Poaching Crisis in Indonesia’s Leuser Ecosystem

UPDATE FROM THE FIELD: Paul Hilton and FKL Rangers Expose Wildlife Poaching in Sumatra’s Leuser Ecosystem

Posted by International League of Conservation Photographers on July 21, 2014

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Last week I went on patrol with Leuser Conservation Forum Rangers and Aceh forestry staff trekking 60 to 70 kilometers into the Soraya district of the Leuser Ecosystem, Sumatra, Indonesia. The team had been in this area only 3 years before and it was teeming with life.

Right now there’s more signs of death than there are life. In the 5 days I helped the FKL rangers, we destroy 12 snares and we even caught up with poachers – quite literally – carrying ropes and cables to set more snares. The ranger worked hard to convince the poachers there are better alternatives to committing these crimes and they report them to local authorities, but without more funding to really revolutionize law enforcement here, the poaching crisis is only going to get worse.

The lowest point of the assignment was when we suddenly encountered a large clearing in the middle of the dense forest, a two-day walk from the nearest settlement. This large patch of ground, void of any trees, looked like a man-made clearing. But as our eyes adjusted to the light, the surrounding damaged trees and trampled bush gave it away: the struggle of a very large animal had created this clearing. On the far side we found the remains of an adult Sumatran elephant decomposing in a rusty snare – a complete skeleton, except for its missing tusks.