AN AMBITIOUS project, led by a Melbourne zookeeper, to create a series of man-made islands for sick and injured orang-utans in Indonesia, is a step closer after an Australian fund-raising drive.

Earth 4 Orang-utans has secured 48 hectares in the northern part of Sumatra after raising a $150,000 down payment on the land from Australian donors, including Melbourne advertising executive Ted Horton and his wife Miche. It is understood they gave a significant sum towards the project.

The initiative is the brainchild of Jessica McKelson, head primate keeper at Melbourne Zoo, and Dr Ian Singleton, conservation director at the Sumatran Orang-utan Conservation Program (SOCP) in Indonesia.

Two other orang-utan non-government organisations, based in Britain and the US, are also backing the scheme, as well as the Australian-based network The Orang-utan Project.

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The project intends to relocate sick and injured orang-utans, which are unable to be released into the wild and are languishing in cages at the SOCP quarantine centre, Batu Mbelin. A chain of four islands will be created by digging moats around the land. Orang-utans, which are afraid of water, will be free to roam on the islands.

Orang-utans are critically endangered due to the clearing of forests for palm oil in Indonesia, the last country in which the flame-haired apes are found in the wild. They also suffer from direct contact with humans, with many shot or captured illegally. Human diseases such as hepatitis are also passed on to them.

Ms McKelson said she was thrilled the project had attracted support. ''I didn't think it was possible 12 months ago, but now we have land secured, which is a vital first step. This will be the first time that something has been built like this in Indonesia.''

A crucial part of the project will be an education centre at the site, aimed at the locals. The centre will highlight the threats orang-utans and other animals face from forest clearing and traditional medicine, which results in animals such as fruit bats and tigers being killed and eaten in the erroneous belief they cure diseases.

''No one has tried to educate the middle-class business people, the guys with the nice cars in the top networks,'' Dr Singleton said. ''At Melbourne or Sydney zoo, you'd get a strong education message, whereas the zoos here are all terrible, apart from, arguably, the ones in Bali. But even there you have people throwing peanuts at the animals and laughing at them.

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Islands of sanctuary for endangered orang-utans