Unfortunately Indonesia is known for it's corruption, but I hope this is a step in the right direction...

PRESS RELEASE

(Jakarta, February 18, 2008) - Indonesia's biodiversity and natural resources are under serious threat from wildlife smugglers and illegal loggers, but the Indonesian Government is fighting back. Senior field officers from the Indonesian National Police (INP) will undergo special training over the next two and a half weeks in how to detect and arrest the organized crime syndicates looting this Southeast Asian nation's forests.

"It's great news for Indonesia that the police have committed to work with other agencies to protect the country's wildlife and forests. Laws exist to protect endangered species and ecosystems. Smugglers are criminals with no respect for Indonesia's nature or laws, we need the police to arrest and prosecute them," said Steve Galster, Director of Field Operations for PeunPa and Wildlife Alliance, conservation groups that support the ASEAN Wildlife Enforcement Network.

The fate of Indonesia's wildlife and forests has been in the global spotlight in recent weeks, following the discovery that the population of critically endangered Sumatran tigers has plummeted further due to poaching and illegal wildlife sales. Researchers have found tiger bones, claws, skins and whiskers being sold openly in eight cities on Sumatra, despite laws banning such trade. The Sumatran tiger is the world's most endangered tiger subspecies, with fewer than 500 individuals remaining in the wild.

To improve capacity to detect and prevent these and other crimes against wildlife and forests, Indonesian Police officers will join Forestry and Customs officers for two and a half weeks of nature crime investigations training at the INP's Criminal Investigations Training Center in Bogor, West Java. Officials hope the intensive Wildlife Crime Investigation Course (WCIC) will pave the way for more joint training events to help the government tackle poaching and smuggling networks. A Wildlife Trade Regulation Course will also be conducted back-to-back with the WCIC, educating officers on CITES, national legislation, species identification, as well as smuggling methods and routes of illegal wildlife trade.

The WCIC training program was developed by the Indonesian government in consultation with the ASEAN Wildlife Enforcement Network (ASEAN-WEN), and with support from US government wildlife law enforcement officers and two international conservation organizations, Wildlife Alliance and TRAFFIC.

The course covers the latest techniques in surveillance, criminal profiling and interviewing suspects, as well as effective raid and arrest procedures. With the help of trainers from government agencies, Interpol, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Wildlife Alliance and TRAFFIC, trainees will have the opportunity to enact simulated raids that closely mimic real-life wildlife crime scenarios.

The course is co-sponsored by the Indonesian National Police and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Wildlife Alliance and its local partner PeunPa, together with TRAFFIC, are providing technical support for the course through the ASEAN-WEN Support Program.

For more information please contact:

Nicholas Sorenson
Director of Special Projects
Wildlife Alliance Headquarters - Washington D.C.
Tel: 1(202) 223-6350
sorenson@wildlifealliance.org

Dr. David Lawson
TRAFFIC Southeast Asia
Tel: +66 (2) 262 0529
dave@iucnt.org

Steve Galster
Director of Field Operations
Wildlife Alliance and PeunPa Foundation (member of Wildlife Alliance)
Tel: +66 81 8059317
steve.galster@gmail.com