Locals give up illegal logging as Berbak park suffers
Posted on: April 5, 2008
Jon Afrizal – The Jakarta Post/Jambi. Illegal logging and forest fires have contributed to the deforestation of around 50 percent of Berbak National Park.
While it is protected land, the 162,700 hectare park which is located east of the provincial capital of Jambi, here — has been subject to widespread illegal logging since the reform era began in 1998.
Timber traders from outside the area approached resident, of the 28 villages that buffer the forest and collaborated with local brokers to persuade them to log.
Chain saws sounded day and night, as prized timber trees, such as ramin, jelutung and meranti, toppled to the ground.
Hundreds of paths were made to transport the logs via the river or rails. They started in the villages and made their way deep into the heart of the forest, which had been named a protected area by former president Soeharto on Oct. 19, 1992.
The loggers identified and removed e oldest trees, those measuring around 60 centimeters in diameter and 20 meters tall. Now, most trees in the park are 30 cm in diameter on average.
Also, the area that stretches along Berbak River is prone to forest fires. An estimated 30,000 hectares of forested area has been destroyed every dry season since 2001.
As a result, the ecosystem of the area has suffered. Numerous species of flora and fauna have vanished, for example, the rare orchids of the lowlands that relied on the trees; the arwana fish, which can grow to 90 cm in length and 20 cm wide; and the long-snouted sinyolong and muara crocodile species.
Sumatran tigers (Sumatrae panthera tigris), of which there were between 50 to 70 in the area a few years ago, now number around 30 or 40. As their habitat has been encroached upon, these “kings of the jungle” have been forced to venture as far as the villages in search of food. The tigers, which are proficient swimmers, even reached villages located across Berbak River, which is 300 meters wide in places.
Since 1998, five people have been killed in four tiger attacks on humans in the area.
Executive director of non-governmental organization Pinang Sebatang, Husni Thamrin, told The Jakarta Post recently that the government should cooperate with locals to save their environment.
“The residents should be involved, because they are the ones who suffer the floods, which have occurred over the past five years due to the damaged catchments area,” he said.
So far, the government has been unwilling to accept the port would be to first improve the standard of living in the villages. That way, offers of easy money through illegal activity would not be so tempting, he said.
The organization is currently working to improve conditions in seven of the villages around the national park: Sungai Aur, Sungai Rambut, Air Hitam Laut, Sungai Benuh, Simpang Datuk, Sungai Gelam II and Pematang Rawas.
Heads of families are grouped together to farm land, with each group comprising 10 people.
The groups are provided with seedlings, such as rice, chili, soybean and corn, which they cultivate on land that has been left idle since 1998. Each family head generally owns a two to five-hectare plot.
After suffering floods every year, the residents have finally come to the realization that farming, which they once abandoned, is a more fruitful and less damaging practice than logging.
The organization has also helped local residents’ plant ramin, jelutung and meranti trees on a 30-hectare area within the national park since 2003.
“Our achievements are just one step toward conservation, but the people are willing. They feel that they own the forest and have made efforts to preserve it,” said Husni.
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