IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library
   

 

View printer friendly
Maddox, T.
The claws of a dilemma: can big business contribute to tiger conservation in Indonesia?
2010  Book Chapter

I began working on tiger conservation in Sumatra in 2002, full of dreams of establishing a project in which tigers would thrive side by side with big business. Working in partnership with an oil palm plantation, and often in the face of serious criticism from fellow conservationists for 'selling out,' the project's objective was to study a small population of tigers that inhabited the plantation concession and work out how to ensure their future. Initial signs were positive. On my first morning, the Indonesian field team came face to face with a female tiger and three cubs walking along the plantation boundary. As the research progressed, we found several tigers in the plantation, became the first team to radio-collar a Sumatran tiger, and were described as one of the most optimistic projects in operation. But following this initial period of hope, the tiger population crashed. By 2005 there was no evidence of tigers within the plantation. The results severely tested my belief in the feasibility of combining wildlife and business. Had we simply witnessed the last years of an inevitable decline of tigers in an industrial landscape, or did we fail to exploit the potential for tigers and industry to coexist? In this chapter I describe the study of tigers on the plantation and, in the light of the results, reassess the role of big business in tiger conservation. I argue that, despite this setback, working with big business must remain an important component of tiger conservation in Sumatra.

PDF files are only accessible to Friends of the Cat Group. Joining Friends of the Cat Group gives you unlimited access and downloads in the Cat SG Library for one year, and allows you to receive our newsletter Cat News (2 regular issues per year plus special issues). More information how to join here

 

(c) IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group ( IUCN - The World Conservation Union)