By: Hijrah Nasir, Communication and Education Officer, WWF BBS Lampung Project

Some of the things that pose a serious threat to the conservation of 3 key species namely rhinos, tigers and Sumatran elephants in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park are the high intensity of hunting, illegal land conversion, and illegal logging in the area. These activities have led to habitat loss and declining biodiversity within the park over the past few decades.

In 2011, UNESCO put 2.5 million hectares of Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra consisting of Bukit Barisan Selatan NP, Gunung Leuser NP, and Kerinci Seblat NP on the danger list based on a report from IUCN to help raise public awareness, encourage legal strengthening efforts, and improve coordination between the central government and relevant stakeholders.

In response to these issues, WWF BBS Lampung in collaboration with the TNBBS Center, MMP, WKNP Center, ILEU-YABI, BKSDA, and the community held a Technical Training on Monitoring Poaching and Trade of Wildlife Plants which took place from November 28 - December 2, 2016 at Wisma Hosana Gisting, Tanggamus, Lampung Province which was attended by 23 participants. The purpose of this training was to provide technical knowledge on investigation and risk management in the field as an effort to reduce illegal activities, such as poaching, illegal logging, and forest encroachment within the TNBBS area. Interestingly, in addition to being filled with materials related to investigations, participants consisting of WWF field teams, RPU, and partners who are members of SMART Patrol simulate investigations directly in the field.

Mr. Chairul Saleh from WCT WWF Indonesia who became one of the presenters in this training mentioned that TSL crimes are included in the 5 organized transnational crimes with huge income. He also added that WWF plays a role in fighting crime and assisting the law enforcement process related to this TSL crime. However, it is realized that handling crimes like this requires cooperation from various parties, one of which is through the implementation of this investigation training.

WWF believes that one of the keys in encouraging effective handling in stopping the rate of deforestation and wildlife conservation activities in the tropical rainforest area of Sumatra is to encourage various parties, especially the government, in efforts to strengthen laws related to wildlife crime and other illegal activities to ensure that native Sumatran species such as tigers, rhinos and elephants will not become extinct in the next ten years.