For 25 years, our mission has been to learn, protect, restore and inspire in a bid to save Borneo’s biodiversity. Of these four major work areas, perhaps the most crucial for ensuring long-term impact is inspiring – our commitment to nurture a conservation generation through environmental education and outreach.
Long-term impact requires long-term investment
Education activities may not produce the immediate and unambiguous results of establishing a new protected area or tackling forest fires, but without informed and engaged communities, even the best conservation strategies are doomed to fail. When people understand how ecosystems function and why they matter – for biodiversity, climate, and human wellbeing – they are much more likely to value and protect them. By engaging local communities, and especially young people, we foster awareness of the vital role Borneo’s forests play in sustaining wildlife, regulating our global climate, and supporting livelihoods. From schools-based conservation classes and practical workshops to weekly youth clubs and field trips into the forest, our aim is to make learning fun and accessible, nurturing a love of nature across generations to achieve lasting change.
Here are some key impacts from our inspiring education work over 25 years of action:
Youth clubs
Imagine growing up with orangutans right on your doorstep but never getting the chance to see them for yourself. Due to a lack of opportunities and accessibility, this is the sad reality for many young people in Borneo. To remedy this, we facilitate regular field trips into the forest for our youth club members, connecting them with their natural heritage, inspiring pride, curiosity and a lifelong sense of responsibility for their environment.
The first of our two youth clubs, Anak Sebangau (‘children of Sebangau’), was established in 2015, marking a shift from ad-hoc education sessions towards a more structured programme of action. Anak Sebangau was created for children 8-12 years old living at the northern edge of Sebangau National Park, some of whom aren’t able to attend school. In this relaxed, non-academic setting, we draw on the children’s Dayak cultural heritage to deliver a range of education activities, from traditional dancing to seedling cultivation in one of our supported community nurseries.
Each year, we organise the Anak Sebangau Festival as an opportunity for our youth club members to share what they’ve learnt with their family and friends through a series of vibrant performances, engaging the whole community with environmental themes.
In 2019, with some children beginning to age out of Anak Sebangau but still eager to get involved, we created the Sebangau Rangers – a new youth club for teenagers to become ambassadors for nature. As well as raising awareness and championing environmental causes in their communities, the Sebangau Rangers often support activities with Anak Sebangau and join our field teams on rainforest excursions. And we don’t stop there…
Scholarship support for promising young conservationists
As part of our long-term commitment to education and gender equality, we recently launched a full university scholarship programme to support two Indigenous young women from Central Kalimantan. This initiative is dedicated to the memory of our much-missed colleague Siska, whose passion for conservation continues to inspire our work following her passing due to COVID-19.
The first Siska Scholarship has been awarded to Mahda, a remarkable student who was actively involved in our youth clubs since the very beginning. Her dedication, curiosity, and leadership have made her a role model for younger participants. After passing her university entrance exams, Mahda began studying at Universitas Muhammadiyah Palangkaraya in September 2025. Her first-term tuition fee has already been covered, and she is currently involved in Anak Sebangau activities as part of her capacity building and continued engagement with the programme. The second scholarship will be awarded to another promising student, pending selection in the coming academic semester. This scholarship programme marks an important step in expanding access to higher education for Indigenous youth, particularly young women, and reflects our ongoing efforts to nurture future environmental and community leaders from within the region.
In addition to the newly launched Siska Scholarship, we help to deliver the Orangutan Caring Scholarship, funded by the Orangutan Republik Foundation, which provides a full academic bursary to up to 6 undergraduate students each year at the University of Palangkaraya. Recipients of this competitive scholarship have the opportunity to gain professional experience by interning for us during the holidays and participating in our field conservation and education activities. Since 2018, we have supported the academic development of 31 students through the Orangutan Caring Scholarship in conjunction with the Orangutan Republik Foundation.
Finally, in 2024, we started a new scholarship for prospective students from our partner villages in the Rungan Landscape. The BNF Forestry Scholarship is awarded to talented, committed individuals who cannot otherwise afford the costs of university. We are currently supporting six students at Mummadiyah University Palangkaraya, and aim to award this scholarship to 4-5 individuals annually.
The power of storytelling
In the aftermath of the deadly 2015-16 wildfires, our education team wrote and published our first storybook, The Little Gibbon Who Lost His Song. This bilingual children’s book tells the story of a young gibbon who becomes separated from his family in the thick, black smoke from a forest fire. The book was also released as a free digital audiobook available for download from the App Store and Google Play, making our pro-environmental message accessible to an even wider audience.
The Little Gibbon Who Lost His Song is used as part of our youth environmental education programme in Borneo. Our education team uses the book to deliver interactive storytelling sessions (‘Gibbon Goes to School’) to local schools, teaching them about the island’s wildlife, the threats they face, and the need for conservation. The story of Little Gibbon unfolds with an immersive puppet show, including visual projections and rainforest sounds, followed by a presentation and games. At the end of each session, we donate two copies of the book for schools to continue using as an educational resource. Since the book is bilingual, students can also practise their language skills whilst enjoying the story!
Putting Conservation on the Curriculum
In classrooms all over the world, environmental education can sometimes take a backseat. To bridge this gap, we deliver a schools-based conservation course called Kelas Konservasi (‘Conservation Class’). The course consists of ten modules, designed to complement the national school curriculum, with each session focusing on a different topic to cover a broad range of ecological issues and their solutions. The course also includes at least one field trip to our Sebangau camp – for some students, marking their first visit to the rainforest.
As the years went on, our education team found that the demand for environmental education sessions in schools exceeded their capacity to deliver them. So, with a view to scale up our impact and reach as many children as possible, we entered formal partnerships with the Central Kalimantan Education Agency and the Palangka Raya City Education Agency to provide additional training to teachers interested in environmental education. With this training, teachers can confidently engage their students on key topics such as biodiversity conservation, peat swamp ecosystems and the climate crisis, without the need for our team to facilitate.
Community Empowerment
Lasting change begins with local leadership – after all, who better to protect rainforest than the people who live there?
That’s why environmental education, including strengthening local knowledge through training and capacity building, is central to our work. Through our community engagement initiatives, we empower local people to develop sustainable livelihoods, influence decisions on land use and management, and preserve their cultural heritage. From building firefighting capacity and establishing permaculture gardens to sharing forest monitoring techniques, we encourage communities to take an active role in safeguarding their natural resources.
Feeling inspired?
Knowledge empowers – is power.
If you’d like to support our environmental education and outreach initiatives, why not become a monthly donor? Or, if you’re after a bit more bang for your buck, consider taking part in the Big Give Christmas Challenge, when all donations towards our education programme will be DOUBLED! Our match-funded campaign will commence on December 2nd, so jot that in your diary and make sure you’re signed up to our newsletter for all the latest updates!
Celebrate 25 years of action with us:
