SOS Final Technical Report

1. Project Information

Organization: Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Project Title: Implementation of SMART: a Spatial Monitoring And Reporting Tool to strengthen law enforcement and improve effectiveness of tiger protection in source sites Grant code: 2011A-001 SOS Grant Type: Threatened Species Report Author and Emma J Stokes ([email protected]) Contact Information: Alexa Montefiore ([email protected]) Date of Report: 15 December 2013

SOS Strategic Threatened Asian and African Mammals Direction(s): Project Dates 15th October 2011 – 15th March 2013 (extended to 15th October 2013) SOS Grant Amount (in 699,600 US$): Total Project Amount 1,420,100 (in US$): Focal Threatened Tiger (Panthera tigris) Species: Implementation WWF (Implementation Partner) Partners for this Tiger range states (Implementation Partners) project: ZSL, FFI, CITES-MIKE (SMART Partners)

2. Project Progress by Component/Objective

2A. Report on results by project component. Reporting should reference specific products/deliverables from the approved project design and other relevant information including quantitative and qualitative measurement of chosen indicators.

Component/Objective or Result Actual at Completion

Objective 1: ACHIEVED Deliver a SMART Version 1.0 that has been fully field-tested, is scalable to a wide range of site-specific contexts, and is supported by a regional capacity

1 building strategy. Result 1.1: - SMART 1.0 publicly released Feb 2013. A SMART system that is scalable, fully - Two subsequent updates released based on early field-tested and supported by a regional field testing (current version 1.1.2) capacity building strategy is in place in 9 - Software translated into Thai, Vietnamese and implementation sites. Mandarin (Indonesian and Russian ongoing) - Technical training manuals available in English, Thai, Vietnamese and Mandarin - All materials made publicly available on www.smartconservationtools.org - A total of 30 regional technical focal points from nine countries, trained by SMART-standard trainers. These focal points have gone on to train a further 39 technical staff across four countries that include SOS demonstration sites. - SMART implemented in 15 sites across 5 countries in Asia under direct SOS support (13 tiger and 2 non-tiger sites) - SMART introduced to a further 42 sites across 11 countries in Asia leveraged through SOS regional and national training workshops and in collaboration with government and NGO partners (57 sites in total of which 39 are within tiger range) - SMART 2014 plan for national-level adoption, roll- out and coordination with government and partner agencies in progress across five countries; leveraged through SOS regional workshops and site demonstration: Thailand, China, Indonesia (Sumatra), and Cambodia with plans for introducing SMART at national level in discussion for Malaysia and Myanmar (through WCS co-financing). - SMART 10-year business and financing plan produced

Objective 2: ACHIEVED Implement SMART 1.0 across 9 sites supported by a fully trained, equipped and motivated team of site managers and rangers Result 2.1: - 38 site managers trained across 24 sites in adaptive SMART is supported by a fully trained, management practices, across five countries in Asia equipped and motivated team of site that also include SOS demonstration sites managers and rangers in 9 - >380 rangers trained in SMART patrol data implementation sites. collection protocols in demonstration countries.

Rangers trained in 12 SOS demonstration sites as follows: Thailand: HKK (35 rangers), Khlong Nan (34/100%), Mae Wong (54/100%); Sumatra, Indonesia: Tesso Nilo (17/50%), Rimbang-Tigapuluh (35/88%), BBS (6/12%), Malaysia: Endau Rompin (21); China: Wangqing (16/100%), Suiyang (9/100%), Hunchun NR (18/11%), Hunchun Forest Bureau (8/100%)

Component 3: PARTIALLY ACHIEVED Develop reliable indicators of poaching pressure and law enforcement effectiveness, based upon standardized data collection, reporting and analysis protocols that reflect best scientific practices. Result 3.1: - Standardized data model developed in all five Reliable indicators of poaching pressure countries with SMART demonstration sites in and law enforcement impact based collaboration with in-country government and NGO upon standardized scientific protocols partners developed across 9 implementation - 13 demonstration sites (+ 2 non-tiger sites. demonstration sites) using standardized indicators on law enforcement effort, coverage and poaching pressure

2B. Were any components unrealized? If so, how has this affected the overall impact of the project?

No components were unrealized. However, roll-out of SMART has proceeded at different rates across the demonstration sites/countries, which is to be expected given the scale of the project and the various constraints of human resources and political will acting at any given time in any one site and any one country. For example, sudden staff turnovers in demonstration sites (e.g. in Lao) are factors beyond the control of this project and will necessarily set back the timetable for SMART roll-out in this site. Similarly in Russia, SMART roll-out has proceeded at a slower rate than originally anticipated, largely due to on-site staffing. As a result, we do not provide results from Russia in this final report. However, its important to stress that even in original demonstration sites in Lao and Russia, significant political will for SMART implementation has been engaged during the course of the project with plans for 2014 roll-out in both of these countries (see below). At the same time, the project has successfully and directly engaged additional sites beyond the original demonstration sites – most notably in China, Thailand and Malaysia.

2C. Please list and submit (electronically if possible) any documents, tools, products, or methodologies that resulted from this project or contributed to the results. Please number and make sure titles correspond to titles of any attachments submitted electronically.

The following documents can be accessed via Dropbox through the hyperlinks provided:

1. Map of SMART sites across Asia including those with direct SOS support 2. Thailand SMART Patrolling brochure 3. SMART Training Manual Release 1 (en) 4. SMART Training Manual Release 1 (zh) 5. SMART Training Manual Release 1 (in) 6. Photos from field training and implementation 7. SMART Partnership 10-year business plan

3. Species Conservation Impacts

Note: Please use this section to summarize the overall impact of your project. Present results in terms of: - Overall impact of the project (see 3A to 3C below) - Project activities’ impacts on species status (see 3.1 below), - Population size and trajectories (see 3.2 below), - Critical habitat condition and trajectory (see 3.3 below), - Major threats (see 3.4 below), and - Enabling conditions for effective conservation (see 3.5 below).

