Impact of landscape and corridor design on primates in a large-scale industrial tropical plantation landscape

Abstract

Tropical plantations are rapidly expanding as a source of industrial wood. In Indonesia, such large-scale industrial plantations are generally made of large mono-speciWc blocks interspersed with natural forest remnants. The extent and biodiversity value of these remnants vary as laws and regulations on their design and management are either unclear, without solid scientiWc basis or left to the interpretation of private companies responsible for the plantations. Our study area comprises of three Acacia mangium plantations, which have on average 18% of their total area set aside from production and conserved as natural forests. These remnant natural forests may, if appropriately designed and managed, be used to mitigate the negative impact of plantations on biodiversity by providing some degree of connectivity with and between remaining natural forest patches (such as the Tesso Nilo conservation area). We sampled natural vegetation in one and primate diversity in all three plantation sector and examined patterns of primate species richness and abundance with relation to spatial arrangement and dimensions of conservation area, which has been set aside from plantation production. We demonstrate unambiguously the critical importance of a well-connected network of natural forest corridors in the plantation landscape to maintain primates and discuss the potential biodiversity value of natural forest remnants in broad-scale industrial landscapes.

Protecting Wildlife in a Heavily Hunted Biodiversity Hotspot: A Case Study from the Atlantic Forest of Bahia, Brazil

“…Corporations with large landholdings such as Michelin have a potentially important role to play as they can preserve large blocks of natural habitats and generally have the resources necessary to adequately manage their reserves [71,72]. Corporations frequently lack the technical expertise to manage natural areas, however, and it will be important for the scientific community to establish partnerships with these entities to help ensure that private reserves are effectively protected [73].…”

Characteristic of Orangutan Habitat in Coal Mining Rehabilition Area in East Kalimantan, Indonesia

“…Orangutan needs the corridor to move from one patch to another patch (Luckett . 2004;Nasi . 2008 Figure 5 The distribution dbh of trees in Taman Payau and Gajah Hitam.Taman payau ( ), Gajah Hitam ( ).…”

Large Mammal Use of Linear Remnant Forests in an Industrial Pulpwood Plantation in Sumatra, Indonesia

“…Riparian forests are afforded legal protection in Indonesia (Republic of Indonesia, 2011) and often constitute the last remnants of native forest in industrial production landscapes, such as wood pulp and oil palm plantations. When in close proximity to larger blocks of native forest, remnant linear strips of riparian forest can potentially serve as corridors for forest-dependent species, facilitating access to forest fragments embedded in a plantation matrix and providing connectivity across the broader landscape (McShea et al., 2009; Nasi, Koponen, Poulsen, Buitenzorgy, & Rusmantoro, 2008).…”

“…are often adjacent to protected areas and large blocks of native forest, especially in Sumatra ( Last Chance to Save , 2010; World Wide Fund for Nature [WWF], 2006). By law, industrial plantations are required to maintain a network of riparian forests of 50 to 100 m width on either side of rivers (Republic of Indonesia, 2011), but in practice, these riparian buffers are highly variable based on company interpretations of various laws (Nasi et al., 2008) and different levels of illegal forest encroachment. Wider buffers tend to be associated with unplantable (steep) and seasonally flooded forests.…”

“…To date, only two studies have assessed the use of remnant forests by large mammals in Southeast Asian plantations. In Sumatra, Nasi et al. (2008) identified a need for direct connectivity of riparian remnants (with no gaps) to allow movements of primates and underscored the importance of habitat quality in the remnants.…”