the Orangutans’ Home

Three direct orangutan sightings and one nest discovery throughout 2026 serve as a reminder that Telaga Village Forest remains a living space for Bornean orangutans. Behind these findings are community members who continue to enter the forest, monitor the area, and protect the habitat that is home to one of Borneo’s key species. Orangutans are also known to play an important role as seed dispersers, supporting forest regeneration.

In January 2026, while conducting a routine patrol, the Telaga LPHD patrol team spotted an orangutan active in a tree. The orangutan was later seen walking on the ground. Several weeks later, during a February patrol, the team encountered another orangutan again, this time active in a tree.

Another direct encounter took place in July. During that patrol, the team found an orangutan in a different location from the previous sightings. This time, the orangutan was observed foraging for food.

“During the patrol period in 2026, we encountered an orangutan that was active in a tree. We observed it for a while from a safe distance before continuing our journey. For us, encounters like this are a reminder that the forest we protect really is a place where orangutans live,” said Na’an, a member of the Telaga LPHD patrol team.

These three direct encounters are important records for LPHD Telaga. However, the team has not yet been able to determine whether the orangutans encountered in January, February, and July were the same individual. The differences in the locations of the encounters provide important information that needs to be continuously monitored to better understand how orangutans use the area.

The findings did not come solely from direct encounters. During a patrol in June 2026, the team discovered an orangutan nest that was estimated to have been abandoned approximately one month earlier. Although it was no longer in use, the nest was still visibly intact.

This series of findings shows that the presence of orangutans in Telaga Village Forest is more than just a record. Orangutans have been observed moving through trees, walking on the ground, foraging for food, and leaving signs of their activity in the form of nests. This information can also serve as a basis for determining appropriate measures for managing and protecting the area.

A Peat Swamp Forest That Is Home to Orangutans

Telaga Village Forest is located in Telaga Village, Kamipang Subdistrict, Katingan Regency, Central Kalimantan. The area covers 2,758 hectares and is managed by LPHD Telaga under a management permit established through Decree No. SK.1228/MENLHK-PSKL/PKPS/PSL.0/3/2018.

Most of the area consists of a peat swamp ecosystem, including a 1,745-hectare protection zone and a 1,013-hectare utilization zone. There is also a 563-hectare rehabilitation zone located outside Telaga Village Forest. It is within this landscape that the Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus wurmbii) is one of the key species.

The presence of orangutans makes the condition of the forest important not only for the community but also for the survival of wildlife that depends on forest habitat. Like other peat swamp areas in Central Kalimantan, this area also faces pressures from land-use conversion and the risk of peat fires during the dry season, making regular monitoring increasingly important.

Protection cannot simply rely on waiting until wildlife is encountered. Regular monitoring is needed to understand the condition of the area, document wildlife presence, identify changes, and provide a basis for better forest management. This is where community patrols play an important role.

When the Community Becomes the Forest’s Guardians

According to the latest available data from 2022, approximately 1,558 people lived in Telaga Village. The population is predominantly Dayak Ngaju, followed by Banjar and Javanese communities. Although the majority of residents are Muslim, Dayak Ngaju customary law remains an important part of social life in the community and is led by a Mantir.

The community’s livelihoods are also closely connected to rivers and lakes, with around 80 percent of livelihoods dependent on the fisheries sector. The environment, which experiences flooding for approximately three months each year, has also shaped how residents adapt, including through the use of stilt houses and wooden walkways.

This close relationship with the environment means that forest management cannot be separated from community life. The community’s dependence on rivers is one of the factors that encourages them to protect the forest, because forest sustainability is closely linked to the sustainability of the water resources that support their livelihoods.

Telaga Village Forest is part of a landscape connected to the lives of local communities while also serving as habitat for wildlife such as orangutans. Therefore, the patrols conducted by LPHD Telaga mean more than simply traveling into the forest. The patrols represent the community’s involvement in ensuring that the area they manage remains protected.

Ensuring That the Orangutans’ Home Remains

An encounter with an orangutan is often a memorable moment for anyone who experiences it. But for communities living alongside the forest, such encounters also carry a greater message: there is still habitat that needs to be protected.

Orangutans need forests to find food, move around, rest, and reproduce. When the forest is protected, orangutans have a better chance of retaining the space they need to live. At the same time, protecting the forest also benefits the community. Peat swamp ecosystems and forest areas are part of a landscape that helps sustain livelihoods, including water resources and other resources connected to local livelihoods. These include access to clean water and fish catches, which have long supported the livelihoods of many residents of Telaga Village.

This is what allows conservation efforts to grow from within the community, people who know their territory, regularly enter the forest, document what they find, and take part in protecting the area. In Telaga Village Forest, the three direct orangutan encounters and one nest discovery recorded throughout 2026 are part of that story. The series of encounters and nest findings in Telaga Village Forest throughout 2026 adds another chapter to that story.

On International Orangutan Day, the story from Telaga reminds us that protecting orangutans is not simply about saving an individual animal. Orangutan conservation is about protecting the forests where they live and ensuring that communities who have long lived alongside the forest have a role in protecting it. Because when communities protect the forest, they are not only protecting trees and the landscape, they are also protecting the home of the life within it.

Sources

• Dokumen rekapitulasi jumlah penduduk bulan Februari 2022 Desa Telaga Kabupaten Katingan
• Laporan Kegiatan Patroli LPHD Telaga Januari-Juli 2026