3A. Planned Outcome(s) / Impact(s) (as stated in the project logical framework):

“Within 18 months of the initiation of the project, demonstrate increased law enforcement impact and reduction in poaching of tigers and their prey in all 9 implementation sites.”

3B. Actual Progress towards Impacts at Completion:

Over the past 18 months, through the support of SOS and in collaboration with SMART partners, we have succeeded, to date, in introducing SMART and best practices for protected area management to a total of 57 sites (SMART demonstration sites) across 11 countries in Asia. Over 90% of these sites are protected areas (see Map in attached documents).

Of these 57 sites, 44 are within tiger range and implicate nine tiger range states (Bhutan, China, Indonesia, India, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Malaysia, Thailand and Russia). Implementation of SMART in 13 of these sites was supported directly by SOS and introduction of SMART to additional sites was leveraged either through SOS demonstration sites or through the regional training workshops supported by the SOS SMART grant and follow-up activities at national-level (see map in Documentation). Implementation outside of SOS sites was co-financed by WWF and WCS in their respective sites.

The project has resulted in improved management systems in place for responding to poaching and other threats to tigers and their prey across these sites. It has also resulted in improved accountability of

4 protected area agencies at both local and national level in addressing poaching of tigers and their prey. We demonstrate this below in presenting standardized indicators on current levels of patrolling effort, poaching pressure and enforcement response. Reducing poaching of tigers and their prey in many sites will require a holistic approach and strengthening of enforcement capacity both through investment from governments and the broader conservation community. SMART is but one tool in a larger toolkit of solutions to tackling poaching; however it is an essential foundation on which to build further capacity, coordinate an effective response, leverage additional resources to tackling poaching where needs are greatest and promote transparency of government and non-governmental agencies in solving the problem. Through implementation of this project we have also shown that there is broad government support for improving management systems through which to achieve this and thus considerable potential for global engagement of agencies in this approach.

SOS provided the first regional implementation start-up grant for SMART in Asia and as such, SOS support has enabled us to both leverage broader uptake within the region and at a global scale. This has significantly improved SMART software development through substantial user feedback from field testing. With SOS support, the first global training workshop for SMART advanced users was held in South Africa in September 2012; 30 regional technical staff and SMART focal points from across the SMART Partnership attended this workshop, representing SMART demonstration sites and SMART trainers from South-East Asia, Central Africa, East Africa, South Africa and Latin America. As a direct result, a series of regional training workshops have subsequently been hosted throughout 2012/2013 by SMART trainers who attended this first South Africa workshop. The first of these was the Asia Regional SMART Training workshop conducted in Hua Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary, Thailand, in November 2012. A total of 30 participants representing nine tiger range states attended this workshop to test the first SMART beta version and to provide initial feedback for software development ahead of the first public release of SMART 1.0 in February 2013. All SOS SMART demonstration sites and technical focal points attended this initial workshop, which formed the platform for subsequent national and site-level SMART start-up workshop as detailed below under the national summaries.

Following the release of SMART 1.0, three further regional training workshops have been conducted in Central Africa, East Africa and Latin America, training 79 high-level SMART trainers from a total of 22 different countries. SMART technical training materials have been developed and are available on our website at www.smartconservationtools.org. To date, these have been translated into French, Spanish, Thai, Indonesian, Chinese and Vietnamese.

There have been three further releases of SMART (1.1, 1.2 and 2.0 in December 2013), all of which build on user feedback, and in the case of 2.0 add significant new functionality through mobile data collection enabled through Windows/Android devices. The SMART 2.0 software can be downloaded from the SMART website and is available in in Thai, Chinese, Vietnamese, French and Spanish with translation in Russian, Lao and Khmer on-going.

Within the original scope of the SOS funded project, we provide national-level summaries below of SMART field-testing, training and implementation in each of the demonstration sites across five countries spanning tiger range. Due to initial – managed – delays in the public release of SMART,

5 combined with certain site-level human resource constraints outside of the scope of this project, implementation has proceeded at a slower rate in some sites than others. This is to be expected for such a large-scale, multi-partner and multi-country project. In terms of demonstrated impact of the project in reducing poaching, we present here baseline results on both law enforcement effort and poaching indicators following SMART implementation. We do not evaluate these results in terms of trends in poaching/law enforcement impact due to the relatively short life-span of the project.

China

Through direct SOS support, SMART has been implemented in a total of six sites in China by WCS, WWF and government partners.

WCS has worked with government partners to implement SMART in the originally proposed demonstration site of Hunchun Nature Reserve (HNR), as well as three additional sites, which include Hunchun Municipal Forestry Bureau (HMFB), Changbai Mountain Nature Reserve (CMNR) and Huangnihe Nature Reserve (HNNR) – the latter two falling outside of tiger range, and leveraged through early successes following SMART implementation in Hunchun. In the Hunchun Nature Reserve, the new SMART database has been established since January 2013. Currently, a total of 18 rangers and six stations are implementing SMART patrols. Each month, all six stations conduct between six and eight SMART patrols.

The Hunchun Municipal Forestry Bureau began implementing SMART patrols in January 2013. Their initial step was to establish a SMART database to collect all patrol data. There are two SMART patrol teams in HMFB with four rangers per patrol.

Changbai Mountain Nature Reserve established the SMART database in March 2013 and began conducting SMART patrols in all nine of their stations in April 2013. Each station has between 20-25 rangers and an average of 60 patrols are conducted per month.

Lastly, Huangnihe Nature Reserve established their SMART database very recently in October 2013. SMART patrols were initiated after the SOS grant ended in November 2013. There are six stations in the reserve and each station has three rangers and plans to conduct five patrols per month.

Standardized data models for all demonstration sites have been adopted, customized at the site-level, and are also available in Mandarin. Furthermore, a SMART training manual and overview have been translated into Mandarin.

