Bulldozer leveled Sumatran tiger forest: WWF
The Jakarta Post | Wed, 10/13/2010 10:20 AM
JAKARTA: World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Indonesia released on Sunday footage
of the alleged destruction of a crucial Sumatran tiger forest by palm
oil plantation developers in Bukit Batabuh, Riau.
The footage, which was recorded in May and June, showed a male Sumatran
tiger walking directly into the camera and sniffing it, WWF Indonesia
said in a statement Tuesday.
The heat-activated camera later showed a bulldozer clearing trees at the
same location. The next day, it recorded a Sumatran tiger walking
through the devastated landscape.
Bukit Batabuh was classified as a protected area by Riau Province in
1994, and categorized as a limited production forest in 1986, meaning
that companies could legally exploit the forest.
“Therefore any forest clearance ... strongly indicates this excavation
was illegal,” said Ian Kosasih, WWF Indonesia’s director of forest and
species programs. “The law should be enforced in this matter.” — JP
