Cheyenne Mountain Zoo and its members and guests are celebrating a huge milestone: $1 million raised for orangutan conservation. Over the years, funds allocated from Zoo membership revenue and daytime admissions have supported a variety of efforts that benefit critically endangered wild orangutans in Southeast Asia.
Wild orangutans’ biggest threat is habitat destruction. Efforts funded by CMZoo’s supporters focus on preventing deforestation through global consumer empowerment, connecting and restoring wild orangutan habitats, and rescuing and rehabilitating displaced wild orangutans.
In 2021, CMZoo members voted in the annual Members-Only Conservation Vote to send $20,000 to support Hutan’s work to restore a wildlife corridor. In support of two established organizations working to save species in Southeast Asia, the funds helped the Hutan organization provide tools and funds to local women reforesting the Genting Wildlife Corridor, in Borneo. It also helped the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOSF) repair orangutan rehabilitation islands damaged by a devastating flood.
The Hutan corridor is an important animal ‘wildway’ that will connect rainforest with a wildlife sanctuary potentially used by hundreds of species in the area, like orangutans and Asian forest elephants. The BOSF grant provides emergency funds to reopen islands used for orangutan housing and forest school prior to release.
In addition to funds raised through a portion of every Zoo membership, every visitor to the Zoo is making a direct contribution to conservation, through CMZoo’s Quarters for Conservation program (Q4C). Each Zoo guest receives three ‘quarter’ tokens representing the 75-cent Q4C allocation from their admission fee. They can then show support for the legacy projects they love by placing their tokens in the corresponding slots in the Q4C kiosks in the Zoo’s admissions area. Orangutans are one of CMZoo’s legacy beneficiary species, receiving support since Q4C was established in 2008.
CMZoo has been a leader in sustainable palm oil advocacy for more than 15 years, encouraging numerous zoos and companies to join the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) with increasing success. In 2014, CMZoo created a free mobile app to educate consumers in the U.S. and Canada. By 2022, more than 160,000 verified users were making better shopping choices with CMZoo’s palm oil shopping app. In 2023, that app design, database and user experience served as the foundation to launch a free global app, called PalmOil Scan, under the direction of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA), and in partnership with several zoos around the world.
Now, PalmOil Scan is available in the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, The United Kingdom and Singapore. The app has the potential to reach millions more people around the world.
Companies that continue to use unsustainable palm oil in their products need to see that consumers have the tools and knowledge to find out whether they value the habitats that so many endangered species depend on. Sustainable palm oil production is possible, and CMZoo’s work on sustainable palm oil advocacy, including the support on PalmOil Scan, gives consumers the power to hold companies to a higher standard.
Download PalmOil Scan for free in the Apple Store or on Google Play. To learn more about orangutan conservation and palm oil, visit cmzoo.org/palmoil.