Pekanbaru, 15 Desember 2010 – Illegal poaching, ownership and trading of endangered and protected wildlife has becomes serious threats to the existence of Indonesian endangered species. The wildlife trade itself is a complex network involving many stakeholders from hunters to exporters.
The Ministry of Forestry in cooperation with WWF-Indonesia will hold a workshop on the issue of illegal wildlife trading and poaching in Pekanbaru, Riau starting from 15 to 17th December 2010. Riau Province posses insurmountable biodiversity which is prone to illegal wildlife poaching and trading. Strategic geographical location, economic expansion and development, easy transportation access, as well as loose monitoring of wildlife trafficking sustain illegal wildlife trade activities.
“This workshop targets participants from law enforcement and non-governmental organizations with an overarching goal of increasing knowledge and awareness, as well as creating a shared perception among law enforcement officers and agencies on how crucial illegal wildlife trade in Riau Province is. It surely needs serious law enforcement efforts to overcome the problems”, said Ir. Raffles B. Panjaitan, Director of Forest Investigation and Protection, Directorate General of Forest Protection and Nature Conservation, Ministry of Forestry.
Raffles hopes that this workshop creates shared vision among law enforcement officers and other organizations to stop forest and wildlife-related crime in Riau, urging them to investigate thoroughly the case of 5 elephants poisoned to death on 26 November 2010. The death of tigers is also increasing in paralel with the high human-tiger conflicts in Riau where 15 Sumatran tigers and 10 people died in the conflicts between 2005-2010.
Based on joint survey by Ministry of Forestry and WWF-Indonesia Riau Program during 2005-2010, there are 7 Sumatran tiger poaching cases every year. This violation further decreases Sumatran tiger population in the wild. Not only tigers, other wildlife such as Sumatran elephants, bear, reptiles, primates and birds have also been poached and traded.
Ir. Anwar Purwoto MSc, Director of WWF-Indonesia’s Forest, Species, and Freshwater Program adds,”We hope there will be a joint commitment from law enforcement agencies and other relevant stakeholders to stop wildlife crime. I expect this workshop will form a coordination mechanism among law enforcers to overcome wildlife crime in Riau, and to protect these endangered species from extinction.”
At the same time, the Ministry of Forestry together with central law enforcer agencies – comprised of Crime Investigation Board of Indonesian National Police, General Prosecutor, Special Prosecutor, Corruption Eradication Committee, Ad Hoc Committee of Anti Mafia of Law, State Ministry of Environment –will further investigate procedural violation in Sumatran forest area. The investigation has been done in Central Kalimantan and East Kalimantan provinces. Other provinces will follow.
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