The conservation of tigers and other wildlife in oil palm plantations

SUMMARY
Traditional wildlife conservation often focuses on protected areas, management of
which forms the core of most countries’ conservation efforts. While such areas are
absolutely essential for conservation success, limitations of size, location, isolation
and management mean that for many species the protected area system is at best
restrictive and at worst insufficient. In many cases, land outside protected areas also
has conservation value. Whilst this is rarely of the quality found in protected areas,
using the conservation potential of unprotected lands can help overcome many of the
shortfalls of the protected area system. For certain species, especially those which
naturally occur at very low population densities, this support could tip the balance
from extinction to survival.
Indonesia is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world and despite its
extensive system of protected areas, many of its species are in decline. Commercial
landscapes dominate the unprotected areas in Indonesia, with the oil palm industry –
particularly following recent demands for biofuel - the fastest growing sector and a
major cause for concern amongst environmentalists. Whilst many argue against its
expansion, palm oil’s increasingly important role in both the Indonesian and world
economies ensures that it will be a significant part of the landscape for the foreseeable
future. If the environmental impact of this crop is to be mitigated at any meaningful
level, the extent to which oil palm and biodiversity can coexist and the mechanisms
by which this may occur must be assessed. In this report we investigate how oil palm
plantations may play a role in wildlife conservation in Sumatra, Indonesia. The study
focuses on tigers and other large, terrestrial mammals living on and around an oil
palm plantation concession in central Sumatra, an area that included patches of
degraded forest and scrubby unplanted areas as well as the oil palm crop itself. The
analysis looks at species survival at the landscape level (including forested habitats
adjacent to the plantation), at the plantation concession level (including unplanted
areas within it), and finally species survival within the oil palm crop itself.
The results show that oil palm monoculture is very poor habitat for most terrestrial
mammal species. Only four species (10% of the number detected within the
landscape) were regularly detected in the oil palm itself and none of these species had
a high conservation value. The degree of aversion to oil palm shown by the other
mammals varied. Most endangered species, including tigers, tapirs, clouded leopards
and dhole, were never detected in oil palm. Some species, including deer, macaques
and pangolins showed limited tolerance but, with the exception of pigs, all species
showed a general preference for non-oil palm habitats. However, many species
continue to survive in the vicinity of the oil palm, utilising other habitat types also
present in the matrix. Surveys of the overall landscape around the crop revealed 38
medium to large mammal species, 25 of which are protected under Indonesian law
and 18 of which are on the IUCN red lists, including the Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris
sumatrae, IUCN: Critically Endangered). Ninety percent of these also occurred in the
heavily degraded, unplanted areas within the plantation concession itself. Many of
these species were previously thought to be highly intolerant of disturbed habitats, yet
most showed evidence that they were existing in functioning, persistent populations.
Finally the study highlighted the fragility of wildlife survival in such marginal habitats.
Over the course of the study, substantial loss of conservation value was witnessed as
land clearance and settlement of the wildlife habitats was illegally carried out by
settlers. The plantation managers, though sympathetic to wildlife conservation, were
unable to prevent this. The tiger population was particularly strongly affected,
completely disappearing from the plantation concession in the third year of the study.
The study concludes that compatibility of oil palm crop with most mammal species is
very low and that therefore conversion of land to oil palm plantations will have major
detrimental effects on most terrestrial mammal species, both through the initial
impact of habitat loss and through restrictions on remaining local populations by
habitat fragmentation. However, the study also highlights the conservation
Wildlife conservation in oil palm plantations 1