Human-wildlife conflict in Asia:

implications for orangutan

conservation

THINKING beyond the canopy

Elizabeth Linda Yuliani

Asia’s forests

• Forests: 17.8% of land area

• Natural:

– Tropical rainforests

– Moist forests

– Peat forests

– Temperate/boreal forests

• Planted

Asia’s forests • 500-600 million of people living in or

near forest reserves in Asia (Lynch and Talbot, 1995)

• Home to high biodiversity including charismatic megafauna

7/24/2013 4

Human-wildlife conflict in Asia

• Increasing conflict • Involves protected and non-protected species • In protected and non-protected areas, in various

ecosystems

7/24/2013 5

Some examples

Tigers

• Area occupied by Asian tigers: declining 41% between mid 1990s-mid 2000s

• Increasing attacks: – In Sundarban, West Bengal,

India: 30% increase over the past decade

– In Sumatra, Indonesia: 57 people were killed between 1998-2011 Source: Wild Tiger Conservation. Save The Tiger Fund.

Retrieved 2009-03-07.

Tigers Declining tigers population: • In India: 40,000 a century ago,

3,642 in 2002, 1,411 in 2008 • Sumatran tiger: approx. 400

(early 1990s), 250 (1998-2007); at least 51 tigers per year were killed from 1998-2002 (76% for trade, 15% human-tiger conflict (Shepherd and Magnus 2004).

• Bali tiger P. t. balica and the Javan tiger P.t. sondaica have become extinct in the last 50 years

• Dave Salmoni in http://abcnews.go.com/International/tigers-elephants-attacking-humans-india/story?id=12932647#.TwvvooH9YsY • Linkie, M., Wibisono, H.T., Martyr, D.J. & Sunarto, S. 2008. Panthera tigris ssp. sumatrae. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened

Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 10 January 2012. http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/15966/0

• MoF, 2007. National strategy and action plan on tiger conservation.

Asian elephants • Human elephant conflict in Northeast

India: > 1,150 humans and 370 elephants have died between 1980 and 2003 (Choudhury 2003).

• Reports of people injured and killed caused by elephant attacks in Sumatra (scattered data)

• Declining elephant population:

– Asian: at least 50% over the last three generations (60–75 years)

– Sumatran: at least 80%

– Entire elephant population in Riau and Lampung have disappeared; nine populations in Lampung have lost since mid 1980s

Source of map: Dr. Raman Sukumar in Murdoch (2008) http://www.elephanttag.org/General/range_asia.html

Orangutans • Out of the populations extant in 1900:

– 7% of the Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus)

– 14% of the Sumatran orangutan (P. abelii) population survived the 20th century (Rijksen and Meijaard, 1999)

• Wich et al. (2008):

– Sumatran orangutan in the wild: 6,624

– Bornean orangutan:

• P. pygmaeus subsp. pygmaeus 3,000–4,500

• P. pygmaeus subsp. wurmbii at least 34,975

• P. pygmaeus subsp. morio 15,800 (4,800 in East Kalimantan, Indonesia, and 11,000 in Sabah, Malaysia)

Map: Caldecott, J. and Miles, L. (Eds.) 2005. World Atlas of Great Apes and Their Conservation, UNEP and WCMC

7/24/2013 10

Human-orangutan conflict

• Attack to human <<< tigers and elephants. 2 local people injured (Sebulu - March 2000, Central Kal - Jan 2010) + local tour guides attacked after being too closed + unreported cases.

• Meijaard et al. (2011):

– Between 750 and 1790 orangutan were killed in 2010 and between 1970 and 3100 in 2004

– High rate of conflict and killings:

• area with high deforestation rates and rapid plantation development

• especially in the part once an area of very high orangutan densities but very little natural forest habitat remains

– Reported reasons for orangutan killings:

• food (54%)

• self-defence (14%)

• don’t know (11%)

• pest of crops (10%)

• other reasons (combined 11%)

7/24/2013 11

Inter-connected driving factors of HWC • Competition over space and resources: human population growth + Land-

use conversion -> habitat loss, degradation, fragmentation • Large scale development projects inside and around PAs (e.g. monoculture

plantations, road, mining, settlement) • Market opportunity and demand -> illegal trade • Stochastic events (e.g. fire) • Considered pests. One palm oil company paying Rp. 150,000 (around $17)

for every orangutan ‘pest’ killed (Buckland, 2005) • Often involve human-human conflict • Abundance and distribution of wild prey (for carnivores) and dietary plants

(for herbivores and omnivores) • Increasing livestock populations • Increasing wildlife population as a result of conservation program • Climate change

(Madden 2004, Moeliono et al. forthcoming, Rijksen and Meijaard 1999)

7/24/2013 12

Programs to mitigate and prevent HWC, e.g.:

• Policies

• National strategy and action plans

• Natural and artificial barriers

• Guarding

• Patrolling

• Compensation/incentives/ economic activities

• Wildlife translocation

7/24/2013 13

But: • HWC keeps increasing, protected species population and their

habitat keep declining • All the good things stopped when project ended

WHY?? WHAT ARE THE GAPS?

7/24/2013 14

The gaps: • B.A.U!!!! BAU processes -> BAU solutions.

• Repeating the same mistakes, e.g.:

– Social science, methods and approaches have not been sufficiently understood and involved in community development and social-related studies

– Imbalanced views and reports of local people’s roles, perceptions, values, culture and tradition (e.g. threat or supporter) -> misleading solutions

– Compensation/incentive schemes leading to inequity and human-human conflict

– Global – local linkages: one-size fits all

– Failure to involve key actors beyond conservation

– Learning processes rarely apply learning theories and tools

7/24/2013 15

The gaps (continued….) • Decision makers priority: short-term

economic return, not conservation.

• Protected species outside PAs: government conservation agency do not have authority over land-use policies

• Local stakeholders lack of capacity to deal with conflict, or to prevent conflict.

• Training for forest rangers and government conservation staff: mostly command-control leading to conflict, rather than building collaboration and communication. Pro-conservation turned into opposition.

Aerial photo taken by Greenpeace and WALHI, February 2009

7/24/2013 16

The questions of orangutan conservation

• High rate of conflict, killings and trade found in deforested area and plantations: is poverty the key driver?

• Understanding the characteristics and the key drivers of human-orangutan conflict -> what’s next?

7/24/2013 17

Recommendations

• Prioritize conservation goals, revival of traditional norms, pride of natural heritage, education and awareness raising programs.

• Conservation activities should NOT be driven by economic motivation. Economic benefits will follow as part of ecosystem functions delivered from conservation.

• BAU??? Come on…. Go out from your comfort zone, and be creative, be innovative!!!

7/24/2013 18

Thank you