Addressing the issue of waste and pollution

The Kukang Rescue Program

We are zoologists and conservationists fighting the illegal trade in wild animals and especially striving to protect the greater slow loris (Nycticebus coucang) and Sumatran slow loris (Nycticebus hilleri) - poisonous primates that fall victim to their cuteness. We have been running a non-profit organization on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia since 2014, within which we have built a rescue and rehabilitation centre for confiscated slow lorises in order to return them to the wild. We work with local communities on several levels. We educate local children in whom we develop a positive attitude towards nature. We employ former poachers, who are now our field assistants. We are also transforming local farmers into conservationists by supporting the “Kukang Coffee” eco-friendly coffee project. In addition, we help them peacefully resolve conflicts with wild animals. The main purpose of all our efforts is to reduce the rate of illegal trade (not only) in slow lorises, and thus protect the population of (not only) these endangered animals in the wild.

Program Goals

Cooperation with local government agencies on wildlife conservation and on the enforcement of laws on slow loris protection.

Operation of a rescue and rehabilitation centre for slow lorises confiscated from the black market.

Setting up an Indonesian team that will implement most of the slow loris conservation activities.

Raising awareness about the illegal trade in animals and about the conservation of slow lorises.

Cooperation with and support of local communities.

Securing a sustainable population of slow lorises in human care, i.e. ex situ.

Addressing the issue of waste and pollution

We are implementing practical solutions to the issue of waste in partner villages and in the rescue centre - from the reduction of plastics to waste-water treatment plants.

In most of Indonesia, there is a lack of waste collection and sorting and further processing, leading to significant environmental pollution. In our rescue and rehabilitation centre, we are trying to reduce the amount of waste, our employees already use reusable cloth bags instead of plastic bags, we have introduced waste sorting bins and we lead children in our school to similar thinking and steps. In addition, in the rescue and rehabilitation centre, we also addressed the issue of wastewater, and we built an ecological wastewater treatment plant on the site, generated during the operation of the centre.

Also, in the partner village of Kuta Male, where we have been protecting slow lorises and other animals from illegal trade for several years, we launched a project to address the issue of waste at the request of the mayor of the village. It included acquainting the locals with the basic principle of waste sorting, reduction and further processing.

1) Children from our English-Environmental School received canvas bags from the Green-Books.org organization
2) Children from the village of Kuta Male decorating their bins for sorted waste
3) Waste sorting bins in the Kukang centre
4) Water cleaning tank

Stolen Wildlife

Illegal trade in animals and their body parts is one of the main causes of wild animals becoming endangered. A problem and responsibility of Asia, Africa or America? Yes, of course, but also European states are to blame, and so are even many citizens of the Czech Republic. You don’t believe it? You can now learn more thanks to the new, unique campaign named Stolen Wildlife. Stolen Wildlife is the first complex campaign in the Czech Republic, disclosing often overlooked facts about illegal wildlife trade.

I Am Not Your Toy!

The "I Am Not Your Toy!" campaign, yet another activity of The Kukang Rescue Program, is focused against the popularization of slow lorises as pets on the internet. This is most often done through "cute" videos on YouTube and by sharing videos and photos on social networks. It has already been proven that these videos have a direct impact on the illegal trade in slow lorises, i.e. they support it. The aim of the campaign is to inform the general public about the real background of these videos. Help us spread this information - together we can join forces and use the increasingly popular social networks and websites to raise awareness about wildlife protection.