Coconut farming contributes to the livelihoods of millions of people in tropical countries but is less frequently considered as a threat to biodiversity compared to other palm commodities such as oil palm. The expansion of coconut farming alongside other smallholder agriculture in Sulawesi, Indonesia, is of potential concern as the region is a centre of species endemism. We studied bird diversity and community structure in forests, coconut palm plantations and mixed farmland in Gorontalo Province, northern Sulawesi. Forest and non-forest sites supported similar numbers of species overall, but compared to agricultural areas, forest sites had communities that were more diverse and more even (i.e. different species were present at similar abundances). We found far fewer endemic species in agricultural areas compared to forests, and the communities in palm plantations and mixed farmland sites were dominated by generalist birds, with few indicator taxa. Nevertheless, there was a higher number of endemic species in coconut palm plantations than in mixed farmland sites. These findings mirror patterns of biotic homogenization documented elsewhere in the Wallacea centre of endemism, and imply that coconut palm plantations have comparable biodiversity value to other farmland systems. Increased protection of lowland forests and improved management of coconut farms could be important for supporting the conservation of the endemic birds of Sulawesi in the long term, but this warrants further study.

The unsustainable use of wildlife increases the risk of species extinction. In biodiversity-rich Indonesia, information on the scale of wildlife use is limited and requires further study. To address this, we explored the potential of text messaging (short message service; SMS) surveys to investigate levels and spatial patterns of domestic wildlife use, using songbird keeping and shark consumption as case studies because of their widespread occurrence in all 34 Indonesian provinces. We sent 340,000 messages for each survey during October–November 2018 and incentivized responses with a mobile data package as reward. We obtained survey response rates of 1.4% (songbird ownership) and 1.5% (shark consumption). Our results revealed an estimated 175.7 million songbirds being kept by 35% (80.4–86.6 million) of the Indonesian population and 33.5 million people (14% of the Indonesian population) to have consumed shark products in their lifetime. We identified hotspots of songbird ownership in several provinces in Java, corroborating previous findings, and new ones in the North Sumatra province, for example. The provinces of Maluku, Aceh and East Nusa Tenggara had the highest numbers of reported shark consumers per 1,000 people. Responses indicated a wide variety of shark products being consumed, highlighting the need for in-depth research to understand the explanatory factors behind these practices. These findings demonstrate the potential of SMS surveys to be a cost-effective approach for conducting large-scale studies on wildlife consumption patterns over a short period of time.

The Asian tapir Tapirus indicus population has decreased as a result of habitat destruction and degradation, illegal hunting and negative human–tapir interactions. Although this species is categorized as Endangered on the IUCN Red List and is a protected species in Indonesia, where it occurs on Sumatra, studies of its ecology and behaviour and of interactions with people remain limited. We investigated the characteristics of local communities around tapir habitat in Batang Gadis National Park and the interactions of people with tapirs, and assessed the potential for future negative interactions. This study took place in March and October 2021 in Sopotinjak and Pagar Gunung villages. We conducted interviews, using questionnaires, amongst local communities that are familiar with tapirs. The communities belong to the Mandailing Tribe, comprising farmers that frequently access the adjacent forest to support their livelihoods. Local people need protein from animals, but they do not hunt the tapir. Negative human–tapir interactions could potentially increase in the future if tapir browsing intensity in community gardens increases and farmers suffer significant economic losses. We encourage Batang Gadis National Park authorities to develop a human–tapir co-existence management system and to protect tapir habitat.

The Asian tapir Tapirus indicus is the only tapir species in Southeast Asia. It is declining across its range and is categorized as Endangered on the IUCN Red List. The forests of Sumatra are critical to Asian tapir conservation as they contain some of the last remaining populations of the species, yet conservation efforts are hindered by a lack of information on habitat suitability. We collated camera-trap data from nine landscapes across 69,500 km2 of Sumatran rainforest to help predict suitable habitat for Asian tapirs on the island. Predictions from Bayesian occupancy models demonstrated that tapir occupancy was greatest in forests below 600 m elevation and exclusively in forests with high aboveground biomass. Forests around the Barisan Mountains on the west of Sumatra provide the most suitable habitat for the species. Only 36% of the most critical habitat (i.e. 80th percentile of predicted occupancy values, or above) for tapirs is formally protected for conservation, with much of the remainder found in forests allocated to watershed protection (35%) or logging (23%). We highlight several key areas in Sumatra where tapir conservation could be bolstered, such as by leveraging existing conservation efforts for other charismatic flagships species on the island.