BALI, Indonesia, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- The Nature Conservancy, a leading conservation organization, pledged one million U.S. dollars to support an Indonesian plan aimed at saving the country's orangutans from extinction.

    As much as one million hectares of orangutan habitat scheduled for conversion to oil palm will be saved through the implementation of the "Conservation Strategy and Action Plan," which was launched by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at the U.N. climate change conference now taking place in Bali, a resort island of Indonesia.

    The implementation of Orangutan conservancy can also help put the brakes on global warming by preventing the release of more than 700 million tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and lead to 9,800 orangutans being saved, said the Nature Conservancy.

    The action plan is the result of three years of collaboration between the Ministry of Forestry's Nature conservation Department and national and international NGOs in Indonesia.

    A review in 2004 showed that about 6,650 Sumatran orangutans and 55,000 Bornean orangutans remained in the wild, but most local populations were small, isolated and vulnerable.

    Deforestation had directly and indirectly led to 3,000 orangutan deaths per year since 1970s.

    The Nature Conservancy is working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people.