COMMENT | Pristine forests most ideal habitats for tigers

COMMENT | WWF-Malaysia would like to clarify our stance on recent news reports that “logging is good for tigers”.

As a research-based organisation, we believe in learning and understanding conservation science and its methods.

Our study published in 2009 entitled ‘The importance of selectively logged forests for tiger Panthera tigris conservation: a population density estimate in Peninsular Malaysia’ by D Mark Rayan and Shariff Wan Mohamad was done to obtain information on the density of tigers specifically in selectively logged forests.

It is important to note that the study refers to selective logging, not indiscriminate logging. Selective logging is a forestry practice that only cuts a select number of trees annually in a forest compartment instead of the whole forest at once, in line with Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) practices.

The 2009 study found a density estimate of 2.59 adult tigers per 100 sq km. This indicates that selectively logged forests, such as Gunung Basor Forest Reserve, have the potential to accommodate a high density of tigers.

The study concluded that...