We are condemning to extinction one of the most beloved species in the animal kingdom and one of our closest genetic relatives: the orangutan. It is hardly a secret — photographs of orangutans in their death throes or watching helplessly as their world is destroyed are among the most iconic images of the destruction of Indonesia's forests. In Indonesia, around 800,000 hectares of forest are razed to the ground every year; between 2000 and 2012, more than six million hectares of primary forest — the oldest and most biodiverse — were felled. One of the main causes is industrial oil palm cultivation; forests are often set alight to be converted into plantations. In Malay, orangutan means "man of the forest", where "orang" means man and "hutan" forest. It is precisely Men of the forest — men of the forest — that is the title of a film telling the story of the plight of these great apes and of deforestation in Borneo and Sumatra.

Deforestation in Indonesia concerns us all

"We chose this title for our film because we want to dedicate it to our cousins of the forest," explained Alessandro Nicoletti, biologist and activist, who authored the documentary alongside television and film director and producer Francesco Menghini and freelance editor Fabrizio Carchiolo. The project was born with the aim of raising public awareness of deforestation in Indonesia and the orangutan crisis — an underestimated phenomenon that the whole world will sooner or later have to reckon with. The destruction of these forests contributes to the release of large quantities of CO2 into the atmosphere, accelerating climate change; these forests are, in fact, often carbon-rich peatlands. Filming for the documentary has begun but is not yet complete; to finish the project, the authors have launched a fundraising campaign. The money raised will be used to improve the quality of the documentary, interview more people and cover more locations.

The disappearance of the orangutans

Every year, approximately 5,000 orangutans are killed to make way for oil palm plantations. These great apes, already endangered, see their habitat disappearing day by day, and at this rate they will be extinct within a few decades. Until just a few decades ago, these gentle great apes were widespread throughout Southeast Asia; however, the constant destruction of their ecosystems, above all due to human activity, has brought the species to the brink of extinction. Today, of the orangutan population that existed in the twentieth century, just 7 per cent of Sumatran orangutans (Pongo abelii) and 14 per cent of Bornean orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) survive.

How the film came about

Men of the forest shows, without sugarcoating, the inexorable decline of orangutans unfolding before our eyes. "With this film we would like to promote awareness of the orangutan crisis," declared Alessandro Nicoletti. "They share 97 per cent of our DNA; they are evolved animals that deserve to live in their habitat, but we are destroying it." The film was born following a journey across the islands of Borneo and Sumatra, during which Nicoletti and Menghini witnessed first-hand the desperate plight of the orangutans. During this journey they met a group of people who risk their own lives to save the forest and its inhabitants. "We decided that our task had to be to help them by telling their story and spreading their message around the world. That was the moment Men of the forest was born," the authors recounted.

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The guardians of the orangutans

To make the film, the authors followed a group of Indonesians who founded an NGO with the aim of combating habitat destruction, forest fires and the illegal trade in wild animals, and who risk their lives daily to protect Indonesia's forests and wildlife. The organisation's goal is to mitigate conflict between local communities and wildlife through, for example, habitat restoration and environmental education of indigenous people.