Indonesian Gateways for Wildlife Smugglers Identified

Fidelis E Satriastanti Jakarta Globe 21 Jul 10;

Sanur, Bali. An international conference on wildlife conservation in Bali on Tuesday was told that two main portals were being used to smuggle out the country’s unique animal species.

The two gateways, also referred to as the red triangles, consist of the Medan-Palembang-Pontianak region for the western part of the archipelago and Manado-Ambon-Sorong in the east.

Wildlife traders were believed to use ports in these regions to smuggle Indonesian fauna to China, Japan, Taiwan and Vietnam.

In the western red triangle, traders mainly shipped large mammals from Sumatra to China, including tigers, elephantsand orangutans. Meanwhile, in the eastern red triangle, rare birds from Papua were the most smuggled wildlife.

Addressing the International Meeting of the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation in Sanur, Bali, Ani Mardiastuti, an ecologist at the Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB), said the red triangle regions were well known as gateways for trafficking, but not much was being done to stop the illegal trade.

She said it was difficult to stop the trafficking because both government officials and the general public lacked awareness about the scale of the problem. “For instance, I bet people don’t know that it’s not allowed to have parrots,” she said.

According to Ani, the illegal wildlife trade was second only to drugs and weapons in terms of cost to the state.

“Unfortunately, we have never counted how much we have lost because of this illegal trading,” she said.

Irma Hermawati, coordinator of the Wildlife Advocacy Institution, said the red triangle areas were exploited because they were close to porous borders with other countries in the region.

“Despite some animals and plants being considered not endangered, if people keep smuggling them in large quantities then they could become extinct someday,” she said, adding that based on ProFauna study, the country lost about Rp 9 trillion ($999 million) a year because of the illegal wildlife trade.

Smugglers who trade in endangered species face up to five years in prison and fines of up to Rp 100 million.

Ani said the trafficking not only covered endangered species, but also trade conducted without the necessary permits. She said the trade in insects and flowers was not restricted but were often smuggled out to avoid tax issues.

Six other cities were also deemed centers for the illegal wildlife trade — Surabaya, Denpasar, Balikpapan, Merauke, Makassar and Jakarta. “These areas are not just transit points, but also major suppliers of illegal wildlife,” Ani said.