Backpack Cinema: Supporting the Plight of the Orangutan

For the first time, Electric Pedals has collaborated with Ape Alliance and the Great Apes Film Initiative (GAFI) to bring Backpack Cinema to Kalimantan, Indonesia. Since this form of cinema is solely driven by pedal power, it enables us to reach remote communities that do not even have electricity, and help raise awareness of the plight of the orangutan. By working with like-minded organisations, such as Gunung Palung Orangutan Conservation Programme (GPOCP) and Yayasan International Animal Rescue Indonesia (YIARI), we aim to consistently develop local knowledge in human-orangutan conflict (HOC) Hotspots by visiting and connecting with school children and villagers over the next twelve months. 

Orangutan : a child with his mother

During the past seven months YIARI’s Human-Orangutan Conflict Response Team (HOCRT) have been collecting data to identify HOC Hotspots where they will use Backpack Cinema to educate future environmental stewards on how the role of healthy forests and orangutan populations affects our lives. According to the Guardian, in Kalimantan alone, 'between 750 and 1,800 orangutans were killed as a result of hunting and deforestation in 2008.' At this current rate, the orangutans could be brought to the brink of extinction.

Setting up the Backpack Cinema kit in a local village

We currently have 14 of these systems scattered around the remotest parts of the world.

We'd like to thank BenQ for supporting this project.