With the Sumatran Elephant as its flagship, this program aims to conserve part of the Gunung Leuser National Park in Northern Sumatra and Aceh Provinces. At over 1.5 million ha, this is the largest single remaining piece of forest in Sumatra and has high biodiversity values, including populations of Asian Elephants, Orang-utans, Gibbons and Sumatran Tigers.

The number of elephants has continued to decline in the park and other areas of Sumatra, as well as across Asia. Listed as Endangered by the IUCN, the total estimated wild population of Asian elephants is between 38,500 and 52,500, with a further 16,000 in captivity. In Sumatra, the total wild population of elephants is estimated at between 1,500 and 5,000 animals; an accurate figure will be determined over the next two years through a rigorous island-wide study.

This program works with local communities to develop practical ways for them to conserve these protected forest areas and their wildlife, while at the same time improving their livelihoods.

Program Plan 

By addressing the key threats of habitat loss, fragmentation and illegal poaching, this program aims to protect a range of species under threat, including Sumatran Elephants, Sumatran Tigers and Sumatran Orang-utans.

Three Conservation Response Units form the core operational unit; two are based in the at Tangkahan in the north of the park and one is based near Bengkulu in the south. Each unit comprises three to five trained elephants and their riders (mahouts), local FFI staff, government rangers and village representatives. The units were created mainly to address conflict between humans and elephants, helping villagers respond to intrusions by elephants, and preventing conflicts that threaten elephant survival. The units also play an important role in supporting broader program objectives:

1. Working with local communities to establish livelihoods that are sustainable alternatives to destructive forest activities.
2. Ensuring management and protection of the forest through elephant patrol- supported forest monitoring and through developing skills and capacity within local institutions.
3. Promoting community awareness and understanding of the value of the forest and their forest use rights and protection responsibilities.

Zoos Victoria's Role 

Support of in situ conservation is a high priority for Zoos Victoria. Through our partnership with FFI we have provided significant support for its Sumatran Conservation Program. Much of this has been possible through the connections that our elephants, tigers and orang-utans create with the community. Fundraising on site at Melbourne Zoo's Trail of the Elephants and the new Orang-utan Forest Sanctuary, coupled with the creative talents of our elephants who create paintings as part of an enrichment program, have directly raised funds to support the conservation of these and other species in the wild.

Zoos Victoria staff also contribute directly to the program’s activities and have participated in key planning meetings in Sumatra, helping to establish the program’s priority activities.

Key Achievements 

Significant outcomes have been achieved in the Tangkahan sector:

• A local community organisation, Lembaga Pariwisata Tangkahan, signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the Gunung Leuser National Park in 2005, giving the organisation management responsibility for 17,000ha of Gunung Leuser National Park. This is the first decision of its kind in Indonesia
• As a result of the community organisation’s activities, supported by the Tangkahan unit, there were no illegal forest activities in the managed 17,000ha in 2005–06
• In 2006, a meeting of Indonesian environment journalists, facilitated by the Tangkahan unit, resulted in the declaration to establish the Indonesian Alliance of Environment Journalists
• The Tangkahan unit collaborated with a local non-government organisation, the Sumatran Orang-utan Society-Orang-utan Information Centre, to undertake student camps and implement the outcomes of the Sumatran Orang-utan Education Program Conference Workshop
• An elephant trek for tourists was established as the first step in a broader ecotourism program
• Networks to address poaching of tigers in the south of the Park were strengthened, leading to the arrest and conviction of a major illegal wildlife dealer
• Zoos Victoria staff worked at the Tangkahan centre to enhance staff skills in visitor communication and support delivery of education programs