WWF have worked with forestry officials to implement SMART and adaptive enforcement management in four forest farms under the management of two Forest Bureaus: Wangquing and Suiyang. Both of these adjacent Forest Bureaus represent critical areas for the recolonization of tigers in China. SMART has been run since December 2012 in both Forest Bureaus.

With SOS support, WCS China program has facilitated a total of seven training and evaluation workshops throughout Jilin Province as part of the SMART roll-out. A total of 16 staff from HMFB (rangers and managers), 90 staff from CMNR (including protection managers, patrol leaders and 54 rangers), and 46 staff from Hunchun Nature Reserve. A full evaluation of SMART patrolling effectiveness following the first years’ implementation is currently in progress.

WWF conducted a total of three trainings in China during the course of this grant and with SOS support. During the most recent reporting period, training has been provided to 16 managers to maintain, manage and analyze the SMART database. Training for 25 rangers on SMART data collection protocols, basic ranger skills, data interpretation and adaptive management has also been provided. The SMART training manual in Chinese has been distributed to all SMART managers.

Implementation of SMART in China has already had significant impacts on patrolling efficiency, management practice and enforcement results. In December 2013, WCS announced the news that authorities in Jilin Province recently arrested five poachers—the largest ever for the province (http://www.newswise.com/articles/major-poaching-arrest-in-china), driven largely through the SMART patrolling approach. The arrests were made by the Forestry Police of the Hunchun Municipal Forestry Bureau (HMFB), who charged the poachers with killing more than 20 animals including wild boar and roe deer. In addition to the arrests, two jeeps and 18 hunting dogs were confiscated. HMFB is one of the members of LECF (Law Enforcement Cooperation Framework) initiated by WCS in 2011. To strengthen anti-poaching and wildlife conservation, HMFB established a special Wildlife Conservation Section in July of this year. The arrests are a significant milestone in using SMART to increase the commitment of the forestry rangers and optimize the impact of their work on illegal activities within and around the protected areas while improving enforcement of wildlife laws. As a result of this, and in recognition of their work in establishing a SMART patrolling approach and restoring the habitat of Amur tigers and Amur leopards in northeast China, WCS’s China Program received the 2013 Ford Green Pioneer Award in December 2013 (http://www.wcs.org/press/press-releases/ford-awards-wcs-china-program.aspx)

Future plans for SMART expansion through 2014/15 include highlighting the success of the approach in Jilin province through the development of a data management office and training and demonstration center in CMNR. The State Forestry Bureau has also shown interest in expanding the SMART approach across the national protected area network.

Malaysia

The WCS Malaysia program has been implementing SMART in the Endau-Rompin Landscape (ERL) demonstration sites since March 2013. SMART is currently used in two states within ERL, including Johor Endau-Rompin Landscape (JERL) and Pahang Endau-Rompin Landscape (PERL). A SMART data model has been adapted and customized to the needs of both sites. SMART implementation builds on the existing MIST tool that is currently in use in Endau-Rompin by WCS and government partners. Substantial field

7 testing of a new software product was an important pre-requisite to introduction to government partners. With this in mind a total of 18 WCS staff and 1 MYCAT staff were trained in SMART technical standards and protocols by the WCS technical focal point Voon Mufeng, across three separate training workshops and with direct SOS support. In January 2013, a briefing on conversion from MIST to SMART was held for about 30 staff from the Department of Wildlife and National Parks of Pahang (DWNPP). The staff were introduced to SMART and the State Director of DWNPP, Puan Hajah Khairiah, confirmed interest in DWNPP staff training in 2014.

One of the objectives in Malaysia was to leverage the advent of SMART to engage new government stakeholders in Malaysia in order to promote LEM and best practices for enforcement effectiveness and protected area management at a national scale.

In July 2013, a discussion was held between WCS and the Director of the Protected Areas Division of the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP), Mr. Tn. Hj. Zainuddin bin Ab Shukor and six officers from the Protected Areas Division and the Law and Enforcement Division. Among the topics discussed was the conversion from MIST to SMART for the Taman Negara National Park database. They embraced the idea of having a more effective and improved monitoring tool for their protected areas. Relevant training and technical support will be arranged for early 2014.

As a result of initial SMART training and implementation for tiger protection under the SOS grant, WCS Malaysia have also successfully leveraged expansion of SMART to support orang-utan protection in the Batang Ai National Park and Lanjak-Entimau Wildlife Sanctuary (hereafter known as ‘BALE complex’) in Sarawak. Through direct support from the USFWS, WCS have trained staff from their Orangutan Unit on SMART-based patrols and begun joint SMART-based enforcement efforts in and around the BALE complex with the Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC) and the Royal Malaysian Police (PDRM). This work is ongoing through the first half of 2014.

Indonesia

SMART has been implemented in a total of four demonstration sites by WCS, WWF and government partners with direct SOS support.

The WCS Indonesia program (WCS-IP) have implemented SMART in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park (BBSNP) in South Sumatra and Gunung Leuser National Park (GLNP) in North Sumatra/Aceh Province. Since October 2012, three patrol teams have been using SMART in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park (BBSNP), reduced to two in July 2013 and each comprising BBSNP rangers, WCS and local community guards. It is hoped that SMART demonstration in BBS will expand to use by other partners and enforcement authorities operating in the landscapes.

Within Gunung Leuser National Park, a permanent patrol team consisting of WCS, GLNP rangers and local community guards have been using SMART since December 2012. On-the job training of SMART for rangers has been conducted and patrol evaluations were initiated using SMART as one of the main tools.

