Antara 24 Nov 10;
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian government is committed to doubling the tiger population in their Sumatra habitats by 2022, a Forestry Ministry official said.
"This commitment is achievable as there is sufficient basic data on the population of Sumatran tigers, along with conservation programs already implemented in priority conservation landscapes," said I Made Subadia Gelgel, a senior Forestry Ministry official in his country report at the International Tiger Forum (ITF) in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Wednesday.
ITF ran from Nov 21 to 24 under chairmanship of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and was attended by representatives of 13 tiger range countries (TRC), namely Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Rusia, Thailand, and Vietnam.
The Forum aimed to produce a document on Global Tiger Recovery Program and a St Petersburg Declaration on Tiger Conservation which in effect were international agreements on stopping the decline of the global tiger population and double their number by 2022. Gelgel was the head of the Indonesian delegation at the forum.
Gelgel, as quoted by in a released made available to ANTARA by World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF), in Jakarta, on Wednesday, said the six priority tiger landscapes in Indonesia were Ulu Masen, Kampar-Kerumutan, Bukit Tigapuluh, Kerinci Seblat, Bukit Balai Rejang Selatan, and Bukit Barisan Selatan, all in Sumatra.
WWF-Indonesia Chief Executive Officer Efransyah, who also attended the forum, said efforts to increase the number of Indonesian tigers to double their current population in their habitat was not something impossible to do. The most important thing in the matter was that there should be e political commitment.
"Russia serves as an example for having succeeded to increase its tiger population in their natural habitat from just 80-100 in the 1960?s to about 500 today," said Efransyah, adding that another aspect was the availability of funding to support the success of the global tiger conservation program.
Efransyah added the Indonesian delegation at the forum had put forward a proposal on the holding of follow-up meetings to discuss the funding mechanism.
The global tiger population has dwindled to a level where the animal is now on the brink of extinction. Globally there were now just 3,200 tiger individuals, consisting of six sub-species, namely Sumatera Bengal, Amur, Indochina, Southern China and Malaya. About 12 percent of the total, about 400 individuals, roam in the dwindling forested regions in Sumatera, their main habitat.
Indonesia Joins World Forum Vowing to Save Tigers
AP & Fidelis E. Satriastanti Jakarta Globe 24 Nov 10;
St. Petersburg, Russia. Indonesia has joined 12 other nations where tigers live in the wild in committing to saving the iconic big cats from extinction, the head of the Indonesian delegation said on Wednesday.
Indonesia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Burma, Nepal, Russia, Thailand, and Vietnam have agreed to double the tiger population by 2022, by cracking down on poaching and illicit trade in tiger pelts and body parts, and involving local communities in their conservation efforts.
The nations signed the declaration at the International Tiger Forum in St. Petersburg, which concluded on Wednesday.
Tigers once roamed most of Eurasia from the Tigris River to Siberia and Indonesia. But in the past century, the number of countries that are home to tigers has dropped from 25 to 13, while three of the nine tiger subspecies have become extinct.
The number of tigers worldwide has plunged some 95 percent over the past century. Experts say there are now only about 3,200 tigers left in the wild.
Indonesia alone has lost two of its three tiger species — the Javan tiger and Balinese tiger — in the 1930s and 1980s, while the Sumatran tiger is currently classified as critically endangered.
Based on the Ministry of Forestry data, there are an estimated 400 Sumatran tigers left in Indonesia and an additional 150 in captivity elsewhere around the world.
“There is sufficient basic data on the Sumatran tiger population and various conservation programs have already being implemented in tiger conservation priority areas,” said I Made Subadia Gelgel, head of the Indonesian delegation, claiming that the forum’s commitment is achievable.
Indonesia’s conservation efforts will focus on six priority areas — Ulu Masen, Kampar-Kerumutan, Bukit Tigapuluh, Kerinci Seblat, Bukit Balai Rejang Selatan, and Bukit Barisan Selatan.
Efransjah, head of WWF Indonesia, said the ambitious goal to double its tiger population was not out of reach.
“With strong political will and good implementation, Russia has managed to increase their tiger population from about 80 to 100 individuals in the 1960s to 500 individuals [today],” he said.
Russia, whose far east is home to Siberian tigers, the largest tiger subspecies, is the only nation where the number of tigers has increased in recent decades.
But Efransjah emphasized that funding was a crucial factor that needed to be settled. T he Global Tiger Recovery Program estimates the 13 nations countries will need about $350 million in outside funding in the first five years of the 12-year plan.
In Indonesia, the Ministry of Forestry only receives Rp 15 billion ($1.65 million) a year from the state budget for all of its conservation programs, not just for tigers.
Many of the countries with wild tiger populations, such as Laos, Bangladesh and Nepal are impoverished, and saving tigers may depend on sizable donations from the West.
The nations will be seeking donor commitments to help finance conservation measures, the agreement said.
“The goal is difficult, but achievable,” Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said. “It is difficult to solve the problems of wildlife conservation in these countries.”
Furthermore, he said Russia could help revive tiger populations in neighboring countries such as Iran and Kazakhstan.
However, Russian wildlife experts say Siberian tigers are still endangered.
Their pelts, bones and meat are prized in traditional Chinese medicine, and some hundred of them are killed annually to be smuggled to China, according to senior inspector Anatoly Belov from a reserve in Russia’s Primorsky region.
Rampant deforestation of cedars in Siberia contributes to massive migration of animals and forces tigers to forage villages and farms, where they are often killed, Belov added.
Tiger accidentally trapped in West Sumatra
Antara 24 Nov 10;
Paianan, W Sumatra (ANTARA News) - A Sumatran tiger was trapped accidentally in Koto Kandis hamlet, Nagari Kambang Timur, Lengayang sub district, Pesisir Selatan (Passel) District, West Sumatra, Wednesday.
The tiger was stuck in a boar trap set up by local people, Yon Nasrizal (30) said here Wednesday.
Yon Nasrizal was shocked when he saw the trapped tiger surrounded by seven other tigers.
"It was thrilling. There were seven other tigers surrounding the trapped one ," he said.
Meanwhile, police and military officers as well as staffers of the Kerinci Seblat National Park had arrived at Koto Kanid hamlet to take care of the trapped tiger.(*)
