The conservation of tigers and other wildlife in oil palm plantations

CONTENTS
Summary 1
Ringkasan 3
Contents 5
Sponsors and contributors 7
Introduction 8
Protected areas and conservation 8
Unprotected areas and conservation 9
The importance of industrial landscapes 10
Conservation in industrial landscapes in Indonesia 11
Protected and unprotected areas in Indonesia 11
Oil palm in Indonesia 13
The oil palm crop 13
Economic importance of oil palm 13
Environmental impact of oil palm 14
Project framework 15
Study objective 15
Study location 15
Materials and methods 16
Foot surveys 16
Secondary sign transects 16
Occupancy surveys 17
Camera-trapping 17
Non-random camera placement 18
Random camera placement 18
Wildlife tracking 19
Capturing wildlife 19
Tracking wildlife 20
Results 21
Habitat definitions used in the analysis 21
Species survival within a human-dominated landscape 22
Species diversity within a human-dominated landscape 22
Species distribution across a human-dominated landscape 25
Relative abundance of species across a human-dominated landscape 27
Species survival within the plantation concession 28
Species diversity within the plantation concession 28
Relative abundance within the plantation concession 29
Evidence of persistence in oil palm landscapes 30
Species survival within the oil palm crop 31
Species diversity within oil palm 31
Species distribution within oil palm 31
Behavioural responses to oil palm crop 32
Species focus: Sumatran tigers and oil palm 34
Tigers on the plantation 2001-2002 34
Population size 34
Ranging patterns 36
Tigers on the plantation 2003-2006 38
Population decline 38
Landscape occupancy 39
Reasons for tiger decline 41
Conclusions 43
Oil palm is a very poor habitat for mammals 43
The value of oil palm crop as wildlife habitat 43
Tolerant species 43
Species displaying limited tolerance 43
Intolerant species 44
Implications for land-use planning 44
Degraded habitats are still important for many species 44
Wildlife conservation in oil palm plantations 5