WCS-IP conducted a total of six SMART trainings throughout the life of the SOS grant; including SMART data collection training for six patrol team members in BBSNP. All participants will give their three monthly reports and evaluations to the national park authority. In GLNP, one training was conducted by WCS for a total of 19 participants, including six GLNP rangers, one member of Forum Harimau Kita, one volunteer from North Sumatra Muhammadiyah University and 11 staff members from the WCS Indonesia program (April 2013). The objective of the training was to evaluate on-going SMART patrolling, enhance park ranger and field staff knowledge of SMART data collection, data entry, query, software installation, and operationalization. A SMART training on software operation and use of LEM for adaptive management was also organized at GLNP for the GLNP section and enforcement heads and technical support staff. WCS provided the training, which also included a full review of LEM activities since patrol monitoring began in November 2011.

WWF have supported implementation of SMART and adaptive enforcement management in the Rimbang Baling-Bukit Tigapuluh Landscape and the Tesso Nilo National Park in Riau Province of Central Sumatra. Training has been provided to 10 managers across seven institutions, including Ministry of Forestry, on the SMART approach. Training for 52 rangers on SMART data collection protocols and basic ranger skills has been provided. The SMART approach has also been incorporated into RBM- focused training workshops held at both Bukit Tigapulah and Tesso Nilo National Parks in Sumatra, coordinated by WWF in collaboration with National Park management.

At the national-level, SMART has generated considerable enthusiasm and motivation for law enforcement monitoring (LEM) and improved protected area management effectiveness amongst partners in Sumatra (specifically for tigers) and with central government in Jakarta. Another benefit of the SMART Partnership in Indonesia has been to catalyze a collaborative and unified approach to LEM across the various and numerous NGO partners (including WCS, WWF, FFI, FZS, ZSL and WWF), through Forum Harimau Kita (FHK) as the elected coordinator and government spokesperson for SMART implementation for tiger conservation in Indonesia. This has ensured a clear communication channel on SMART and LEM with the government and has greatly expanded the scope of uptake as a result. In addition to the demonstration sites under this SOS proposal, SMART is also currently being tested in the following sites in Sumatra with partners: Ulu Masen (FFI), Kerinci Seblat NP (FFI), Berbak National Park (ZSL) and Way Kambas National Park (WCS), with commitment from Berbak NP to implement SMART already secured in the National Park Budget. One of the most important areas for alignment with government goals is the roll-out of the new Resort-Based-Management System (RBM) for protected area management and evaluation proposed by the Director General of PKHA (Ministry of Forestry). SMART has enabled a coordinated proposal for integration of LEM into the RBM system and will greatly enhance its applicability at the national level.

Through Forum Harimau Kita, coordination on translation and localizing SMART training materials has made considerable progress. A SMART training manual and standardized data model have been approved and translated into Bahasa Indonesia (see attached documents). FHK are also in the process of coordinating localization of SMART 2.0 software into Bahasa.

Thailand

Thailand has been a leader within the region for implementation of systematic patrolling measures for improved protection of tigers and their prey. WCS, in partnership with the Thai government, pioneered the application of ‘Smart patrolling’ in the model site of Hua Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary in Thailand’s Western Forest Complex in 2008 through the use of the MIST monitoring system. This was subsequently adopted at a national level in more 16 other protected areas through the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation. Since then, HKK has become a flagship project for improved protection measures for tiger and prey, and, inspite of continual pressure from tiger poachers1, has seen a gradual increase in its tiger population as a result. Our goal for SMART roll-out in Thailand under SOS support therefore, was to strengthen existing patrolling and monitoring systems in Thailand through improved monitoring tools (i.e. conversion of MIST -> SMART), to field test and demonstrate the value of SMART through initial implementation in HKK (and surrounding protected areas in the WEFCOM), and, finally, to roll-out SMART implementation with government and NGO partners at national scale through a phased approach to a total of 35 protected areas in Thailand, including new protected areas that are not currently implementing systematic patrol monitoring programs. This is an ambitious program that began in 2012 and is ongoing through 2014. We report here on progress made during the lifetime of the SOS grant.

SOS has provided direct support to both WCS and WWF in SMART implementation and field testing in three sites – all in the Western Forest Complex: Hua Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary (WCS) and Khlong Nan and Mae Wong National Parks (WWF). In all sites, SMART implementation and adaptive enforcement management has proceeded in parallel with MIST since late 2012/early 2013 in order to fully field-test the process before national level rollout and upgrade from MIST to SMART. During this field testing period, both WCS and WWF have also leveraged SOS support to provide additional SMART patrol training in other sites within and beyond the WEFCOM, including Kui Buri National Park (WWF), Thung Yai Wildlife Sanctuary and Umphang Wildlife Sanctuary (WCS) and Kaeng Krachan National Park (WCS) – all key tiger sites within Thailand.

WCS-supported training workshops have included technical training for patrol supervisors and managers on SMART operation and management (18 participants including WCS technical staff and government managers and patrol supervisors from Thung Yai, Kaeng Krachan, Umphang and Hua Kha Khaeng) and park ranger training on patrolling techniques and SMART patrolling system from Thung Yai West Wildlife Sanctuary (35 rangers) and Hua Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary (36 rangers).

WWF-supported training workshops have included ranger-level training in basic ranger skills and SMART data collection protocols for 106 rangers across Mae Wong, Khlong Lan and Kui Buri National Parks.

1 See http://www.bangkokpost.com/print/372044/ for an article on a high profile tiger poaching ring busted by WEFCOM rangers earlier in 2013.

Successful field testing in HKK (and surrounding protected areas in WEFCOM) is critical for national level adoption of SMART by the DNPWPC. From the first government training workshops feedback was very positive. In general SMART was considered more user friendly than MIST, and additional recommendations for improvement and future development were put forward in 2012 that were incorporated into SMART Production Release 1.0. Pivotal to the adoption of SMART by the Thai government was localization of the software tool into Thai language, and a Thai version of SMART 1.0 is now available and can be downloaded from the SMART website. This is supported by a standardized SMART data model in Thai language and a Thai language SMART training manual that will be available from December 2013.

