Faith of the Tigers

Less than a century ago, more than 100,000 Tigers roamed the jungles and forests of several countries in Asia.

                                                                                                (AFP Photo)

Today, there are only less than 3,200 Tigers remain in the wilderness. Their number has been reduced by 93 percent through habitat loss for farming and human habitation, and several population pockets are teetering on the brink of extinction.

And in Indonesia, there are only around 400 Tigers left, if there no serious efforts to stop poaching and massive deforestation, they will surely extinct in the near future.

In order stop the extinction process, Indonesia and 12 other countries have met recently in Thailand and aimed to double the number of Tigers by 2022. 


Related articles that I have quoted from The Jakarta Globe: 

-  Tiger Conservation Efforts Have 'Failed': UN 
-  Indonesia, 12 Other Asian Nations Draft Plan to Save Tigers 
-  Sumatran Tiger Pair Making Love Nest in Zoo as Part of Bid to Grow Population

Verification over Forest Destruction

In 2008, international environment organization Greenpeace announced that some producers of Crude Palm Oil(CPO), including PT. Sinar Mas, had converted natural forest and peat land as habitats for Orangutan, Tigers, Rhinoceros, into oil palm plantations.

As a result, Unilever, as the world's largest buyer of CPO, has stopped buying from PT. Sinar Mas.
Due to which fact, according to The Jakarta Post, PT. Sinar Mas has assigned two international surveyors i.e. Control Union Certification (CUC) and British Standard Institute (BSI) to clarify this matter.

I hope that the above international surveyors would clarify this matter based on the truth.

Verification over forest destruction claims to be completed in June 

Mustaqim Adamrah ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Wed, 04/07/2010 8:22 PM  |  Business 

Publicly listed crude palm oil (CPO) producer PT Sinar Mas Agro Resources and Technology (SMART) expects to have a verification work over forest destruction claims finished by June’s end.

“We have delivered the term of reference (part of the verification work) to the two consulting (firms) … we still need to arrange some details,” SMART president Daud Dharsono told reporters on Wednesday after a meeting with Trade Ministry officials and the Netherlands-based consumer goods producer Unilever executives.

“We hope the verification will complete within the next eight to 12 weeks – by the end of June.”

For the verification, SMART has appointed the Netherlands-based Control Union Certification (CUC) and British Standards Institute Group (BSI) headquartered in London through their representative offices in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and in Singapore, respectively.

Results of the verification are expected to, as SMART says, “clarify” issues raised by environmental non-governmental organization Greenpeace in the latter’s report.

Meanwhile, Unilever Indonesia corporate secretary Sancoyo Antarikso said Unilever would wait for the results before deciding to whether resume buying CPO from SMART or not.

In a 2008 Greenpeace report, the organization indicated that CPO producers, including SMART, had converted peat lands, natural forests and habitats of Indonesia’s indigenous Orangutan into oil palm plantations. The report was later supported by a field investigation and satellite data.

Saving Tigers by Adopting them

In an effort to save endangered Tigers from extinction, the officials at the Department of Forestry are planning sell some of those Tigers to rich people. Here is an article that I've quoted from Google Alert.

Indonesia to save tigers by adopting them as pets(AFP) –

JAKARTA — The Indonesian government has hatched a plan to save Sumatran tigers from extinction by allowing people to adopt captive-born animals as pets for 100,000 dollars a pair, officials said.

The forestry ministry said the plan could be put into practice as early as this year despite reservations from environmentalists, who say the focus should be on protecting habitats for the remaining 200 tigers in the wild.

"We're not selling or renting tigers. We're only authorizing people to look after them," forestry ministry conservation chief Darori told AFP.

"These people will have to follow certain conditions. The tigers will still belong to the government."

He said interested owners would have to "deposit" a billion rupiah (108,000 dollars) for a pair of tigers, which he called a "guarantee towards conservation."

The minimum area required to keep a pair would be around 60 square meters (646 square feet), although something the size of three football fields would be better, ministry officials said.

The animals' health would be monitored by government experts and mistreatment would be punished by fines or jail terms.

"Let's think of the tigers' new homes as mini-zoos," Darori said.

Another ministry official, Didi Wuryanto, dismissed fears the scheme could put a price on the heads of the few remaining wild tigers, which are nearing extinction due to habitat loss on their native Sumatra island.

Much of the jungles which the tigers' call home has been destroyed by rampant illegal logging overseen by the forestry ministry.

"The chances of people trapping Sumatran tigers alive in the wild and selling them are very low because of the high risk of getting caught and people finding out about it," Wuryanto said.

"Also, it's very hard to look after tigers trapped in the wild. They might refuse to eat and die."

He said there were about 30 captive-born tigers in Indonesia.

"This idea of selling the tigers to the public came about after several wealthy businessmen proposed buying them," Wuryanto said.

"They don't just want to own horses. They want to be acknowledged as special people with prestige, so they want to keep tigers.

"But we're not in it for the money... We want to save the tigers."

Although the officials used the word " Adoption " for the process of handing over those Tigers to rich people who want pay for them, and there are penalties for negligence, however in practice it is not easy to monitor them.
The best thing to do would be to let those Tigers stay in their own habitat but closely monitored by the Department of Forestry in cooperation with non government organizations and individuals who cared for them. If some rich people care about those Tigers they can give donations, and special visiting permit.