SOS: Lithuanian artist carves conservation plea into the Sumatran rainforest

A post shared by Splash and Burn (@splashandburn) on Feb 10, 2018 at 1:56am PST

A Lithuanian artist has resculpted the Sumatran rainforest in a desperate plea to save local wildlife.

Ernest Zacharevic created the giant installation on a former palm oil plantation owned by a conservation charity, the Sumatran Orangutan Society (SOS).

The installation covers 20 hectares in the 100 hectare plot, which borders an endangered forest area home to elephants, tigers, orangutans and rhinos. Zacharevic carved his message into the palm oil trees — all of which needed to be cleared before the site could be restored as part of the natural forest — using crews with chainsaws and axes.

The piece forms just one part of the Splash and Burn project — an art initiative run with SOS in a bid to bring conservation and the dangers of the conflict palm oil industry to the public’s attention.

To see more of Splash and Burn’s work, or to read more about its mission, click here.