A further critical factor for national-level uptake was conversion of legacy MIST data into the new SMART system. Testing a new conversion system, five protected area databases (Kaeng Krachan National Park, Hua Kha Khaeng Thung Yai East, Thung Yai West and Umphang Wildlife Sanctuaries) have now been converted from MIST to SMART: and the Thai version of SMART 1.0 with these legacy data incorporated was made available for a national level training workshop and SMART roll-out in December 2013. Following this training and the finalization of the conversion process, migration of six other protected area databases will proceed in early 2014 (including Khlong Nan and Mae Wong National Parks).

Between December 12-16, 2013 a national-level SMART training and roll-out workshop was conducted in HKK and coordinated by WCS and HKK staff for a total of 35 participants representing 11 protected areas in Thailand (including all of the SMART SOS demonstration sites). Participants consisted of government representatives from each of the protected areas, together with the central Wildlife Conservation Office of the Department of National Parks and NGOs (WCS, WWF, Freeland Foundation, Elephant Conservation Network). These 11 sites (including HKK, Thung Yai East and West Sanctuaries, Umpang Wildlife Sanctuary, Kaeng Krachan National Park, Om Koi WS, Salak Pra WS, Mae Wong NP, Klong Lan NP, Kui Buri NP, Thab Lan NP) comprise protected areas that have already had some experience with MIST. They represent the first phase of SMART rollout in Thailand and the culmination of the first years testing and SMART preparedness and localization. Rollout to the remaining 24 protected areas will proceed throughout the course of 2014, based on best practices for SMART patrolling and adaptive management developed through Phase 1.

Lao People’s Democratic Republic

The original demonstration site proposed by WCS for Lao PDR was the Nam Et Phou Louey (NEPL) National Protected Area in northern Laos. Aside from Thailand, this is the only other site in the Lower Mekong basin (comprising Cambodia, LaoPDR, Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand) with a known breeding population of wild tigers. To facilitate SMART implementation, technical staff from both WCS and the Forestry Department were trained in SMART during the regional training workshop in Thailand in November 2012, a standardized data model for protected areas in Lao has been developed and translation of SMART 2.0 into Lao language in preparedness for implementation is underway and

11 expected to be completed in early 2014. In spite of considerable preparatory efforts, SMART implementation in NEPL was hampered over the course of 2013 due largely to staff turnovers that were beyond the control of this project. As such, the initial focus for implementation was switched to Bolikhamxay province including the Nam Kading National Protected Area, with a view to expanding implementation to NEPL as soon as necessary staff were in place. This necessarily meant a delay in the implementation schedule. The transition to SMART is now expected to be in place by April 2014, with training workshop on SMART and adaptive management is due to take place in February 2014.

To date therefore, the MIST system has continued to serve as the main LEM system in both NEPL and Bolikhamxay and support from SOS has enabled a basic level of law enforcement monitoring and adaptive patrol management at the site-level. The LEM system in the NEPL NPA landscape to control illegal hunting and trade consists of eight substations located in key locations in the NPA Core Zone with 48 staff (six staff at each of eight substations). Each substation team spends two separate periods totally 18 to 20 days of field patrolling. Additionally, there are mobile patrol teams that work outside of the Core Zone to check for wildlife trade along roads, at markets or restaurants, and respond to reports of illegal activities by an informant network. In April 2012 a performance-based incentives program was introduced to the NEPL NPA patrol system, significantly increasing the patrol effort and further reducing the direct threats to wildlife. It is anticipated that SMART will greatly facilitate management of the performance incentive system at the site. During the period of the SOS grant, NEPL NPA also continued its schedule of holding monthly meetings where substation heads present a summary of patrol effort, and violation arrests, encounters, confiscations, etc., based on information collected and entered into the LEM database. These presentations and data are used to target future patrol efforts based on key threats and wildlife occurrence, and to inform on broader NPA monitoring, management, planning and reporting (see detailed results below).

The performance-based incentive scheme, whilst not a direct activity under the SOS grant, is nevertheless interesting and worth sharing as it has shown positive results that are indicative of how a comprehensive patrol monitoring and management program through SMART should work in improving conservation outcomes. For example, the number of people captured increased from a mean of 5.3/month in the three months prior to implementation, to 8/month in the three months following implementation of the incentives scheme (P = 0.28). Likewise, guns confiscated increased from 2.3/month to 5/month (P = 0.05), suggesting that it improved enforcement efforts. The incentive system also seems to have improved morale based on the increased enthusiasm displayed by enforcement staff during monthly meetings. Overall, the number of successful fines and guns confiscated showed very substantial increases during the last 27 months compared to the previous 28-month period. More importantly, patrol teams travelled fewer kilometers per successful case during the latter period. This sudden decrease is indicative that patrols were far more effective in the areas they covered despite travelling less distance. It also needs to be considered that there may have been a sudden spike in violators entering the NPA.

3C. Were there any unexpected impacts (positive or negative)?

The project succeeded in catalyzing considerable interest in SMART by government and technical partners at a global scale and thus far exceeded our original targets and expectations. To date, SMART is now being implemented in more than 120 demonstration sites worldwide across 27 countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia.

Note: Following the summary provided above, please use questions 3.1 to 3.5 to provide a detailed, technical response for results achieved from inception of SOS support to date. Provide responses within the context of stated project objectives, where possible. Attach annexes if necessary. Depending on the project, not all questions may be applicable.

3.1. SPECIES POPULATION - Did you stabilize or improve the conservation status of a species or important species population

a. Global or target population: Note: Please state whether the project affected the global population or a target population of the target species. In the case of a target population please provide the estimated percentage of the global population affected.

