T

he British government has reiterated its commitment to joint efforts with Indonesia aimed at saving the endangered Sumatran tiger and combating illegal wildlife trade.

British Deputy Ambassador to Indonesia Rob Fenn said on Friday that Britain’s wildlife conservation trust had spent around Rp 7 billion (US$485,000) since 2015 to help protect the big cats in Indonesia.

“All around the world British embassies are talking to their hosts, NGOs and civil societies about the importance of tigers, and it’s brilliant [for the embassy] to do it here in Indonesia, because [Indonesia] has one — the Sumatran tiger,” said Fenn when addressing a commemoration of World Tiger Day in Jakarta.

World Tiger Day is commemorated across the globe on July 29 every year. In Indonesia, concerns remain with regard to the survival of the protected Sumatran tiger, which is native to Sumatra Island.

The Environment and Forestry Ministry estimates that only 400 wild Sumatran tigers are left in the country because of a loss of habitat and poaching. The animal’s shrinking habitat has also intensified human-tiger conflicts.

In March, villagers in North Sumatra killed a tiger that had slept in the village, believing it was a supernatural shape-shifter.

Fenn said the United Kingdom was committed to protecting every endangered species, including the Sumatran tiger, against illegal trade, citing that it had initiated the Illegal Wildlife Trade (IWT) challenge fund that finances six conservation projects in Indonesia this year.

“Indonesia suffers from illegal wildlife trade, but it is also a conduit country, and it is, in some respects, a consumer of things like ivory,” Fenn said.

The UK, he said, was working hand in hand with the Indonesian government and NGOs to strengthen institutional frameworks to combat illegal wildlife trade, as well as to improve policies.

Conservationists have long criticized law enforcement authorities for their failure to deter animal exploitation and illegal trade and what they describe as the weak implementation of the Natural Resources Conservation Law.

For example, Jakarta authorities arrested a Japanese man for attempting to smuggle 253 protected reptiles out of the country last year. Conservationists questioned why he was charged under the Animal Quarantine Law instead of the conservation law, which carries a heavier maximum imprisonment of five years.

However, UK-based environmental group Down to Earth criticized the British government in 2014 for promoting environmentally unfriendly industries in Indonesia, such oil and gas, mining and agribusiness — a policy that contradicts the UK’s commitment to conservation.

The bilateral cooperation to clamp down on illicit animal trade, meanwhile, has seen some success. Last year, a joint force apprehended an illegal wildlife seller based in London and his supplier in East Java.

The six UK-funded Indonesian animal conservation projects are part of 61 projects worldwide to curb illicit animal businesses and encourage countries to participate in the London Illegal Wildlife Trade Conference slated for Oct. 11-12.

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) Indonesia, meanwhile, has also asserted its commitment to saving the Sumatran tiger, citing ongoing efforts to help save the tigers by monitoring their population, studying their ecology, investigating illegal trade and shaping policies.

“We’re in the middle of our work to increase the tiger population, which had been planned since 2010 […]. To halt the decline in the tiger population is very challenging,” Sunarto of the WWF Indonesia said on Sunday, citing poaching and habitat loss as the most dangerous threats. (nor/stu)