'We can all do something' Pudsey scientist's Orangutan children’s book raises awareness

The Rimba is a lyrical tale focused on the Rimba, a wise orangutan who rises against destructive forces to protect her rainforest and the other creatures within it.

The story is written by author Jane Griffiths and illustrated by Emma Lokuciejewski, a research scientist who specialises in orangutan behaviour and conservation.

Emma’s research has seen her travel to Indonesia, Malaysia, and Borneo to study the large red-haired apes both in the wild and in rehabilitation centres.

Having seen the serious decline in orangutan populations in her work, Emma decided to illustrate The Rimba to teach children more about this animal and to campaign for their conservation.

Emma said: “The main message of this book is to educate people and show them that we are responsible for orangutan conservation.

“Whether it’s a big thing or a small thing, we can all do something and we have a moral obligation to do it.

“Reading The Rimba gives you an insight into how orangutans live, what problems they are facing in the wild and it educates the reader and the general public on these problems that are not very well known at all.”

Across the world, there are three species of orangutan: the Bornean, the Sumatran, and the Tapanuli. All three species are critically endangered with threats caused by habitat loss and the illegal pet trade. Emma and Jane hope The Rimba can inspire young readers to make eco-conscious changes in their everyday lives to help support their conservation.

Though illustration may seem distant from Emma’s day job, she found that creating The Rimba was a chance to connect science with art.

Emma said: “I've always been very creative and I've loved art forever but following a career in science, it's kind of like the two don't really mix - it's very rare to have anything that enables you to do both.

“When this book project came out, it was such a great opportunity for me to really get creative and show my skills but have a factual background to it as well.”

With an ambition to have a "meaningful impact”, 100% of the profit from The Rimba will go to orangutan conservation charities such as the Orangutan Land Trust and International Animal Rescue.

As well as this, each copy of the book comes with an education workbook for parents and teachers to use to teach children even more about the issues that orangutans face and how they can help.

Emma chose to become an orangutanologist because of the “cool and interesting” character of the animal. It’s this personality that she claims made them easy to illustrate.

Emma said: “Deciding what the Rimba would look like was one of my favourite parts (of creating The Rimba). From working with orangutans, I know that they have such emotion in their eyes so I really wanted to capture that."

The book’s front cover is a close up illustration of Rimba the orangutan framed to show the world “through her eyes”.

Emma said: “I wanted to show that we can see and we can feel what the Rimba feels. On the front cover page, you can see deforestation in the reflection in her eyes. That aspect of it is to show that we can imagine what the Rimba is feeling and bring more of a connection.

Since The Rimba was published in November, it’s achieved widespread praise with wildlife TV presenter Michaela Strachan describing the book as “evocative, poignant, and heart breaking”.

However, for Emma it’s important to continue to push the book’s message as far as possible.

Emma said: "(The Rimba) is educating the next generation of conservationists. Hopefully, it will inspire them to do something and make a difference. I think The Rimba shows in a nice friendly way that we can all work together to get to the end solution.”

The Rimba is available to buy on Amazon now.