This project affected a target population of wild tigers, but still at range-wide scale. Support from SOS directly impacted nine out of 13 tiger range states, with a further two range states (Cambodia, Myanmar) indirectly implicated through activities (e.g. training) leveraged through SOS support. Sites that have received both direct and indirect support from SOS during the lifetime of this grant account for 30% (or an estimated 648 breeding tigers) of the current wild tiger breeding population2. However, through national-level government engagement in SMART in nine of the range states leveraged through this grant, there is the potential to impact 80% of the remaining breeding population of wild tigers (or 1,744 individuals) through expansion to other tiger sites within these nine countries. b. Indicate type and level of improvement or decline within the context of the following parameters:

(i) numbers of individuals (use quantitative assessments, if available, otherwise state increasing, decreasing, or remaining the same over project period, with justification and methods);

N/A

(ii) population trajectory over a 5 year period from monitoring date as increasing, decreasing, or remaining the same (with natural ranges of variation taken into consideration; give quantitative

2 Calculated from current population estimates provided in Walston, J. et al. (2010) Bringing the Tiger Back from the Brink: The Six Percent Solution. PLoS Biol. 8, e1000485Walston et al, 2010.

estimates, if available). N/A

3.2. IUCN RED LIST STATUS - After project implementation, can the species globally be considered for a change of Red List status, either positive or negative? If shifts of status within a category are applicable, describe relevant Red List metrics used to support assertion. Provide quantitative data, if available.

N/A

3.3. CRITICAL HABITAT - Did your project improve the quality or condition of a threatened species’ critical habitat within the project target area? Present in terms of the following parameters, where relevant:

We present SMART results on patrolling coverage as an indicator of the ‘proportion of tiger habitat effectively patrolled’ to represent area of critical habitat secured as a direct result of the project. Assuming the protected area has been denoted as a tiger source site or potential source site3 we assume here that the whole protected area represents tiger habitat (although accept this may not all constitute critical habitat). Results are presented for the first year of project implementation in each of the sites (dates vary according to implementation schedule as denote by Number of Months in the table below) and should be interpreted as a baseline following SMART implementation.

We present data from 13 SMART demonstration tiger sites where SMART implementation was directly supported by SOS.

3 Sensu Walston, J. et al. (2010) Bringing the Tiger Back from the Brink: The Six Percent Solution. PLoS Biol. 8, e1000485Walston et al, 2010.

Thailand

Hua Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary (WCS)

Khlong Lan National Park (WWF) Mae Wong National Park (WWF)

Malaysia

Endau Rompin – Johor (WCS) Endau Rompin – Pahang (WCS)

Indonesia

Bukit Barasan Selatan National Park (WCS)

Tesso Nilo National Park (WWF) Rimbang Baling-Bukit Tigapuluh (WWF)

Lao PDR

Nam Et Phou Louey National Protected Area (WCS)

China

Hunchun Nature Reserve (WCS) Hunchun Municipal Forest Bureau (WCS)

Wangqing Forest Bureau (WWF) Suiyang Forest Bureau (WWF)

(a) the total area (that is, the suitable habitat available to the target or global population);

For each of the SMART demonstration sites, we summarize the proportion of tiger habitat effectively patrolled as a percentage of the total protected surface area at four levels (<25%, 25-50%, 50-75%, > 75%).

Site Country # Patrols/month Km/month Proportion of Months (total) (total) tiger habitat patrolled Hua Kha Khaeng WS Thailand 12 20 (238) 1,839 (22,072) >75% Khlong Nan NP Thailand 7 9 (64) 127 (888) 50-75% Mae Wong NP Thailand 7 15 (102) 237 (1,660) 25-50% Bukit Barasan Selatan NP4 Indonesia 10 2 (15) 52 (520) <25% Rimbang Baling-Bukit Indonesia 9 3 (30) 682 (6,142) 25-50% Tigapuluh Tesso Nilo NP Indonesia 8 6 (50) 3,235 (25,879) <25% Endau Rompin – Johor Malaysia 7 24 (169) 449 (3,142) 25-50% Endau-Rompin – Pahang Malaysia 7 18 (124) 597 (4,178) 50-75% Nam Et Phou Louey Lao PDR 13 16 (208) 443 (5,766) 25-50% Hunchun Nature Reserve China 10 26 (256) 275 (2,749) 25-50% Hunchun Forest Bureau China 10 14 (144) 108 (1,083) <25% Wangqing FB China 8 39 (313) 309 (2,475) 25-50% Suiyang FB China 5 9 (43) 112 (560) <25%

(b) condition (note, this must be defined for suitability for each target species; for example, degree of fragmentation, edge effects, impact of invasive species, etc.); and

N/A

(c) estimated trajectory (that is, increasing, stable, decreasing) of critical habitat required by the population of the target species within the area addressed by the project.

N/A

3.4. DIRECT THREATS - Did your project stop or reduce important direct threats to a threatened species within the target area? Please state if the direct threats are for: (i) the target species; (ii) its critical habitat, or both. Present in terms of the threats’:

4 This does not include patrols by Rhino Patrol Units that are organized by partners in the landscape

We present here SMART patrol results conducted during the first year of implementation from 13 demonstration tiger sites directly supported by SOS.

We categorize results as indicators of poaching of tiger prey and tigers and direct threats to tiger habitat either through encroachment or illegal logging. Results in brackets denote the number of incidences of each of threat detected as a percentage of total detections and provides an indicator for the relative importance of each threat at the site. The indicators in the table below are designed to represent both detection of threats by patrol teams (i.e. incidences of poaching or habitat loss) and enforcement response to threats (e.g. arrests, snare removal). Results are presented for the first year of project implementation in each of the sites (dates vary according to implementation schedule) and should be interpreted as a baseline following SMART implementation.

