Jakarta - Today (9/11), WWF-Indonesia launched a national campaign for the protection of Sumatran Elephants (Elephas maximus sumatrensis). The purpose of the campaign, titled #NasibGajah, is to garner public support to encourage all parties to maintain the authenticity of the Sumatran Elephant's range, including palm oil companies to implement Best Management Practices (BMPs) to save Sumatran Elephants in the wild and ex-situ conservation institutions - such as zoos and elephant conservation centers - to manage their animals by paying attention to the principles and ethics of animal welfare (animal welfare), which are mentioned in the Minister of Forestry Regulation No. P.31/Menhut-II/2012.

"Palm oil plantations around the Elephant habitat area in the wild can coexist by implementing BMPs, so that the existence of these companies does not interfere with the survival of Elephants," said Nyoman Iswarayoga, Director of Communication and Advocacy of WWF-Indonesia. "WWF invites the public to care about the fate of Elephants, especially Sumatran Elephants whose population numbers continue to decline every year, and asks President Joko Widodo and the Minister of Forestry and Environment to establish Alert I status for the fate of these charismatic animals," continued Nyoman.

The Sumatran elephant population is categorized as 'critically endangered' on the Red List of the world conservation organization, IUCN. The Sumatran elephant is also a 'protected animal' under Law No.5 of 1990 concerning the Conservation of Living Natural Resources and Ecosystems, and is one of the national priority species. Based on data released by the Elephant Forum Workshop and the Ministry of Forestry in Bogor in early 2014, the estimated population of Sumatran elephants in the wild is currently estimated at no more than 1700 individuals. The population continues to decline due to habitat fragmentation, human-animal conflict, and poaching and illegal trade for its ivory.

"The Sumatran elephant population has decreased by about 35% in the last 7 years since 2007. About 70% of elephant habitat has been lost in one generation or a period of 25 years. This fact is a hard slap for all of us to be more concerned about the fate of Sumatran Elephants," said Sunarto, Wildlife Expert from WWF-Indonesia.

The #NasibGajah campaign visually displays the condition of Sumatran Elephants to the public through artworks, created by 20 talented young Indonesian artists, and exhibited in the Jakarta car free day (CFD) area in front of Menara BCA, marking the launch of this campaign. After that, the artworks will be exhibited in public areas such as shopping centers, office buildings, campuses and schools in Jakarta and surrounding areas over the next few months. By distributing these 20 artworks in various locations, the public is given the opportunity to take selfies with the artworks while getting information about the condition of Sumatran Elephants. The public can also participate in the #Selfielephant competition - which has a prize of a visit with WWF-Indonesia to the Sumatran Elephant ex-situ conservation center in Minas, Riau.

The public is given an active space to support this campaign through social media to express their hopes for the fate of Sumatran Elephants, by including the hashtag #NasibGajah. For twitter users, the hope can also be conveyed by including the accounts of President Joko Widodo (@jokowi_do2) and the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (@humas_kemenhut). In addition to social media, the public can also send their hopes about the fate of Sumatran elephants via SMS to TempoSMS Citizen Journalists at 0811936687, by including the hashtag #NasibGajah.

Note to Editor:
High-resolution photos related to the launch of the #NasibGajah campaign can be downloaded via the link http://bit.ly/wwfnasibgajah, and can be used by stating the copyright ©WWF-Indonesia.

For more information, please contact:

• Sunarto, Wildlife Specialist, WWF-Indonesia (sunarto@wwf.or.id, +628119950521)
• Dewi Satriani, Campaign & Public Mobilization Manager, WWF-Indonesia (dsatriani@wwf.or.id, +62811910970)