Elephant attacks cause big losses<\/p>\n
Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
As oil palm plantations and timber estates have widely expanded
\nand destroyed elephant habitats, the giant mammal has taken
\nrevenge by running roughshod through the plots, inflicting annual
\nlosses amounting to trillions of rupiah, according to the World
\nWild Fund (WWF) Indonesia.<\/p>\n
"In Riau alone, the largest palm oil producing province, the
\nlosses due to elephant damage of oil palm plantations and timber
\nestates reaches a total of about Rp 950 billion (US$105 million)
\nper year," the WWF Indonesia regional director, Nazir Foead, said
\non Wednesday on the sidelines of a seminar dealing with the
\nimpact of the pulp and paper industry.<\/p>\n
He said that elephants mainly attacked oil palm plantations
\nbecause they liked to eat parts of the palm trees.<\/p>\n
"But those who suffer from elephant attacks are not only the
\nbig companies but local people who have small farms," he said.<\/p>\n
According to him, an elephant requires 150 kilograms of food
\nfor each meal.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, people would rather kill the elephants than
\nimprove the methods used when developing oil palm plantations or
\ntimber estates, he said.<\/p>\n
Besides destroying elephant habitats, oil palm plantations and
\ntimber estates have also devastated other animal habitats such as
\nthe tiger, according to Nazir.<\/p>\n
"We are very concerned about the impact of these plantations
\nand estates on the elephant and the tiger as these animals have
\nalso attacked oil palm plantation, timber estates and even
\nhuman," he said.<\/p>\n
Indonesia is the second largest palm oil producer in the world
\nafter Malaysia.<\/p>\n
Last year, Indonesia produced around 9 million tons of palm
\noil. With the present price of around US$400 per ton, the total
\nrevenue from palm oil production could reach as much as US$3.6
\nbillion.<\/p>\n
The country has over 3 million hectares of oil palm
\nplantations and plans to develop another 96,000 hectares this
\nyear.<\/p>\n
Nazir suggested that the plantation and timber firms should
\ncarry out a comprehensive study before converting forests into
\ncash crops to minimize the possibility of animal attacks.<\/p>\n
He called on the companies to adhere to an international
\ncertification to run their companies at a sustainable level.<\/p>\n
"Some companies I know have tried to implement it, but we
\nhaven't yet heard the results," he said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/elephant-attacks-cause-big-losses-1447893297",
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