Forest clearing by pulp and paper mills is linked to 12 years of human and tiger deaths in Sumatra.
MOST violent incidents between people and tigers in the Riau province of Sumatra in the past 12 years have occurred near forests being cleared by paper giant Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) and associated companies, according to a new analysis of human-tiger conflict data.
The analysis, conducted by the group Eyes on the Forest, found that since 1997, 55 people and 15 Sumatran tigers (Panthera tigris sumatrae) have been killed during conflict encounters in Riau province. Another 17 tigers have been captured and removed from the wild.
By overlaying the locations of these conflicts with government maps of pulpwood plantation concessions, Eyes on the Forest found a direct correlation between tiger conflict and the forest practices of APP, its holding company Sinar Mas Group (SMG), and other associated companies that supply pulpwood to APP’s mills.
At least 147 of 245, or 60%, of all conflicts in Riau occurred in the Senepis area, where APP/SMG-associated companies have expanded their natural forest clearance operations in five concessions, mainly since 1999. Three of those concessions were expanded without proper license from the Ministry of Forestry.
Eyes on the Forest is a coalition of 25 environmental organisations in Riau, Sumatra, Indonesia. They include WWF-Indonesia, Jikalahari (Forest Rescue Network Riau) and Walhi Riau (Friends of the Earth Indonesia) and several other NGOs. The coalition was launched in December 2004 to investigate forest crimes and conflict in the central Sumatran province. Sumatra is home to some of the most biodiverse forests in the world. However, half of the forest remaining in 1985 has since been lost.
“With so much forest loss, the tigers have nowhere to go,” said Ian Kosasih of WWF-Indonesia. “In the last month alone, four tigers have been killed in Riau. There are fewer than 400 Sumatran tigers estimated to remain in the wild and every tiger killed is a significant loss to the population of this critically endangered subspecies.”
APP is responsible for more natural forest clearance in Sumatra – the only habitat for the Sumatran tiger – than any other company. Since it began operations in the 1980s, APP is estimated to have pulped more than one million hectares of natural forests in Riau and Jambi provinces in Sumatra.
Currently, NGOs are concerned about APP’s involvement in forest destruction in Senepis, Kerumutan, Kampar and Bukit Tigapuluh forest blocks in these provinces. Eyes on the Forest calls on APP/SMG-associated companies to stop natural forest clearance immediately.
Cleared areas around the Kerumutan forest have become a new hotspot for tiger conflict, with three incidents recorded this year. Large area of this deep peat forest have been licensed for APP/SMG-associated companies.
Besides being critical habitat for tigers, Senepis, Kerumutan, Kampar Peninsula and other Sumatran peat forests in Riau are a globally significant carbon store; the carbon-rich peat soil is so deep that simply cutting the trees or disturbing the soil releases enough carbon emissions to impact global climate change.
Of all the natural forest lost from 1982 until 2007 in Riau, 24% was replaced by or cleared for industrial pulpwood plantations and 29% was replaced or cleared for industrial palm oil plantations.
In 2007, the Riau Police and the Indonesian National Police probed 14 companies as part of a widespread illegal logging case. Half of those cases were APP/SMG-associated companies. The Riau Police abruptly shut down their investigation in December 2008 but in February, the national Corruption Eradication Commission pledged to resume the cases of 13 companies. – WWF
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