ORANGUTAN CARING WEEK – HOW TO GIVE A MONKEY’S
November 09 2018 – Cecily Morgan
Both adorable and critically endangered, orangutans are creatures we should all care about every day. However, the week commencing 11th November is officially Orangutan Caring Week. Taking place annually, this week-long event aims to raise awareness of the endangerment of orangutans and encourage everyone to do their bit to protect them.
The theme of this year’s Orangutan Caring Week is “Valuing Orangutans over Profit to avoid Extinction”, and thus focuses on the ways in which human greed is putting the survival of orangutans in danger and how we can prevent the situation worsening.
The key factors behind the creatures’ endangerment are hunting and deforestation. Deforestation is particularly responsible as widespread logging and land-clearing are destroying orangutans’ habitats. For example, in Borneo, the orangutan population has plummeted by over 55% in the past twenty years, leaving just 40, 000 orangutans on the island. This is largely due to the ways in which the natural rainforests have been converted into palm oil and timber plantations, destroying the orangutans’ habitat in the process.
The most important day of Orangutan Care Week is Wednesday 14th November because this day is Orange for Orangutan Day. Publicised with the hashtag #GoOrange, this day encourages everyone to wear orange, in homage to orangutans’ auburn fur, in order to raise money, make people aware of their plight, and show some love for the gorgeous creatures.
However, there’s no need to go all-out Velma on Wednesday 14th November, just a splash of orange will do. If you’re looking for a chic and simple way to #GoOrange, Critically Endangered Socks’ Bornean Orangutan sock is the perfect solution. Light orange and emblazoned with an embroidered orangutan, they’re the perfect way to show support for orangutans, both physically and financially, as some of the profits from these delightful socks helps to fund the work of the Friends of the National Parks Foundation (FNPF). And we’re giving you 14% off when you use the discount code ‘GoORANGE’.
Established in 1997, this non-profit organisation has been working in Borneo for over 20 years, managing projects that focus on helping “wildlife, habitat, and community” and thus protect Bornean orangutans and their habitat. For example, in the Tanjung Puting National Park, the FNPF plant at least five saplings per day in the reforestation site as well as constantly collecting seeds to plant in their nursery. They also monitor the trees for three years after they have replanted them and patrol the park for fires.
So during this year’s Orangutan Caring Week, spare a thought for the adorable orangutans whose habitats are in danger and think about how you can protect them. You may be thousands of miles away, but with Critically Endangered Socks’ help, it has never been easier to #GoOrange.
