He’s King of the Jungle

By Nicole Williams
DANDENONG’S environmental manufacturer has thrown its support behind a teenage eco-warrior.
Orange Power sponsored 15-year-old Thomas King by providing $8000 so he could travel to Indonesia to be involved in a conservation and education project.
The Ringwood teen just returned from a two week visit to Borneo, where a group of 15 environmentalists are spending three months filming a documentary highlighting unsustainable palm oil production.
Thomas said the grant from Orange Power had allowed him the chance to partake in a once-in-a-lifetime project.
“Protecting the wildlife, environment and local communities from damaging, large-scale palm oil production is a cause I am deeply passionate about and to be able to go over and take part in the filming of this documentary is something I’m extremely excited about and privileged to be a part of,” he said.
“We’ll be aiming to stop illegal deforestation, protect, rescue and rehabilitate endangered wildlife, prevent the illegal trade of orangutans and educate local communities about the implementation of alternative income revenues that don’t damage their precious forest livelihood.”
Orange Power Managing Director Andrew Chaney said he was encouraged by Thomas’ passion for protecting the environment.
“It’s inspiring to see somebody so young and passionate getting out and doing something about our precious environment that is being ruined by unsustainable palm oil production,” he said.
Mr Chaney said no Orange Power products contain palm oil so the company was happy to support Thomas in his latest project helping to raise awareness of the issues of the industry in which it operates.
The money provided by Orange Power paid for all of Thomas and his guardian’s travel expenses and included a donation to the cause in Borneo.
The film’s producers were impressed with Thomas and invited him to join for two weeks, despite being under the 18-years-of-age required to participate.