An immediate moratorium
on habitat conversion is needed to secure
a future for Sumatran elephants, conservation
organization WWF says.
The Sumatran elephant
has been uplisted from “endangered” to “critically
endangered” after losing nearly 70 per cent
of its habitat and half its population in
one generation. The decline is largely because
of elephant habitat being deforested or
converted for agricultural plantations.
IUCN has classified
the Sumatran elephant subspecies (Elephas
maximus sumatranus) as critically endangered
on its Red List of Threatened Species. There
are only an estimated 2,400 to 2,800 of
the animals remaining in the wild, a reduction
of about 50 per cent from the 1985 population
estimate. Scientists say that if current
trends continue, Sumatran elephants could
be extinct in the wild in less than 30 years.
According to the IUCN
Red List, “Although as a species Sumatran
elephants are protected under Indonesia
law, 85 per cent of their habitats which
are located outside of protected areas,
are outside of the protection system and
likely to be converted to agricultural and
other purposes.”
Sumatra is thought to
hold some of the most significant populations
of Asian elephants outside of India and
Sri Lanka. Yet within the Asian elephant’s
range, Sumatra has experienced perhaps the
most rapid deforestation rate. Sumatra has
lost over two-thirds of its natural lowland
forest in the past 25 years – the most suitable
habitat for elephants – resulting in local
extinctions of the elephant from many areas.
“The Sumatran elephant joins a growing list
of Indonesian species that are critically
endangered, including the Sumatran orangutan,
the Javan and Sumatran rhinos and the Sumatran
tiger,” said Dr. Carlos Drews, Director
of WWF’s Global Species Programme.
“Unless urgent and effective
conservation action is taken these magnificent
animals are likely to go extinct within
our lifetime.”
WWF is calling on the
Indonesian government to prohibit all forest
conversion in elephant habitats until a
conservation strategy is determined for
conserving the animals. The organization
recommends that the government conduct an
assessment to determine large habitat patches
and designate them as protected areas. Additionally,
smaller habitat areas should be linked with
conservation corridors, and areas of possible
habitat expansion or restoration explored.
“It’s very important
that the Government of Indonesia, conservation
organizations and agro-forestry companies
recognize the critical status of elephant
and other wildlife in Sumatra and take effective
steps to conserve them,” said Asian elephant
expert Ajay Desai.
“Indonesia must act
now before it’s too late to protect Sumatra’s
last remaining natural forests, especially
elephant habitats.”
Forest loss a major
factor in species decline
In Sumatra’s Riau Province, where pulp and
paper industries and oil palm plantations
are causing the some of the world’s most
rapid rates of deforestation, elephant numbers
have declined by a staggering 80 per cent
in less than 25 years. Habitat fragmentation
has confined some herds to small forest
patches, and these populations are not likely
to survive in the long term.
“Riau Province has already
lost six of its nine herds to extinction.
The last surviving elephants may soon disappear
if the government doesn’t take steps to
stop forest conversion and effectively protect
the elephants,” said Anwar Purwoto of WWF-Indonesia.
“Forest concession holders
such as pulp and paper companies and the
palm oil industry have a legal and ethical
obligation to protect endangered species
within their concessions.”
Similarly, Lampung Province has seen its
number of elephant herds decline from twelve
in the 1980s to only three by 2002 as a
result of forest loss. Just two of the remaining
herds are considered biologically viable.
“In the mid-1980s, Sumatra had 44 elephant
populations spread across all of its eight
provinces, and the island still had half
of its natural forests,” said Dr. A. Christy
Williams, Head of WWF’s Asian Elephant Programme.
“Due to conversions
of those forests for human settlement and
agricultural production, many elephant populations
have come into serious conflicts with humans.
As a result, a large number of elephants
have been captured from the wild or killed.”
WWF calls upon all stakeholders, including
the Government of Indonesia, oil palm companies,
members of the pulp and paper industry and
conservation organizations, to work together
to conserve Sumatran elephant habitat. Urgent
measures are needed to protect Sumatra’s
remaining natural forests so that future
generations of Indonesians can inherit a
natural heritage that includes wild elephants,
tigers, orangutans and rhinos.
