Tesso Nilo National Park
Encyclopedia
Tesso Nilo National Park is a national park
National park
A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or owns. Although individual nations designate their own national parks differently A national park is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state declares or...

 in Riau Province, Sumatra
Sumatra
Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 with a population of 50,365,538...

, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

. It was declared a national park by the Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

n government in 2004.
The original area of the park was 385,76 km², but the decision has been made to expand it to 1000 km².
Tesso Nilo National Park houses some of the largest coherent lowland rainforests remaining on Sumatra. The Center for Biodiversity Management has surveyed over 1,800 plots in tropical forests around the world. They found that no other plot has as many vascular plants as in Tesso Nilo. Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) surveyed forests throughout Sumatra, and also found that Tesso Nilo housed by far the most species.

Flora and fauna

Endangered Sumatran Elephant
Sumatran Elephant
The Sumatran Elephant is one of three recognized subspecies of the Asian Elephant, and native to Sumatra island of Indonesia. Since 1986, Elephas maximus has been listed as endangered by IUCN as the population has declined by at least 50% over the last three generations, estimated to be 60–75 years...

s and critically endangered
Critically endangered
Version 2010.3 of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species identified 3744 Critically Endangered species, subspecies and varieties, stocks and subpopulations.Critically Endangered by kingdom:*1993 Animalia*2 Fungi*1745 Plantae*4 Protista-References:...

 Sumatran Tiger
Sumatran Tiger
The Sumatran tiger is a tiger subspecies that inhabits the Indonesian island of Sumatra and has been classified as critically endangered by IUCN in 2008 as the population is projected at 176 to 271 mature individuals, with no subpopulation having an effective population size larger than 50...

s and Sumatran Orangutan
Sumatran Orangutan
The Sumatran orangutan is one of the two species of orangutans. Found only on the island of Sumatra, in Indonesia, it is rarer and smaller than the Bornean orangutan. The Sumatran orangutan grows to about tall and in males...

s live here.

Conservation and threats

The park suffers heavy encroachment from illegal loggers and illegal settlers who clear the park for crops and palm oil plantations, as well as village sites. Already, 28,600 hectares, or about a third of the park, has been deforested
Deforestation in Indonesia
Deforestation in Indonesia has been a massive environmental impact on the country, home to some of the most biologically diverse forests in the world, ranking third behind Brazil and the Democratic Republic of Congo. As late as 1900, Indonesia was still a densely forested country with the total...

. Even when the park was being established, wood was delivered illegally to Indah Kiat
Asia Pulp & Paper
Asia Pulp & Paper, also known in the paper industry as APP is based in Singapore, is one of the largest pulp and paper companies in the world. It was founded by Eka Cipta Widjaja, who had significant ties to the Suharto ruling family in Indonesia. APP claims to obtain 80-90% of the fiber for...

 paper mill. The paper industry firm that owns the paper mill received millions of US$ from European credit agencies, including the German Hermes. In November 2009, WWF
World Wide Fund for Nature
The World Wide Fund for Nature is an international non-governmental organization working on issues regarding the conservation, research and restoration of the environment, formerly named the World Wildlife Fund, which remains its official name in Canada and the United States...

 announced that the park had finally been expanded by 44,492 hectares
but encroachment still remains a serious problem.
During drought periods, the forest is susceptible to wildfires. In the October 2006 fires, 1 km² of the park was burnt.
According to 2009 WWF survey, the population of Sumatran elephants had reached 200 in the park, and around 350 elephant in Riau Province.

Elephant Conservation Centre

The Belgian government committed to provide 200,000 euros in assistance for the construction of a Sumatran elephant conservation centre in the Tesso Nilo National Park, with the first quarter to be disbursed in 2011. The project will fund the relocation of dozens of tame elephants from Minas in Siak district, to Tesso Nilo. The relocation was justified by the loss of habitat in Minas due to oil palm plantations and oil mining.

External links

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