The Kerinci Seblat Tiger Protection Project is an on-going project is a collaboration between Kerinci Seblat National Park (KSNP) and Fauna & Flora International (FFI). 21st Century Tiger has been supporting this project since 2000 and during that time the number of anti-poaching units has risen from three to six. During 2015 this essential work was given a further financial boost with a grant from the Auckland Zoo Conservation Fund to support the teams.
Kerinci Seblat National Park is the second-largest national park in Southeast Asia, covering approximately 1.35 million hectares excluding buffer zone forests. The Park is critical habitat for the endangered Sumatran tiger.
The program is committed to maintaining a sustainable and effective species conservation program in one of Asia’s most important national parks and does this through:
- Supporting the Indonesian Governments commitment regarding protection of threatened species, particularly the critically endangered Sumatran tiger
- Carrying out intelligence investigations to identify threat so a response can be formulated
- Patrolling in key areas to prevent or remove threat and to establish a national park presence in the forest
- Encouraging intervention to mitigate the effects of human-tiger conflict for protection of both the community and Sumatran tiger
- Ensuring law enforcement to address wildlife and other forest crime and support the legal process
Six four-man Tiger Protection and Conservation Units are operational with each unit led by a National Park Ranger leader with ranger members drawn from forest-edge communities. Units operate under the day-to-day direction of young national park managers who report to the director of the national park.
During 2013-14 Auckland Zoo Conservation Fund supported the teams by giving a grant to purchase a new 4-wheel drive vehicle for the teams.
