Build around the forest, not through it, study says of Sumatra trucking road mongabay.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from mongabay.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Podcast: Tiger on the highway 17 December, 2020 - 01:40
The Trans-Sumatran Highway is a $1.1 billion dollar project spanning 2,700 kilometers – from Banda Aceh in the north to Bandar Lampung in the south – and is designed to connect the island’s agribusiness and mining sectors in an effort to boost commodity exports. Forty percent of the land needed for the highway has yet to be acquired, and it is slated to run right through – rather than around – biodiverse forests, the Leuser Ecosystem, Kerinci Seblat National Park, and the Batang Toru Ecosystem. Recently a critically endangered Sumatran tiger was spotted on a construction site in Riau province, sparking wildlife experts to call for the protection of the species. Some have described these road projects as ‘opening up Pandora’s box.’ To discuss the impact of – and alternatives to – such infrastructure projects, Mongabay Explores podcast host Mike DiGirolamo reached Hariyo “Beebach” Wibisono in Jakarta: h
Podcast: Tiger on the highway
by Mongabay.com on 16 December 2020
The wildlife rich island of Sumatra is experiencing a road building boom, causing some of its iconic creatures to be seen by construction workers: a photo of a Sumatran tiger crossing a highway work-site went viral this summer, for example.
Less than 400 of these critically endangered animals exist, and they need space despite their diminutive stature: up to 250 square kilometers for each one’s territory.
To discuss the conservation impact of – and alternatives to – such infrastructure projects, Mongabay’s podcast interviewed Hariyo “Beebach” Wibisono, a research fellow at the San Diego Zoo Global & director of SINTAS Indonesia, plus Bill Laurance, a distinguished professor at James Cook University.