Wildlife Alliance

For Immediate Release

Indonesia Escalates Fight to Save Wildlife and Forests

May 12, 2007

Bogor, Indonesia April 4, 2007 - Indonesia is a nature lover’s paradise that is being seriously threatened by illegal wildlife smugglers and illegal loggers. But the Indonesian government isn’t giving up: this past week, with help from the Wildlife Alliance, 30 officers took part in a rigorous training course as part of preparations to tackle a smuggling network that’s destroying the country’s incredible natural heritage.

Run by the Indonesian National Police with the assistance of Forest and Customs officers, as well as the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the “Wildlife Crime Investigation Course” started on 28 March and ends 5 April, covering the latest techniques in surveillance, profiling and interviewing suspects, raids and arrests.  Trainees—who included officers from Indonesian National Police, Directorate General Customs and Excise, and the Ministry of Forestry—also enacted simulated raids that closely mimicked real-life scenarios. 

Already on the front lines of the battle to save Indonesia’s wildlife and forests, the participants will now help form a national task force on wildlife crime, comprised of members from 15 government agencies.  The task force’s first assignment will be to confront smuggling networks already identified by the government.

The training was held at the National Police Detective and Criminal Training Center at Meganmendung, Bogor, West Java.  It was the fourth in a series of courses that is part of the ASEAN Wildlife Enforcement Network (ASEAN-WEN) effort to rid Southeast Asia of the illegal wildlife trade—the world’s third biggest black market.

Indonesia, in particular, urgently needs help in fighting the illegal wildlife trade and illicit logging.  Second only to Brazil in biodiversity, Indonesia is the hot spot for the illegal wildlife trade in Southeast Asia. Once abundant species such as tigers, orangutans and rhinoceros are now dangerously close to extinction because of a lethal combination of lax enforcement, greed and lack of awareness. 

The course was supported by Wildlife Alliance (formerly WildAid) and TRAFFIC, with funding from the US Agency for International Development (USAID). The US Department of Justice and US Fish and Wildlife Service provided technical support.  Two trainers from India also joined the course.

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Wildlife Alliance is an international conservation organization whose mission is to protect and preserve wildlife, forests and oceans for future generations. Our field operations, formerly carried out under the name WildAid, train and equip park rangers to fight crimes against nature, and prevent poaching and illegal habitat destruction in Southeast Asia, Latin America, Russia and the Western Pacific through collaboration with governments and communities. We improve the management of protected areas, support sustainable development initiatives, and empower countries to enforce transboundary wildlife regulations. For more information, please visit wildlifealliance.org.