The results of four years of camera trap surveys conducted by REA’s conservation department (“REA Kon”) were recently featured in an article published on Mongabay, the popular online conservation news site. The article, entitled ‘Surprising habitat: camera traps reveal high mammal diversity in forest patches within oil palm plantations’, is based on a study that was published by Rob Stuebing and Deni Wahyudi in the December 2013 edition of the Journal of Indonesian Natural History. Between 2008 and 2012, camera traps set in the conservation reserves and oil palm monoculture within the REA Kaltim concession identified 36 species of mammals, over half of which are legally protected in Indonesia. The majority of these species were caught on camera in the conservation reserves, which comprise some 18% of the 30,000 hectare REA Kaltim concession, and the most frequently photographed species were the Pig-tailed Macaque followed by the Bearded Pig. Several rare, threatened and endangered species were also recorded, including orang-utan (Pongo pygmaeus, listed as Endangered by the IUCN), sun bear (Helarctos malayanus, listed as Vulnerable)  and flat headed cat (Prionailurus planiceps, listed as Threatened).

Monday, July 21, 2014