A Supplemental HCVF Assessment on the Sumatran Tiger ...

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FINAL REPORT Tiger <strong>HCVF</strong> <strong>Supplemental</strong> <strong>Assessment</strong> – Serapung FMU multiple–use forests where tigers and people co-exist. In the Sundarbans, where 100- 150 people are killed each year by tigers, the frequency of human deaths is highest in areas, and at times, when large numbers of people are present in the forest (Helalsiddiqui 1998). Ecologically, if forest is cleared or in some other way made suboptimal for tigers (such as over-harvesting of prey species) tigers may be forced to prey on humans or their livestock. Whatever the specific underlying causes, surveys carried out as a component of this assessment indicate that a high proportion (39%) of local communities perceive land-clearing to be a primary factor leading to conflict, making it important that positive steps are taken by the FMU management to mitigate conflict wherever possible. With respect to this in the Serapung FMU it is recommended that a habitat corridor be maintained between the wider forested landscape (to the west of the FMU) and the setaside forests within the FMU - enabling tigers to continue to hunt in set-aside and coastal areas without having to pass close to human settlements (including those of FMU employees/contractors). Additionally the corridor should not be directly adjacent to human-inhabited areas, both to reduce the likelihood of human tiger encounters and to lessen the exploitation of the forested corridor by the local community. The rate and direction of forest clearance and the width of the harvesting-front, are factors that should also be considered by FMU managers concerned about tigerhuman conflict. Tigers and other wildlife can be driven away from the advancing front of clearance without the opportunity to assimilate into a new habitat range. If the direction of travel of the harvesting-front is in line with, or advancing towards, human settlements (such as the village along the Yos Trail) tigers will be driven into conflict situations. Despite prevailing Indonesian laws and regulations to the contrary, the use of snaretraps and hunting of ungulates is common in the study area. Such hunting reduces the prey biomass available for tigers which could impact on the sustainability of the habitat for the current population level (see: Karanth & Stith 1999) and may eventually cause a reduced population level, even local extinction, in line with reduced carrying capacity. At the very least significantly reduced prey-abundance in the local area will increase the probability of tigers preying upon livestock and people. An additional threat to the tiger population is that tigers can be killed or injured by such snares. On three occasions since 2000 tigers have been caught in deer snares within the FMU, leading to the confirmed death of two of these tigers after they were unable to release themselves. Without active measures to prevent such illegal activities it is expected that more tigers will be killed in this manner in the future. No strong evidence was found regarding specific poaching of tiger for trade in body-parts, although in 2003 a conflict tiger was killed by Yos Trail villagers in defence against further attacks and its bones later sold to travelling traders. The low levels of tiger poaching in this region are possibly linked to the strong local belief system, which centres around the tiger’s revered position as a community and social “guardian”. 5.5 Conclusions Derived from this <strong>Assessment</strong> The constraints of time and the extensive area over which this study was conducted limited the scope of conclusions that could be drawn. Forest fires and theft of remote cameras from within and around the FMU also presented unforeseeable limitations on the intensity of camera monitoring which could be achieved. Despite these factors, the data collected was sufficient to draw conclusions relating to key aspects of tiger population status within and around the FMU and provide further conclusions relating to the interaction of the FMU tiger population with that in the wider forest landscape. The main conclusions, summarised below, are further developed in Section 6 with respect to the <strong>HCVF</strong> delineation process. Sumatran Tiger Conservation Program Pg 50/68
FINAL REPORT Tiger <strong>HCVF</strong> <strong>Supplemental</strong> <strong>Assessment</strong> – Serapung FMU • The PSF in and around the FMU, although modified by canals, previous HPH logging operations and ongoing illegal logging, provides an excellent habitat for tigers, with abundance of prey and tiger secondary signs at least comparable to other lowland forest types. • A breeding population of tigers exists in and around the FMU, and these tigers utilise the majority of the indicative <strong>HCVF</strong> (logging moratorium) area and other areas with forest cover within the FMU. • Evidence suggests that tigers still utilise (particularly for hunting) the remaining forests of the Tandjung Datuk area in the south-east of the FMU. • The current utilisation of habitat by tigers is higher in the forested areas outside the FMU (even although immediately adjacent) rather than inside. This is likely to be related to the high levels of ongoing human disturbance inside the FMU. Further work to measure the density of tigers in PSF over a wide area is urgently required to provide more extensive base-line data. • Tigers present in the FMU are a component of an extensive and contiguous tiger population existing in the Siak-Pelalawan forest block which, collectively, represent one of the largest populations of tigers remaining in Sumatra. The tigers utilising FMU forests are threatened with becoming isolated from the wider landscape, due to ongoing conversion of forests in areas adjacent to the FMU, unless forests surrounding Tasik Pinang lake are protected. • By 2007 TCU 150 is predicted to have become separated into two isolated and much reduced constituent blocks, with a maximum of 305,000 ha of natural forest remaining in the Siak-Pelalawan block. In a forest block of this size the potential exists for maintaining a tiger population of up to 90 individuals (independently viable over the long-term providing effective protection and conservation management is implemented). However, given historic and current forest conversion trends in this particular region (where all HPH areas are progressively converted to HTI and/or oil-palm) it is reasonable to assume that only forest within areas which are currently protected ((~40,000 ha) will be maintained beyond 2009. None of these areas are large enough to maintain viable tiger populations, and extinction of all tigers in the Siak-Pelalawan forest block is therefore inevitable given current land-use planning. • In recent years tiger conflict has led to the death or serious injury of at least five people (11 total conflict events) in and around the FMU. It is anticipated that this problem will be intensified by further land clearance. As a preventative measure forest connectivity should be maintained between the set-aside forests in the FMU and the greater Siak-Pelalawan forest block. Land clearance methods should be modified to ensure that tigers are not driven into regions inhabited by humans. • In order to ensure the long-term viability of tigers in the Siak-Pelalawan forest block there is an immediate need for the creation of an extensive, landscapelevel conservation area. Preliminary analysis of tiger status in the region dictates that 250,000 ha of contiguous Peat Swamp Forest would provide the minimal area required to ensure independent, long-term conservation of tigers here. Without such intervention, tigers are doomed to local extinction in the medium-term across the Siak-Pelalawan area. Sumatran Tiger Conservation Program Pg 51/68
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