International Journal of Natural Resource Ecology and Management

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Exploring Conservation Management in an Oil-palm Concession

Received: 09 October 2016    Accepted: 19 October 2016    Published: 07 November 2016
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Abstract

Tropical oil-palm plantations are considered a major threat to threatened wildlife, including the Critically Endangered Bornean Orangutan Pongo pygmaeus. We review the management intervention of one oil-palm company in Indonesian Borneo that developed a plantation in an area with a wild orangutan population. Through setting aside and effectively protecting natural forest areas, the company now protects a population of ca. 150 orangutans. Further and improved management is needed to increase the likelihood that this population can survive in the long term. This specifically requires retaining connectivity to other orangutan habitats around the plantation through landscape-level, multi-stakeholder planning and improved protection of remaining habitats. We conclude that through its oil-palm development the company has had a negative impact on the local orangutan population, although this needs to be weighed against the counterfactual of what would have happened to the forests had no oil-palm been developed. Lessons learned from this case study provide important insights into how orangutans and their habitats could be protected in the kind of multi-functional landscapes in which some 70% of all remaining orangutans occur.

DOI 10.11648/j.ijnrem.20160104.15
Published in International Journal of Natural Resource Ecology and Management (Volume 1, Issue 4, November 2016)
Page(s) 179-187
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Borneo, Conservation, Deforestation, Oil-palm, Orangutan

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Author Information
  • Borneo Futures, Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam; ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia

  • Austindo Nusantara Jaya Agri, Jakarta, Indonesia

  • Austindo Nusantara Jaya Agri, Jakarta, Indonesia

  • Borneo Nature Foundation, Palangka Raya, Indonesia

  • International Animal Rescue Indonesia, Ketapang, Indonesia

  • International Animal Rescue Indonesia, Ketapang, Indonesia

Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Erik Meijaard, Nardiyono, Hendriyana Rahman, Simon Husson, Karmele L. Sanchez, et al. (2016). Exploring Conservation Management in an Oil-palm Concession. International Journal of Natural Resource Ecology and Management, 1(4), 179-187. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijnrem.20160104.15

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    ACS Style

    Erik Meijaard; Nardiyono; Hendriyana Rahman; Simon Husson; Karmele L. Sanchez, et al. Exploring Conservation Management in an Oil-palm Concession. Int. J. Nat. Resour. Ecol. Manag. 2016, 1(4), 179-187. doi: 10.11648/j.ijnrem.20160104.15

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    AMA Style

    Erik Meijaard, Nardiyono, Hendriyana Rahman, Simon Husson, Karmele L. Sanchez, et al. Exploring Conservation Management in an Oil-palm Concession. Int J Nat Resour Ecol Manag. 2016;1(4):179-187. doi: 10.11648/j.ijnrem.20160104.15

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijnrem.20160104.15,
      author = {Erik Meijaard and Nardiyono and Hendriyana Rahman and Simon Husson and Karmele L. Sanchez and Gail Campbell-Smith},
      title = {Exploring Conservation Management in an Oil-palm Concession},
      journal = {International Journal of Natural Resource Ecology and Management},
      volume = {1},
      number = {4},
      pages = {179-187},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijnrem.20160104.15},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijnrem.20160104.15},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijnrem.20160104.15},
      abstract = {Tropical oil-palm plantations are considered a major threat to threatened wildlife, including the Critically Endangered Bornean Orangutan Pongo pygmaeus. We review the management intervention of one oil-palm company in Indonesian Borneo that developed a plantation in an area with a wild orangutan population. Through setting aside and effectively protecting natural forest areas, the company now protects a population of ca. 150 orangutans. Further and improved management is needed to increase the likelihood that this population can survive in the long term. This specifically requires retaining connectivity to other orangutan habitats around the plantation through landscape-level, multi-stakeholder planning and improved protection of remaining habitats. We conclude that through its oil-palm development the company has had a negative impact on the local orangutan population, although this needs to be weighed against the counterfactual of what would have happened to the forests had no oil-palm been developed. Lessons learned from this case study provide important insights into how orangutans and their habitats could be protected in the kind of multi-functional landscapes in which some 70% of all remaining orangutans occur.},
     year = {2016}
    }
    

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    T1  - Exploring Conservation Management in an Oil-palm Concession
    AU  - Erik Meijaard
    AU  - Nardiyono
    AU  - Hendriyana Rahman
    AU  - Simon Husson
    AU  - Karmele L. Sanchez
    AU  - Gail Campbell-Smith
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    T2  - International Journal of Natural Resource Ecology and Management
    JF  - International Journal of Natural Resource Ecology and Management
    JO  - International Journal of Natural Resource Ecology and Management
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    AB  - Tropical oil-palm plantations are considered a major threat to threatened wildlife, including the Critically Endangered Bornean Orangutan Pongo pygmaeus. We review the management intervention of one oil-palm company in Indonesian Borneo that developed a plantation in an area with a wild orangutan population. Through setting aside and effectively protecting natural forest areas, the company now protects a population of ca. 150 orangutans. Further and improved management is needed to increase the likelihood that this population can survive in the long term. This specifically requires retaining connectivity to other orangutan habitats around the plantation through landscape-level, multi-stakeholder planning and improved protection of remaining habitats. We conclude that through its oil-palm development the company has had a negative impact on the local orangutan population, although this needs to be weighed against the counterfactual of what would have happened to the forests had no oil-palm been developed. Lessons learned from this case study provide important insights into how orangutans and their habitats could be protected in the kind of multi-functional landscapes in which some 70% of all remaining orangutans occur.
    VL  - 1
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