4.1.4. Endangered species

The conversion of natural forests into plantations endangers the existence of numerous species. The species mentioned below are only a fraction of those that are threatened by the process and serve as examples to highlight the ecological catastrophe under way in Sumatra.

Trees are the most obvious example of the species most threatened by the activities of the forest industry. On Sumatra alone, there are 200 tree species that have been classified as being endangered, which is 39 % of all the endangered tree species in Indonesia (IUCN categories EX-LR/nt; WCMC, 1998). Indonesia's list of endangered tree species is, in turn, the second longest in the world after Malaysia. Riau's flora also includes some of the world's largest flowers of the Rafflesia-family and hundreds of orchid species. The existence of the Rafflesia is also being threatened by the loggings (IUCN, 1991). For example, one Rafflessia-species, the Rafflesia hasseltii, has only been found in two places on earth, one in Malaysia and the other being the Bugit Tigapuluh national park that is on the southern border of APRIL's concession area (WWF, no date).

There are 29 endangered bird species on Sumatra, more than in any European country (IUCN categories CR-VU, BirdLife, 1998). Riau's rainforests and with them APRIL's concession areas are also home to the endangered tapir (Tapirus indicus), the Sumatran elephant sub-species (Elephans maximus) and the Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae) (meeting with APRIL's representatives, Helsinki, 17.12.1997; Reuters, 6.8.1998; WWF, 1994). There are approximately 400-500 specimens of the Sumatran tiger left on the planet (PHVA, 1998). One of the greatest threats to these species is the fragmentation of their living environment and thus increased contact with humans. For example, tigers have increasingly come into contact with humans as their natural habitat has been destroyed, and numerous specimens have been killed when they have preyed on cattle (WWF, 1994).

APRIL's concession areas are the natural habitat of numerous endangered species. The conversion of natural rainforests into tree plantations inevitably leads to the reduction of the area available to these species, thus making extinction increasingly likely. No comprehensive inventory of the species present in the concession areas has been carried out nor is there sufficient knowledge in the company about the endangered species in the area. For example, endangered tree species are in no way always taken into account during logging nor do the information booklets given to the logging crews have include all of the relevant species (SGS, 1998). Endangered tree species can not be saved by simply leaving them standing on their own, as they need larger areas of forest around them in order to be able to reproduce (Whitmore, 1990; WCMC, 1998). The areas APRIL has agreed not to cut down, i.e. 20 % of the concession areas, are either too fragmented to be of much use to the endangered species or areas, such as swamps, which the company can not put to use and which are not the natural habitat of the endangered species.