The world’s rarest great ape, discovered only in 2017, will not survive the building of a $1.6 billion hydroelectric power plant and dam in the middle of its remaining habitat in Sumatra, Indonesia, wildlife experts warn.

Only 800 of the newly identified Tapanuli orangutans remain in the wild, all in northern Sumatra’s Batang Toru Forest. It’s one of the most biodiverse spots in Indonesia, home to such rare species as Sumatran tigers and the critically endangered Sunda pangolin.

In this same area, forest clearing has already begun for the hydro project, which is being financed and built by state-controlled Chinese companies under China’s Belt and Road project. This multi-trillion-dollar initiative involves more than 7,000 infrastructure projects around the world.

Indonesia's