Tesso Nilo National Park
Tesso Nilo National Park The park suffers heavy encroachment from illegal loggers and illegal settlers who clear the park for crops and palm oil plantations, as well as village sites. Already, 28,600 hectares, or about a 3rd of the park, has been deforested. Even when the park was being established, wood was delivered illegally to Indah Kiat paper mill. The paper industry firm that owns the paper mill received millions of US$ from European credit agencies, including the German Hermes. In November 2009, WWF announced that the park had finally been expanded by 44,492 hectares but encroachment still remains a serious problem. The Belgian government committed to provide 200,000 euros in assistance for the construction of a Sumatran elephant conservation centre in the Tesso Nilo National Park , with the 1st quarter to be disbursed in 2011. The project will fund the relocation of dozens of tame elephants from Minas in Siak district, to Tesso Nilo. The relocation was justified by the loss of...