Michelle Desilets is the Founder and Executive Director of Orangutan Land Trust and has been working in orangutan conservation for over 30 years. Prior to working in orangutan conservation, Michelle was a primary schoolteacher for a number of years in both the US and the UK.
Together with noted orangutan conservationist Lone Droscher Nielsen, Michelle helped to create the Nyaru Menteng Orangutan Reintroduction Project in Borneo. Today, this project is the world’s largest primate rescue project, having saved the lives of over 1000 orangutans and is run by the Borneo Orangutan Surival Foundation. Michelle previously founded and directed the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation UK.
The mission of the Orangutan Land Trust is to provide sustainable solutions for the long-term survival of the orangutan in the wild, by ensuring safe areas of forest for its continued survival. The focus is on protecting critical areas of orangutan habitat. Because the conversion of habitat for oil-palm plantations represents the greatest threat to the survival of the orangutan, Michelle feels the single-most effective way to save the orangutan is through working to ensure that palm oil is produced sustainably. She has voluntarily served on numerous committees for the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), including the Biodiversity and High Conservation Value Working Group and the Taskforce for Review of the Principles and Criteria of the RSPO in 2013, 2018 and 2023
The Orangutan Land Trust also supports in-situ conservation activities protecting forests and orangutans throughout Borneo and Sumatra.
