WWF | Where we work

Where We Work in Sumatra

WWF currently works in three Sumatran provinces - Aceh, Riau and Lampung - to protect natural forests with high conservation values, balancing ecological functions and economic development for the people.

WWF, together with partners such as other NGOs, scientists, local government and communities has been:

collecting and analyzing data on natural forests, wildlife, and other biodiversity and environmental values on the island, to be used in the design and implementation of ecosystem-based land use plans and forest-carbon financed conservation projects;
monitoring natural forest cover and land use by companies and communities to identify drivers of loss and fragmentation of natural forest, as well as, decomposition and burning of peat at ground level;
engaging local, national and international stakeholders to convince such drivers to avoid such activities and supporting intervention and law enforcement efforts;
reducing human-wildlife conflict that results from loss of wildlife’s forest habitat;
providing access to income generation alternatives for forest dependent people.

In 2010, WWF released its technical report "Sumatra's Forests, their Wildlife and the Climate - Windows in Time: 1985, 1990, 2000, and 2009"

WWF works occasionally in Jambi, in the periphery of Bukit Tigapuluh National Park, mostly through operations of its tiger patrol and forest crime units engaging the pulp industry's APRIL and APP. WWF has collaborated closely with Jambi-based NGOs KKI WARSI, Frankfurt Zoological Society (FZS), Zoological Society of London (ZSL), and the Sumatran Tiger Conservation Program (PKHS).

WWF is currently not working in West Sumatra but urges that the "Bukit Tigapuluh National Park – Rimbang Baling Wildlife Reserve" tiger corridor, a forested mountain ridge running along the boundary of Riau and West Sumatra, is protected and, where necessary, is rehabilitated to assure its integrity.

WWF, together with the NGOs and scientists of ForTRUST (Forum on Spatial Planning for Sumatra Island) provides technical assistance and recommendations for policy makers who are developing an ecosystem-based spatial plan for Sumatra. WWF believes that Sumatra’s remaining natural forest habitats are crucial for the survival of the critically endangered Sumatran tigers, orangutans and rhinos and the endangered Sumatran elephants, and that natural forest cover is crucial for the protection of Sumatra’s peat soils and the global climate. WWF and its partners recommend that all of Sumatra’s remaining natural forest is protected.

WWF recommends that government and industry protect the remaining forests and focus development of agricultural and timber plantations on so-called “waste” or “idle” lands where natural forest was cleared, but which were not replanted with any crop.