Unlawful Logging Threatens Indonesia's Largest Protected Forest
11/6/99
OVERVIEW & COMMENTARY
As reported on frequently over the last several months, Indonesia's
National Parks, and Gunung Leuser in Northern Sumatra in particular,
are being logged. CNN has caught word of the situation, and perhaps
this will contribute to lifting the veil of anonymity and stopping
this atrocious situation. Is any preserved area ever truly protected
if this sort of thing can occur?
g.b.
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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Title: Unlawful logging threatens Indonesia's largest protected
forest
Source: Cable News Network (CNN)
Status: Copyright 1999, contact source for permission to reprint
Date: November 5, 1999
Byline: Gary Strieker
(CNN) -- One of Indonesia's largest remaining tracts of forest,
though officially protected by the government, faces a growing threat
from rampant unlawful logging, local conservationists say.
At Gunung Leuser National Park in Northern Sumatra, lushly forested
mountains and swamps cover nearly a million hectares, an area the
size of Yellowstone National Park in the United States.
During the last 60 years, Sumatra's tropical forests retreated as the
human population grew, leaving the park at the core of the largest
remaining tract of forest.
The area is both a critical watershed and a refuge for vanishing
wildlife such as elephants, orangutans and tigers. Now, political
instability and economic turmoil undermine the park's protection.
Many Indonesians demand a bigger share of the nation's wealth, and
for some, it seems unfair to keep valuable resources locked up inside
a park.
Local wood processing companies pay desperate men without jobs to
steal timber from the park. Encroaching farmers clear the forest to
plant crops. One piece at a time, the forest disappears.
"It's time for civil society to pressure the government, to ask for
the government to do something about illegal logging in Indonesia,"
says environmental activist Ambrosius Ruwindrijarto.
But some villagers living on the boundary of the park say they don't
see the problem. The forest is still huge, one man says; there's
enough for everybody.
The provincial governor has said he'll take strict action to stop the
illegal logging. But the park's head warden, Adi Susmianto, says it's
just a quick fix.
"The problem is, it stops just for a while. After that, it happens
again and happens again," he says.
People in another village near the park are worried. A destroyed
forest, they say, will never come back. The villagers say they will
find a way to enforce to the law and protect the park themselves,
because the government authorities don't seem to care.
A good reason, local conservationists say, is because many officials
profit from the illegal logging in the park -- including people in
the military, police, local government officials, even park wardens
and rangers.
"We can't rely on the police and the military because they are part
of the problem," Ruwindrijarto says.
It's a problem that's becoming critical as illegal loggers cut their
way into national parks protecting the last of these undisturbed
forests.