Site Country # # Hunting # Logging # Encroa- # Snares # Poacher Mths cases cases chment removed Arrests cases Hua Kha Khaeng WS Thailand 12 167 (35%) 279 (58%) 38 (8%) - 13 Khlong Nan NP Thailand 7 87%5 3%4 Mae Wong NP Thailand 7 63%4 10%4 Bukit Barasan Selatan Indonesia 10 8 (100%) - - NP6 Rimbang Baling-Bukit Indonesia 9 39 (5%) 97 (13%) 636 (82%) Tigapuluh Tesso Nilo NP Indonesia 8 4 (2%) 16 (9%) 161 (89%) Endau Rompin – Johor Malaysia 7 85 (100%) - - 66 Endau-Rompin – Pahang Malaysia 7 236 (100%) - - 159 Nam Et Phou Louey Lao PDR 13 93 N/A7 N/A7 308 Hunchun Nature Reserve China 10 235 (66%) - 235 Hunchun Forest Bureau China 10 1541 (99%) - 1541 1 Wangqing FB China 8 2 (10%) - - 2 Suiyang FB China 5 4 (100%) - -

(a) intensity (that is, high, moderate, low with criteria tailored to threat);

See above table.

(b) distribution (that is, widespread, common, localized); and

N/A

5 For these sites, indicator expressed as the % of patrols on which this threat was detected 6 This does not include patrols by Rhino Patrol Units that are organized by partners in the landscape 7 Not reported through MIST, so absence of data should not be considered here as lack of any threat 8 In this instance these cases resulted in fines

20 major, direct threats to the target species within the projects’ target areas.

N/A

3.5. ENABLING CONDITIONS - Did your project contribute to improving, no impact on, or worsening enabling conditions that facilitate successful conservation for threatened species? Present in terms of the degree (that is, favorable, neutral, unfavorable) to which local socio-economic, political, and cultural conditions (that is, ‘enabling conditions’) contribute to the probability of success for conservation of the target species with the project area. Protected area tracking protocols are required, where applicable (consult with the SOS Secretariat on the appropriate PA tracking tool to use). Applicable metrics include:

(a) legislative tools associated with species’ protection (poor, fair, good, very good;

N/A

(b) financing for conservation (poor, fair, good, very good – based on available resources for conservation, sustainable financing mechanisms are developed and in place, public-private partnerships, positive benefits for community livelihoods, etc.);

N/A

(c) wildland or protected area management effectiveness (poor, fair, good, very good – based on PA tracking tool indices applied to target area); and

N/A

(d) existence of robust conservation strategy or Action Plan for the species or critical habitat (poor, fair, good, very good – based on important features such as priority areas identified and ranked, representation analysis complete, thresholds of habitat and species population size and condition identified, conceptual model and conservation action plan developed, actions prioritized and results chains elaborated, monitoring program).

The project had a favourable impact on the implementation of robust conservation strategies in at least 13 tiger sites during the reporting period, through improved monitoring capacity (number of people trained), improved governance (number of sites adopting SMART for protected area monitoring and evaluation at national level) and improved reporting and adaptive management mechanisms (number of sites employing standardized reporting strategies).

In at least two countries - China and Thailand - this has resulted in increased government investment for law enforcement capacity.

4. Lessons Learned

Describe any lessons learned during the design and implementation of the project, as well as any related to organizational development and capacity building. Consider lessons that would inform projects designed or implemented by your organization or others, as well as lessons that might be considered by the global conservation community.

a. Project Design Process: Note: Please describe what aspects of the project design contributed to its success or caused any shortcomings

This has been an ambitious project, involving multi-country and multi-partner implementation. This has inevitably led to modifications along the way to the implementation schedule and initial delays to the software release and field-testing component. Whilst the project coordinators are very experienced in managing risks associated with implementation of large-scale field-based conservation projects, the addition of a new technology and software development component to the project presented new risks outside of our immediate scope of experience. As such, we took the steps to conduct a full risk management and assessment exercise at the outset of the project for the technological component of the project to ensure sufficient flexibility was built into the project design. The end result was to strike a balance between maintaining engagement and momentum in SMART on one hand, and delivery of a quality software product on the other. As such, we successfully avoided rushing through an inferior product whilst still exposing earlier versions of SMART to a global audience of users for useful feedback on its development. The result was a slight delay in the field-testing schedule, but the assurance of a quality SMART product for implementation.

b. Project Implementation: Note: Please describe what aspects of the project execution contributed to its success or caused any shortcomings.

The strength of the SMART Partnership has been a critical factor in the success of this project, particularly in these early stages of SMART development, field testing, national-level coordination and rollout. Furthermore, a clearly defined and common need for SMART across the partners greatly facilitated timely development of the software tool. In addition, the importance of explicitly including feedback from users from across the demonstration sites in subsequent SMART development, was vital in gaining government and technical partner buy-in and in delivering a tool that directly met the needs of field managers. Finally, the importance of ensuring standardization of the tool yet enabling localization of the software (i.e. availability in regional languages, integration with existing information management platforms) was a critical factor in many countries in engaging national government and protected area agencies.

c. Other lessons learned relevant to the conservation community:

Please see Section 3B. We have included a number of specific lessons learned during our experiences of

22 individual site implementation under the national summaries.

5. Additional Funding Provide details of any additional funding that supported this project and any funding secured for the project, organization, or the region, as a result of the SOS investment in this project. Use the following categories:

(i) Project co-financing (Other donors or your organization contribute to the direct costs of this project)

Donor Commitment Level WCS Individual Donations $33,288.17 Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation $139,057.45 Liz Claiborne Art Ortenberg Foundation $73,563.9 WWF Co-Funding $173,374 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service grants to China/Indonesia/Laos/Malaysia/Thailand $120,931.66 USAID RESPOND DAI subgrant to Laos $16,255.92 Ocean Park Conservation Foundation grant $4,196.35 to China

(ii) Grantee and Partner leveraging (Other donors contribute to your organization or a partner organization as a direct result of successes with this SOS funded project.)

