“This elephant corridor will be planted with mixed crops in the future, which will help minimise conflicts with elephants,” says Pak Yopi, project manager for reforestation at the Frankfurt Zoological Society in Bukit Tigapuluh. “In other areas, however, only oil palm monocultures are being planted. We were able to convince the farmers of the Bungo Pandan social forest community to plant mixed crops on a 100-hectare pilot plot,” he adds.

The measure promises more than just ecological balance. It diversifies the future income of smallholders and offers a buffer against volatile market prices. Above all, mixed crops protect the fields from destruction by herds of elephants, whose favourite food is palm trees. It was this very argument that persuaded the smallholders of Bungo Pandan, as the edges of Bukit Tigapuluh National Park see their fields destroyed by elephants almost daily.

For five years now, the team at the Frankfurt Zoological Society has been promoting mixed crops of fruit trees such as durian and jengkol (stinky beans), Robusta coffee, pepper and vanilla as an alternative source of income to oil palms. Bungo Bandan is the third farming group that is trying out this method.