Kerinci Seblat National Park (KSNP), 13,300km2 in west-central Sumatra, contains an estimated 145 adult tigers, which represents one of the largest tiger populations globally. However, tigers in KSNP are threatened directly by poaching and indirectly by illegal logging and poaching of their prey. To overcome the problems that impede tiger conservation specifically, and biodiversity conservation more generally, a multi-disciplinary approach has been established in this Project collaboration between The Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE) and Fauna & Flora International (FFI)-Indonesia Programme.
The continued survival of this population depends upon sound conservation management that is based on reliable population trend data of tigers and their prey in KSNP.This project is now in its fourth year. Over the first three years, information on the status of tigers, their prey and their forest habitat has been collected through camera trap surveys, newly developed detection/non-detection surveys and satellite images.
This information has been used by the Head of KSNP and the Head of Protected Areas (both within the Dept. Forestry) to reclassify these sites as ‘core protection zones’ inside KSNP and to present a strong, and ultimately successful, case to provincial governments to veto the construction of a road that would have bisected KSNP.
For the future protection of tigers in KSNP, the Head of KSNP has requested comparable tiger data from the southern end of KSNP in Bengkulu province, where three Tiger Protection and Conservation Units (TPCUs) are active. This project continues its tiger assessment work in full collaborate will the Indonesian Directorate General of Forest Protection and Nature Conservation (Dept. Forestry), eight Indonesian universities, Fauna & Flora International-Indonesia Programme (FFI) and the KS-TPCUs to provide ongoing support, training and research.