A Supplemental HCVF Assessment on the Sumatran Tiger ...

FINAL REPORT Tiger <strong>HCVF</strong> <strong>Supplemental</strong> <strong>Assessment</strong> – Serapung FMU
1 Introduction
This report presents the findings of an independent study to assess the delineation of
High Conservation Value Forest (<strong>HCVF</strong>) relating to the possible presence of the
Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae) in an industrial timber plantation (HTI) and
adjacent peat-swamp forests in Riau Province, Sumatra, Indonesia.
1.1 Rationale for a Tiger <strong>Supplemental</strong> <strong>Assessment</strong>
During November 2004 the Rainforest Alliance’s SmartWood program carried out a
comprehensive <strong>HCVF</strong> analysis in the Serapung District (19,495 ha) forest management
unit (FMU), an industrial timber plantation related by common ownership to Asia Pulp
and Paper (APP), and managed by PT Arara Abadi, in Riau Province (Sumatra,
Indonesia).
The opportunity for this study arose from SmartWood’s identification of the possible
existence of tigers in the FMU. SmartWood received indications of presence during its
interviews with local people, and decided that rather than declare <strong>HCVF</strong> immediately it
would seek APP’s agreement to conduct a supplementary study on Sumatran tigers
within and surrounding the FMU in order to improve its information base. A <strong>HCVF</strong>
precautionary principle was invoked and delineation of an indicative <strong>HCVF</strong> (temporary
logging moratorium area) proposed. The logging moratorium over the remaining 5,884
ha natural forest area within the FMU was maintained during the tiger study and still
remains in place subject to final determination of <strong>HCVF</strong> status. In its <strong>HCVF</strong> Report for
the Serapung FMU, SmartWood recommended that the supplemental assessment be
carried out by recognised tiger conservation experts with the five objectives:
• Determine the estimated size of this tiger population
• Evaluate habitat utilization and distribution of tigers within the study area.
• Evaluate the population’s comparative utilization of different habitat types: peat
swamp forest, coastal alluvial bench forests, secondary habitats and farmlands.
• Taking into account current and future land use of the wider area, determine the
long-term viability of this population, and the area (and primary habitats)
required to support it.
• Determine if the defined forest block within the FMU constitutes an integral part
of the area and habitat required to support the tiger population in the long term.
Findings of the tiger supplemental assessment will form the basis for SmartWood’s
revision of the indicative <strong>HCVF</strong> area, in accordance with SmartWood guidelines that if
the tiger is “confirmed not to be present within the FMU, or the FMU does not constitute
an integral portion of the habitat and range of the tiger population, then this <strong>HCVF</strong> will
not exist within the FMU” 1 .
In December 2004, APP assigned the supplemental assessment (on a non-profit basis)
to a team of 14 specialists, representing the Sumatran Tiger Conservation Program 2
(STCP) through its UK partner organisation, the Sumatran Tiger Trust (STT). The
resulting activities, described in this report, are an extension of the STCP’s tiger status
assessment work across Sumatra, its current focus on Riau’s peat-swamp forests, and
in line with its ongoing efforts to facilitate the development of additional protected areas
for the tiger in Sumatra.
1 SmartWood, <strong>HCVF</strong> Report for Serapung FMU, p.39
2 A collaboration between the Directorate General of Forest Protection and Nature Conservation
(Ministry of Forestry, RI) and the Sumatran Tiger Trust (UK).
Sumatran Tiger Conservation Program Pg 3/68