Tesso Nilo National Park is located in Riau Province, Sumatra, Indonesia. The Indonesian government established it as a national park in 2004. The park originally covered an area of 385.76 km, but it has been decided to increase its size to 1000 km. Tesso Nilo National Park contains some of the largest connected lowland rainforests still found on Sumatra. The Center for Biodiversity Management studied over 1,800 forest plots in tropical regions worldwide. Their research showed that Tesso Nilo has more vascular plant species than any other studied area. The Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) conducted surveys of forests across Sumatra and also found that Tesso Nilo has the greatest number of species compared to other areas.
Conservation and threats
The park faces serious problems from illegal loggers and settlers who clear land for farming, palm oil plantations, and villages. About 28,600 hectares, which is roughly one-third of the park, has already been deforested. In November 2009, WWF reported that the park was expanded by 44,492 hectares, but illegal activities continue to harm the area.
A 2013 WWF report stated that oil palm plantations cover 36,353 hectares of the Tesso Nilo forest complex. Two business groups, Asian Agri and Wilmar Groups, are linked to the illegal trade of palm fruit grown inside the national park. Additionally, 50 mills near the forest were identified as part of this activity.
During dry seasons, the forest is at risk of wildfires. In October 2006, 1 kilometer of the park was burned. A 2009 WWF survey found that 200 Sumatran elephants live in the park, while about 350 elephants live in Riau Province.
In 2011, the Belgian government agreed to give 200,000 euros to build a Sumatran elephant conservation center in the Tesso Nilo National Park. The first payment was made in 2011. The project includes moving tame elephants from Minas in Siak district to the park. This relocation was needed because their habitat in Minas was lost due to palm oil plantations and mining.
In 2012, the number of elephants in the park was estimated to be between 120 and 150 based on elephant droppings. From late June, scientists tested DNA from elephant feces for three months to determine the exact population.