Thalif Deen – The tiger population in the rainforests of Sumatra is vanishing at a staggering rate, reducing the number of the endangered species to as few as 400, Greenpeace International has warned.

The primary reason is the expansion of oil palm and pulpwood plantations, which were responsible for nearly two-thirds of the destruction of tiger habitat between 2009 and 2011, the most recent period for which official Indonesian government data is available.

In a new study released on Tuesday, Greenpeace says such destruction fragments the extensive tracts of rainforest required for tigers need to range freely in order to hunt. "It also increases their contact with humans," the study says.

"This leads to more poaching for tiger skins and traditional medicines and more tiger attacks, resulting in both tiger and human deaths." The decline of Sumatran tigers is a measure of the loss of rainforest, biodiversity and also climate stability, according to the study titled "Licence to Kill."

This summer, huge fires, both accidental and deliberate, raged across the Sumatran province of Riau, destroying hundreds of thousands of hectares of rainforests – including the deep peatland forests that the last stand of tiger habitat in the province.

The fires released record amounts of greenhouse gas emissions and pollutants in a haze that stretched as far as neighboring Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.

There are no estimates as to how many tigers have been killed so far, although the figure could be in the thousands over the last decade.

Asked whether the United Nations was engaged in the protection of tigers, Bustar Maitar, the Indonesian head of Greenpeace's Forest Campaign and Global Forest Network, told IPS, "I don't see much UN activity on forests.

"The only thing I know is the UN Development Program manages a $1 billion fund from the Norwegian government for the UN collaborative initiative on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD)."

He said REDD was working closely with its Indonesian counterpart to accelerate its projects in Indonesia. Maitar added that the UN's focus was more on general sustainable development and democracy in Indonesia than on protecting the tigers, described as a critically endangered species.

"Or they might not really be clear as to how to fit in with this issue in Indonesia," he said, adding that the UN could provide more technical assistance and capacity building for government and civil society.

The UN REDD program was launched in 2008 and encompasses the technical expertise of the UNDP, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the UN Environment Program (UNEP).

It supports nationally led REDD+ processes and "promotes the informed and meaningful involvement of all stakeholders, including indigenous peoples and other forest-dependent communities, in national and international REDD+ implementation," according to the United Nations.

Currently, about 85 percent of Indonesia's greenhouse gas emissions typically come from land-use changes (principally related to deforestation for plantations or agriculture), and around half of this is peat-related.

Even Sumatran tiger habitat in protected areas such as the world-famous Tesso Nilo National Park has been virtually destroyed by encroachment for illegal palm oil production, and government officials acknowledge that protection for such areas exists only on paper, Greenpeace International said.

The study also pointed out that forested tiger habitat in licensed plantation concessions has no protection at all.

One million hectares – 10 percent of all remaining forested tiger habitat – remained at risk of clearance in pulp and oil palm concessions in 2011.

Over the 2009-2011 period, pulpwood suppliers were responsible for a sixth of all forested tiger habitat loss. During the same period, the palm oil sector cleared a quarter of the remaining tiger habitat in its concessions.

"These failures expose how unregulated and irresponsible expansion, notably of oil palm and pulp wood plantations, undermines the Indonesian government's commitments to stop deforestation and to save the tiger and other endangered wildlife," the study showed.

Greenpeace also said its investigations have revealed that household names, including Colgate Palmolive, Mondelez International (formerly Kraft), Nestle Oil, Proctor & Gamble, Reckitt Benckiser and a host of other companies are linked to Singapore-based Wilmar International and its international trade in dirty palm oil.

Wilmar is the world's largest palm oil processor, accounting for over one-third of the global palm oil processing market and with a distribution network covering over 50 countries.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon pointed out that forests are vital for human wellbeing. In a message for the International Day of Forests last March, Ban said forests cover nearly a third of the globe and provide an invaluable variety of social, economic and environmental benefits.

Three-fourths of freshwater comes from forested catchment areas. Forests stabilize slopes and prevent landslides, while also protecting coastal communities against tsunamis and storms. More than 3 billion people use wood for fuel, some 2 billion depend on forests for sustenance and income, and 750 million live within them, he added.

Ban also said forests are often at the frontlines of competing demands. Urbanization and the consumption needs of growing populations are linked to deforestation for large-scale agriculture and the extraction of valuable timber, oil and minerals.

Often the roads that provide infrastructure for these enterprises ease access for other forest users, who can further exacerbate the rate of forest and biodiversity loss.