As forests fragment, arboreal bridges offer Indonesia's orangutans a lifeline

FILE PHOTO: This screen grab from a handout video taken on December 14, 2025, and released by the Sumatran Orangutan Society (SOS), shows a Sumatran orangutan using a canopy bridge constructed by conservation NGO Tangguh Hutan Khatulistiwa (TaHuKah) in collaboration with government partners and UK-based charity SOS to cross a road in Pakpak Bharat district, North Sumatra. - AFP/SUMATRAN ORANGUTAN SOCIETY via The Jakarta Post/ANN

JAKARTA: Manmade arboreal bridges are emerging as a conservation tool to reconnect fragmented habitats for orangutans, as the critically endangered great apes face growing threats from infrastructure development, deforestation and climate change.

In the forests of Sumatra and Borneo, the only natural habitats of Sumatran, Tapanuli and Bornean orangutans, shrinking forests and expanding roads and settlements have increasingly isolated populations.