Donor Commitment Level Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation $1,199,539 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Improving $56,959 enforcement and establishing a rapid response team using SMART in the Nam Et- Phou Louey National Protected Area landscape, Lao PDR USAID ABCG-BATS $250,000 SMART Consortium $762,200

(iii) Regional/Portfolio leveraging (Other donors make large investments in a region because of SOS investment or successes related to this project.)

WCS is currently in discussions with UNESCO/World Heritage Commission and UNDP/GEF on the incorporation of SMART as a standard platform in World Heritage Sites in Africa (under the Africa Nature capacity building program of UNESCO) and globally (through GEF VI) respectively.

Furthermore, SMART has now been included as a core activity and monitoring platform under USAID’s CARPE III (Central African Regional Program for the Environment) program and the European Commission’s ECOFAC (Ecosystèmes Forestières en Afrique Centrale) program, both in Central Africa.

6. Sustainability/Replicability

Summarize the success or challenge in achieving planned sustainability or replicability of project components or results. Summarize any unplanned sustainability or replicability achieved.

Support from SOS has enabled considerable achievements to be made in the development, deployment and uptake of SMART as a law enforcement monitoring and management tool as well as its sustainability. Measures to ensure sustainability and replicability of the approach can be summarized as follows:

1. Implementation of a regional capacity building strategy that has ensured adequate technical support is available at regional, national and local scales. This has not only enabled site-based support for SMART rollout in demonstration sites, but has also enabled expansion into other sites within a particular country or region. The development of a suite of targeted training tools has helped ensure successful achievement of technical and adaptive management expertise in the implementation of SMART that can be applied at site, national and regional scale. Critical training of trainers and follow up site-based trainings leveraged by the SOS grant facilitated the training of more than 30 technical staff from nine countries in SMART and adaptive management practices, creating a global network of high-level users to exchange ideas and best practices. SMART-certified training courses using SMART-certified training materials ensure training is maintained to a high standard. All materials are available for download on our website. During 2014, we will extend our capacity building approach to incorporate national syllabus at regional training institutes in order to further ensure in-region sustainability. This will begin in Africa and target the wildlife training colleges based at Garoua, Cameroon; Mweka, Tanzania and South Africa.

2. Mainstreaming of SMART approach at national institutional level through engagement of central protected area/wildlife agencies. This ensures not only government ownership of the product but also provides the necessary foundation for increased government investment into both financial and human resources at protected area level. This has already been borne out in Thailand and to a lesser extent in China (at least initially at a provincial level). To support national-level institutional structures, SMART has also engaged with a number of international mechanisms and conventions including CITES-MIKE and UNESCO/World Heritage Convention. Through these governmental and inter-governmental mechanisms SMART has the potential to become the global standard for improved law enforcement monitoring and adaptive management across protected areas. As such, there are plans to feature SMART at the IUCN World Parks Congress in 2014.

3. Ensuring long-term maintenance and support of the SMART software product and associated best practices for implementation. This has been achieved largely through the SMART Partnership, which has been the driving factor in the global uptake of SMART to date. During 2012/2013 the consortium developed a SMART 10-year business plan under the guidance of

WWF. The plan provides a roadmap for the SMART Partnership, ensuring the sustainability and evolution of the software tool, development of best practices and support materials, and outlining a clear governance structure that welcomes new members and encourages broad global uptake. A critical component of the business plan to guarantee long-term success was the creation of a new Fundraising, Marketing and Communications Council. The primary goal of this council was to secure funding to enable timely implementation of core business plan activities. SOS support assisted the SMART consortium in leveraging considerable new funding and engagement in SMART, allowing us to substantially surpass initial expectations with more than 100 SMART demonstration sites throughout the world. SOS funding facilitated the development of a very unique and unprecedented collaboration of six major global conservation organizations with a global appeal that has successfully brought advances in technology to address an urgent conservation need. The Partnership’s strong collaborative spirit and results-focused approach serves as a sustainable model for a partnership across conservation NGO and partner agencies. No single organization can achieve the aim of the Partnership on its own and it is very important to maintain the collaborative spirit of the consortium, therefore another tactic the Partnership employed to ensure longevity was the hiring of a full-time, SMART Partnership Program Manager. The hiring of the first permanent SMART Partnership position speaks to the impressive progress the consortium has made over the past 2 years and the momentum that SMART has generated. Through the SOS grant the SMART Partnership established a strong foundation, which has enabled us to turn our attention now to moving forward with broad uptake and demonstrating the value of SMART in addressing enforcement and management effectiveness.

7. Safeguard Policy Assessment

Provide a summary of the implementation of any required action toward the environmental and social safeguard policies within the project. This should be extracted from the responses provided in the Safeguards Aspects for SOS grants form submitted with past interim reports. Attach any additional document required.

Social safeguard issues identified in this project include local communities being denied access to resources they may have previously had [illegal] access to through improved law enforcement effectiveness of protected area authorities.

During this grant, SMART has been implemented in poaching hotspots, with poachers arrested, arms confiscated and snares removed across multiple sites. As indicated and emphasized throughout our interim reports, WCS and WWF engage in law enforcement support in all sites as part of a holistic program of protected area management and improvement of local livelihoods. Restricting [illegal] access to resources by local communities is redressed through schemes that seek to both increase awareness of protected area and wildlife laws and improve alternative livelihoods (e.g. mitigating depredation of cattle by tigers) that have a positive conservation benefit.

8. Additional Comments/Recommendations

9. Information Sharing and SOS Policy SOS is committed to transparent operations and to helping Civil society groups share experiences, lessons learned, and results. Final project completion reports are made available on our website, www.saveourspecies.org and publicized in our newsletter and other communications.

Please include your full contact details below:

Name: Alexa Montefiore Organization name and Wildlife Conservation Society, Global Conservation Program, 2300 Southern Boulevard, NY 10460, USA Mailing address: Tel: (1) 718 741 1894 Fax: - E-mail: [email protected]