Borneo and Sumatra

WWF has a deep and long-standing commitment to conserving the rich ecological heritage of Borneo and Sumatra. We have brought together local communities, governments, scientific institutions and conservation groups to address the region’s most pressing challenges. 

Protecting Sumatra’s vanishing habitat
In 2004 WWF's partnership with the Indonesian government resulted in the creation of Tesso Nilo National Park on the island of Sumatra. WWF’s research and advocacy helped the government agree to create the park.

The Tesso Nilo forest in Sumatra’s Riau Province is one the last forest blocks large enough to support a viable population of endangered Sumatran elephants and is home to an important population of critically endangered Sumatran tigers.

This forest is under severe pressure, as Sumatra has what is perhaps the world’s highest deforestation rate. Since 1985 the island has lost 48 percent of its forests – more than 29.6 million acres. That is an area roughly the size of Pennsylvania.

In August 2008, WWF hailed the Indonesian government’s commitment to expand Tesso Nilo National Park. Following this success, in October 2008 WWF celebrated a historic agreement by all of Sumatra’s governors and four Ministers to protect Sumatra’s natural forests. Learn more.

 

Defeating plans to strip the Heart of Borneo

Through a global effort that required work in 22 WWF offices worldwide, WWF successfully defeated a proposal to strip 4 million acres of forests from the Heart of Borneo and replace it with oil palm plantations. We worked with government partners, foreign investors, international scientists, media and local community leaders to defeat the proposal and suggest a more sustainable option.
Learn more about WWF's victory.

Making sustainable forest management a reality

Nusa Hijau, the Indonesian component of the Global Forest & Trade Network, was created to support producers, manufacturers and traders in Indonesia that are committed to legal logging. This is a key part of WWF's initiative to eliminate illegal logging and improve management of valuable and threatened forests. The project has produced practical tools for stepwise forest certification, timber tracking and chain-of-custody monitoring, as well as sourcing of verified legal and sustainable forest products. Six participants, who together manage more than 1 million acres, have already signed up: 12 more companies in charge of another 1.2 million acres are in in the process of joining our efforts.

Saving the Sumatran tiger

The Sumatran tiger - the most endangered among the tiger subspecies that still survive in the wild - is under severe pressure due to habitat loss and poaching. In 2004, WWF began the first systematic field survey of tigers in the Tesso Nilo landscape of Sumatra. WWF worked with government partners to improve law enforcement, reduce tiger poaching and alleviate human-tiger conflict. In 2006, WWF published the groundbreaking tiger study.

Conserving elephant habitat

The critically endangered Sumatran elephant is facing serious pressures as its habitat is rapidly converted to plantations. As forests shrink, elephants are increasingly closer to fields and cultivated land, generating conflict with humans that often results in the death of the elephants by poisoning or capture, as well as economic losses to communities.

In February 1999, WWF began establishing a "safe haven" for one of the largest remaining populations of the Sumatran elephant in Riau, Sumatra. By carrying out research on elephants and the nature of the conflicts, and working with local communities and companies, WWF is developing solutions that ensure living space for both people and elephants. A major breakthrough was achieved with the 2004 declaration of Tesso Nilo National Park in Riau, a significant step towards the protection of the elephant's habitat. 

WWF expedition to research pygmy elephants

WWF and Columbia University researchers proved in 2003 that the elephants on Borneo are genetically distinct from other Asian elephants. WWF and the Sabah (Malaysia) Wildlife Department set out on an expedition to capture several pygmy elephants on the island of Borneo and outfit them with high-tech equipment that will allow us to better study the population. For the first time, the movements of Borneo pygmy elephants were monitored via satellite radio collars, providing important insights into their natural history. 

Indonesia commits to save the orangutan

WWF's orangutan action plan is now the basis for Indonesia's national conservation strategy. The plan identifies priorities for securing populations and key habitats that are or can be linked together to form a genetically stable meta-population. 

The action plan has five components and calls upon communities, government agencies and actors from the private sector to address the greatest threats to orangutans.

• Improved regulation
• Protected habitat
• Reduced poaching
• Conservation incentives and conflict mitigation
• Increased public support

Notable Accomplishments

1960s

• Conducted pioneering benchmark surveys of orangutans and rhinos that set the baseline for conservation projects in Borneo and Sumatra

1970s

• Helped establish Danum Valley National Park—the region’s premier research site for tropical forest ecology 

1980s

• Investigated impacts of logging on wildlife and local economy, prompting state governments to delegate power to local communities on land use decisions 

1990s

• Uncovered illegal logging and wood smuggling, leading to innovative solutions in responsible forestry 

2000s

• Brokered the first-ever island-wide commitment to protect Sumatra’s natural forests, a historic victory for Sumatra’s biodiversity
• Conducted groundbreaking research on Borneo’s pygmy elephants which confirmed they are a new elephant species 
• Partnered with the Indonesian government to establish Tesso Nilo National Park on Sumatra to protect critical elephant and tiger habitat. WWF’s continued research and advocacy resulted in the government doubling the size of the national park in 2008.
• WWF network-wide effort defeated world’s largest oil palm plantation proposal, saving 4 million acres of Borneo’s forests