A new report from WWF and partners has revealed how the destruction of Sumatra?s forests is driving global change and species extinction.

The study found that 4.2 million hectares, or 65 per cent, of tropical forests and peat swamp have been cleared in central Sumatra's Riau Province, in the last 25 years. The forest loss, degradation, decomposition and fires, from just this one province are, on average, equivalent to 122 percent of the Netherlands total annual emissions - or 39 per cent of annual UK emissions.

Riau was chosen for the study because it is home to vast peatlands estimated to hold Southeast Asia?s largest store of carbon, and contains some of the most critical habitat for Sumatran elephants and tigers. It also has Indonesia's highest deforestation rate, substantially driven by pulpwood and palm oil plantations, including the operations of global paper giants Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) and Asia Pacific Resources International Holdings Limited (APRIL).

In the same 25 year period, there has been an 84 per cent decline in elephant populations, down to only 210 individuals, while tiger populations are estimated to have declined by 70 per cent to perhaps just 192 individuals. The study predicts that unless the last remaining patches of tiger habitat are connected by wildlife corridors, Riau will no longer have a viable tiger population.

?We found that Sumatra's elephants and tigers are disappearing even faster than their forests are in Riau,? said WWF International's Species Programme Director, Dr Susan Lieberman. ?This is happening because as wildlife search for new habitat and food sources, they increasingly come into conflict with people and are killed.?

A TRAFFIC report earlier this month exposed how Sumatran tigers are also being literally being sold into extinction, flouting existing laws aimed at protecting the species.

?The fragmentation and opening up of new forest areas also increases both the access and the opportunities for poaching?, explains Lieberman.

Both the Indonesian Minister of Forestry and the Governor of the Riau Province have pledged to protect the remaining forests. WWF is working urgently with the Indonesian government and the pulp and palm oil industries to identify and protect the forests that are home to elephants, tigers, orang-utans and rhinos. Sumatra is the only place on Earth where all four species co-exist.

?If the commitments by the Indonesian government are implemented, it will not only save its endangered species but actually slow the rate of global climate change through the carbon savings,? said Ian Kosasih, director of WWF-Indonesia's forest programme.

The full report, ?Deforestation, Forest Degradation, Biodiversity Loss, and CO2 Emissions in Riau, Sumatra, Indonesia,? is available to download on the WWF website.

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