Tiger-Human Violence Linked to Paper Company

Eyes on the Forest, a conservation coalition, has released a research report on the clash between commercial logging and Sumatran tigers living in forests clear cut by the paper industry.

Their analysis shows that most of the tiger - human violence occurring in Sumatra has taken place near areas being deforested by Asia Pulp and Paper. Over the last 12 years, 55 people and 15 critically endangered Sumatran tigers have lost their lives in the violence. Seventeen of the tigers have been captured alive.

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Johny Mundung, of Walhi Riau, an EoF coalition member stated,  “APP has recently made ridiculous public claims that it is leading tiger conservation in the area, when in fact it is jeopardizing the safety of local communities and pushing the tigers closer to local extinction. Global paper buyers should not be fooled: APP destroys forests and wildlife.”

Fewer than 400 Sumatran Tigers are left in the wild forests. The number of breeding pairs may be unknown. A serious infectious disease could wipe out the whole population. The large cats also need enough space to find food to maintain a healthy state in order to breed and bear healthy offspring. No one seems to know how many living wild tiger cubs there are left in Sumatra. Island relatives of the Sumatran tiger are all extinct: the Bali, Java, and Trinil. The last
Bali tiger was shot in the wild in 1937.

Eyes of the Forest states that Asia Pulp and Paper cleared 2.5 million acres of wild forests to make pulp for paper products since 1980. Riau province has lost over 50% of its wild forests in the last 25 years. Wild elephants there are also at risk of extinction. A different report last year found drew similar conclusions about both Sumatran tigers and elephants: “We found that Sumatra’s elephants and tigers are disappearing even faster than their forests are in Riau. “This is happening because as wildlife search for new habitat and food sources, they increasingly come into conflict with people and are killed.” stated Dr. Susan Lieberman, a program director for WWF’s international species.

APP is one of the largest paper companies in the world and produces 5 million tons of paper and packaging materials annually. The company has been convicted of illegal logging in Indonesia, China and Cambodia. Due to some of their illegal and environmentally damaging actions several very large companies have discontinued selling their products, such as Staples, Office Depot and Wal-Mart.

The research into causes of the interspecies conflict was gathered by WWF-Indonesia, Riau University, the Sumatran Tiger Conservation Program and EoF.Eyes on the Forest is a coalition of 25 environmental NGOs in Riau, including Riau Forest Rescue Network “Jikalahari”, Walhi Riau and WWF-Indonesia.

Image Credit: World Wildlife Fund, Indonesia

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