University of Kent

Dr Matthew Linkie   Honorary Research Fellow
E-mail: matthew.linkie@ffi.or.id

CV

Research interests

My research interests include: i) the development and application of detection/non-detection surveys to estimate the occupancy of cryptic species living at low densities; ii) investigating tropical deforestation patterns; iii) human-wildlife conflict mitigation; and, iv) community-based conservation initiatives linked to tourism. I am currently managing five overseas projects with a strong focus on building in-country capacity to help improve biodiversity conservation.

Tigers, prey loss and patterns of deforestation in Sumatra
Large carnivores occur at naturally low densities. This makes them vulnerable to the direct threats of poaching and habitat loss and the indirect threats of prey base poaching. The conservation of tigers in human-dominated landscapes therefore presents a dilemma. Are tigers able to survive in areas with human disturbance and varying levels of threat?

Working with Kerinci Seblat National Park (KSNP) management, Fauna & Flora International (FFI) and seven Indonesian universities, my research team is investigating the response of tigers and their prey to living in these mosaic habitats that surround one of the largest tiger habitats in Asia, KSNP, Sumatra.

Across KSNP, we are using detection/non-detection surveys to estimate tiger and prey occupancy. Within priority areas within KSNP, we are using camera traps to estimate tiger densities. To monitor the loss of tiger habitat in and around KSNP, we are using satellite images within a GIS to map forest cover change. From this we are able to investigate the landscape factors that best explain forest loss in this area and use these to develop a predictive forest loss map for KSNP. The combined tiger, prey and forest change data will be used to investigate the influence of human-related threats, and physical factors, such as logging roads, on tiger and prey occupancy and abundance. These data will also be used to evaluate the effectiveness of conservation strategies aimed at protecting tigers in KSNP.

Mitigating human-elephant conflict in Sumatra
Sumatran elephants live in fragmented populations across human-dominated landscapes where they compete with people for space and resources. As growing human populations continue to convert forest to farmland, they reduce elephant habitat and increase the likelihood of crop-raiding. This represents a severe form of human-wildlife conflict that threatens local livelihoods and that can also lead to loss of both human and elephant life. Through wide national and international collaboration, this project aims to mitigate human-elephant conflict mitigation in farmland bordering Kerinci Seblat National Park (KSNP). From 2006-2007, crop raiding will be monitored over 12 months to determine the spatio-temporal patterns. Next, a range of mitigation strategies, such as chili-grease fences, communal guarding, will be trialed and crop raiding patterns monitored over another 12 months. Finally, an economic analysis will then be conducted to determine the cost-effective of the different guarding strategies.

Assessing the status of the Sumatran rhinoceros in Kerinci Seblat National Park
In the 1980s, KSNP was considered as one of the most important protected areas for the long-term survival of the Sumatran rhinoceros, with a potential carrying capacity of 500-1000 individuals split between a Western and an Eastern forest block. However, poaching the KSNP rhino population was estimated at 64-77 individuals in 1993, which was further reduced to an estimated 28 individuals in 1995. In 2005, Rhino Protection Units (RPU), which had been patrolling in the Western Block for over 10 years, ceased their activities concluding that a maximum of only three rhinos remained. The decline was the result of heavy and sustained rhino poaching. In comparison, there have been no rhino surveys in the Eastern Block for over a decade, even though in February 2000 a one-off field survey by FFI-Indonesia, accompanied by RPU rangers found evidence of rhino presence (footprints, feeding) here. Unfortunately, this area has now come under renewed threat from cross-national park road building plans. Working with FFI and KSNP, DICE is leading a series of field surveys to verify reports that rhinos still are presence in the Eastern Block.

Community coral conservation in Aceh, Indonesia
Coral reefs support over 25% of all known marine species, but over the past 30-50 years anthropogenic threats have caused a global reef decline of nearly 50%. The Iboih community of Weh Island, Aceh, has a direct incentive to conserve their coral reefs because the local economy is mainly derived from coral-related activities (tourism and fishing). Through wide collaboration, this project will raise stakeholder awareness about coral conservation importance, reduce detrimental sedimentation through planting shoreline tree species, increase local livelihoods through improved coral tourism management and evaluate these conservation strategies. This project is collaboration between the University of Syiah Kuala, Indonesia, and DICE will implement the first coral biodiversity monitoring programme in Weh Island.

Community-driven conservation in the Greater Mara ecosystem
Some 70% of Kenya's wildlife exists outside protected areas, and its survival depends on wildlife tolerance and sustainable natural resource management by surrounding local communities. Yet competition for space and resources between wildlife and local communities often results in conflict such as crop raiding by elephant or livestock depredation by lions and leopards. These economic costs threaten the livelihood security of local communities, who in retaliation may kill these animals. Part of the solution to mitigating this human-wildlife conflict involves prudent wildlife management that incorporates reliable data on the locations, abundance and movement of these species.

In collaboration with Friends of Conservation, we are running a community-driven conservation project in the Greater Mara ecosystem, which surrounds the Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya. Through the development community scout association we aim to empower Maasai communities to monitor and protect their natural resources and to manage human-wildlife conflict. In addition, we are currently developing a novel model for this ecosystem that aims to secure the sustainability of the programme with financial support from responsible ecotourism operators in an innovative public-private conservation partnership.

Monitoring wildlife and threats in the Greater Mara Ecosystem
Mara GIS training exercises
Mara GIS training data

Funding

Darwin Initiative
21st Century Tiger
US Fish and Wildlife Service
Rufford Small Grant for Nature Award
The People’s Trust for Endangered Species
The Asian Rhino Project
British Airways Assisting Conservation Award

Selected publications

Linkie, M., Dinata, Y., Nofrianto, A. and Leader-Williams, N. (2007). Patterns and perceptions of wildlife crop raiding in and around Kerinci Seblat National Park, Sumatra. Animal Conservation, 10, 127-135.

Linkie, M, Dinata, Y., Nugroho, A. and Achmad Haidir, I. (2007). Estimating occupancy of a Data Deficient mammalian species living in tropical rainforests: sun bears in the Kerinci Seblat region, Sumatra. Biological Conservation, 137, 20-27.

Linkie, M, Chapron, G, Martyr, DJ, Holden, J and Leader-Williams, N (2006). Assessing the viability of tiger subpopulations in a fragmented landscape. Journal of Applied Ecology, 43, 576-586.

Linkie, M, Smith, RJ & Leader-Williams, N (2004). Mapping and predicting deforestation patterns in the lowlands of Sumatra. Biodiversity and Conservation 13, 1809-1818.

Links

The Sumatran Tiger Site

Friends of Conservation