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September 2009

Don't just take our word for it!

Frogmouth Chaca

 Harapan Rainforest was recently honoured by a visit from Tony Whitten, a senior biodiversity specialist at the World Bank. Tony was part of a team that produced a World bank paper in 2001 that was influential in prompting the project partners' involvement in the conservation of Sumatra’s lowland forests when it predicted the imminent loss of the important dry lowland forest. His own engagement with Sumatran wildlife began in the 1970s when he studied the Kloss gibbon on Siberut, an island off the western coast. He has remained a strong advocate for conservation of Sumatra’s amazing wildlife ever since.

A waste of a life

A shocking report from Sumatra reminds me how important Harapan Rainforest is for tigers. In late August, a female tiger in Jambi zoo (less than three hours from Harapan Rainforest) was killed by poachers. They broke in to the zoo at night, poisoned her, and took her skin and body parts to presumably be sold abroad. Jambi is close to Singapore, and from there it is easy to access the lucrative traditional medicine markets throughout east Asia. Her skin will fetch around £600, a tooth £40, a piece of whisker £8-18 and a rib £15. This is the third such incident in zoos across Indonesia in the last four months.

Fighting forest fires

by Geoff Welch

 An unusually long and hot dry season is currently challenging the Harapan Rainforest team. Logged forest quickly dries out and becomes prone to fire. Our long-term strategy is to restore the forest as quickly as possible - to re-establish the forest canopy, creating a cool and moist microclimate that is less susceptible to burning. This will take some time, though work has already started, and we are already seeing good regeneration across the site.