Panorama
 
 
 
 

OPEN LETTER TO INDONESIA’S PRESIDENT TO SAVE
SUMATRAN ELEPHANTS IN RIAU


Environmental Panorama
International
April of 2006

11 Apr 2006 - Your Excellency,
I am writing with regard to Sumatra’s Elephants, particularly in Riau where they are dying at an alarming pace. Poisonings and deadly captures have caused the population to decrease by 75% from 1067-1617 elephants in 1985 to 353-431 elephants in 2003. In the last two months alone, 12 Riau elephants were killed. These incidents have captured huge global attention. Over 200 media reports were published about these elephants over the last five weeks.
Riau’s elephants have no place to go, as their forests have been cleared. They are forced to feed in plantations that have replaced the forests. As a result, both people and elephants are suffering.
Properties have been damaged and some people have even lost their lives. Some elephants have been poisoned by oil palm plantation owners or farmers. Many elephants have been captured by local authorities, often resulting in elephant deaths.
Your Excellency, we are witnessing the extinction of the Sumatran elephant in Riau. WWF has tried for six years to stop this by working closely with the Ministry of Forestry and local government in Riau. However, we have not been successful. Today, we are turning to you, Mr. President, and we ask your support to:
1. Order all Indonesian citizens to stop killing elephants; whether directly, by poisoning, shooting, or unprofessional capturing, or indirectly through destruction of their habitat.
2. Order the relevant government institutions and plantation corporations to implement the “Protocol of Human and Elephant Conflict Mitigation”, developed by the Riau Conservation Authority (BKSDA) and NGOs, including WWF. Capturing elephants should only be a last resort.
3. Order relevant government institutions, local governments and plantation corporations to stop logging (legal and illegal) in conservation areas and cancel, or return the forest conversion licenses, particularly those issued on elephant habitat. The Balai Raja Wildlife Reserve, for your information, was once declared with 16,000 hectares of forest, but has only 260 ha of forest left today.
4. Prioritize the expansion of Tesso Nilo and Bukit Tigapuluh National Parks in Riau and Jambi so they include all the elephant forests surrounding them. They are two of the last remaining retreats of elephants in central Sumatra. Loosing them would drive central Sumatra’s elephants closer to the brink of extinction. Saving their forests and managing them properly would allow elephants to survive without generating further conflict and the ensuing devastating consequences.
5. Enforce the nature protection laws already in place to protect Sumatran elephants and their habitats, and transparently prosecute those who kill or torment elephants (especially after they are captured), as well as those people who issue and execute licenses that convert habitat inconsistently with existing rules and regulations.
Your Excellency, WWF is fully prepared to assist the Ministry of Forestry and local government in Riau in implementing a comprehensive conservation plan for the Sumatran elephant.
We seek Your Excellency's support to save the Sumatran elephant, as they are part of the natural heritage of our beloved country. The support also constitute expression of Indonesia’s commitment to deliver the targets of the Convention of Biological Diversity which were ratified in 1994.
Thank you for Your Excellency's support and kind attention.
Yours sincerely,
Mubariq Ahmad, PhD - Executive Director - WWF-Indonesia

 
 

Source: WWF – World Wildlife Foundation International (http://www.wwf.org)
Press consultantship (Desmarita Murni)
All rights reserved

 
 
 
 

 

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