Hardi Baktiantoro

Hardi Baktiantoro was Lone's assistant at the centre in Kalimantan before he left to take a more active role trying to stop big companies (such as PT. Makin Group in Parenggean and PT. Nabatindo Karya Utama in Central Kalimantan) from logging and burning. At considerable personal risk, Hardi journeys upriver into the concession areas to observe and document the environmental impact of the plantations. Hardi also accompanies Lone on her visits to the concessions when she has to rescue displaced orangutans.

A brave, outspoken and resolute campaigner, Hardi travelled to the UN Climate Change Conference in Bali in an attempt to capitalise on the media presence, raising awareness of Kalimantan’s destructive deforestation and its terrible consequences for the orangutans.

At an event hosted by Wetlands International, Hardi fronted up to the Governor of Kalimantan and told him what he had seen in the palm oil plantations. The Governor had just been at the podium expressing his determination to protect the forests, and was in an approachable mood. He promised to meet with Hardi after the conference to examine his evidence and take immediate action.

Hardi has now established an NGO called The Centre for Orangutan Protection (COP).� His organization conducts environmental impact studies, defends the rights of forest-dwelling peoples, and campaigns against unsustainable or illegal logging by large and small plantations. Working in conjunction with local villagers, COP aims to prevent deforestation and ensure that the decline of the orangutan is halted.