ACTION ALERT
Continued Illegal Logging in Indonesian Parks
7/26/99
OVERVIEW & COMMENTARY by EE
In June we reported on allegations of major illegal logging in
Indonesian parks < http://forests.org/recent/suaqillo.txt >. Our
letter writing campaign appears to have been at least partially
successful, as it lead to a deceleration of logging at Suaq Balimbing
Research Station in Gunung Leuser National Park, Sumatra. Below are
two items updating the Indonesian national park logging situation.
The first is on Suaq Balimbing, and includes a renewed request for
letters. The second item illustrates to what extent all of
Indonesia's parks are imperiled. Please take the time to integrate
this information into personalized letters and email to Indonesian
authorities--which appears to be spawning some results.
g.b.
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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
ITEM #1
Title: Update on Continued Illegal Logging at Suaq Balimbing
Source: Michelle Merrill
Status: Copyright 1999, contact source for permission to reprint
Date: July 6, 1999
Byline: Michelle Merrill
Although the intensity of the logging within the study area has been
reduced, there is still some activity within the research area and
heavier logging continues in surrounding portions of Gunung Leuser
National Park. There are over 100 loggers working inside the study
area, down from nearly 200 at the height of the crisis. Within the
study area, there are 24 logging camps and 20 rails (wide trails with
lubricated wooden crossbars for transporting logs). Some of these
rails extend well over 1 km into the study area, and most have side
branches. The sounds of chainsaws indicate that intensive logging
activities persists in the surrounding area, well within park
boundaries.
When the logging was most intensive inside the research area, we lost
many trees in two of the three most important food species for the
orangutans. In the area along the river, all of the Neesia cf.
aquatica were cut. The orangutans at Suaq regularly use tools to
extract the nutritious seeds from the tough casing and irritating
hairs of the Neesia fruits. The loss of the trees along the river and
in one swamp area represents 1/2 to 2/3 of all the Neesia trees in the
study area. In another area (in the southwest of the research area)
many of the large Sandoricum beccarianum trees were cut, representing
about 1/4 to 1/3 of these trees within the study area. Each of these
is the major food by orangutans during its fruiting season. As the
individual orangutans in the study population have home ranges that
extend well beyond the research area, the effect of losing trees
outside the research area is equally alarming.
Thanks in part to letters written by concerned outsiders, there was a
series of meetings between those responsible for the logging and
authorities from 18-23 June. No arrests were made, but the authorities
and the loggers reached an agreement. As part of the agreement, the
loggers were allowed to take the timber from trees that had already
felled, but they were to stop cutting live trees, and their activities
in the research area were to cease 29 June. The parties involved in
the logging also made demands regarding provision of previously
promised development assistance for the neighboring villages. The
local development agencies and the Leuser Development Program agreed
to maintain a dialogue about these issues.
There are still many problems and concerns with this situation.
The resolution of the crisis could be interpreted as a case of
successful environmental extortion. Though the logging was in
violation of existing laws, there were no punitive measures against
the involved parties. Not only were they able to profit from their
illegal activities, the conditions for them to cease these activities
could be seen as rewarding them. It's a case of the squeaky wheel
getting the grease taken to a painful extreme, and it sets a very
dangerous precedent. I fear that if other nearby communities feel that
they are being neglected by the government and development agencies,
they may choose to use the same tactics. The results for the forest
and the population of orangutans it supports are potentially
disastrous.
It is important to recognize that this is not simply a case of poor
local people using the only means available to them to put food on the
table. There are clearly organized outsiders profiting from these
illegal logging activities. The loggers have only mixed support among
local village residents. To accelerate their illegal extraction of
protected forest resources, the backers often employ people from
distant areas. Most of the people still working in the study area are
from villages over 75 km away. The activities of the loggers are not
restricted to attempts to earn a living, as they have included
deliberate theft and destruction of research equipment, theft of
research camp supplies, and threats against Indonesian staff and
student researchers.
Though illegal logging within the research area has decreased, the
chainsaws can still be heard. There is still illegal logging occurring
within park boundaries. On 3 July, we discovered continuing activity
in one area of the research site. The loggers here were using hand
saws so that we couldn't hear their activities from other areas of the
site.
The available undisturbed habitat for the orangutans, tigers, sun
bears and other wildlife continues to diminish. No action was taken
to provide enforcement of the existing laws regarding protection of
the national park, and the loggers still do not fear arrest or
punishment for their illegal activities. This is especially troubling
given the concern that others may attempt to copy the actions of the
former logging operations to gain attention from government and
development agencies. There is nothing to prevent more of them from
moving into the research area again, and no protection for the local
wildlife.
We still need your help, to put pressure on the authorities to provide
real solutions, including enforcement of existing laws and a regular
security presence to protect the park and all its inhabitants.
Long-term solutions involving education and development assistance for
local communities should be promoted, as well. This kind of illegal
logging activity continues unchecked throughout Indonesia, but it is
especially troubling that it is happening in Gunung Leuser, reputed to
be the best-managed national park in the country. So please, if you
care about the orangutans and other wildlife at Suaq, KEEP WRITING
LETTERS!
For further information, please see the website:
http://www.duke.edu/~mym1/suaq.htm
Thank you for your help.
Who to write:
The Minister of Forestry:
Bapak Prof. Dr. Ir. Muslimin Nasution
Address:
Kepada Yth
Bapak Prof. Dr. Ir. Muslimin Nasution
Menteri Kehutanan & Perkebunan RI
Gedung Manggala Wanabakti
Jl. Gatot Subroto
Jakarta
Indonesia
E-mail: indofor@idola.net.id
Phone: 62 021 5730142 or 5731820 or 5700278
Fax: 62 021 5738782 or 5700226
The Director General of PKA:
Bapak Ir. Abd. Manan Siregar (responsible for the Protection and
Conservation of Forests)
Address:
Kepada Yth
Bapak Ir. Abd. Manan Siregar
Dirjend Perlindungan dan Konservasi Alam (PKA)
Gedung Manggala Wanabakti Lt. 7 Gdg VII
Jl. Gatot Subroto
Jakarta
Indonesia
Phone: 62 021 5730513 or 5734818
Fax: 62 021 5733437
Kakanwil Aceh:
Bapak Ir. Brotohadi Sumadiyo (responsible for Military in the
province)
Address:
Kepada Yth
Bapak Ir. Brotohadi Sumadiyo
Kakanwil Dephutbuy D.I. Aceh
Jl. T. Umar
Banda Aceh
Indonesia
Phone: 62 0651 42694 or 44704
Fax: 62 0651 41943 or 45404
The Governor of Aceh:
Bapak Drs. Syamsudin Machmud (the province where the site is located)
Address:
Kepada Yth
Bapak Drs. Syamsudin Machmud
Gubernur/KDH D.I. Aceh
Jl. T. Daud Bereueh
Banda Aceh
Indonesia
Phone: 62 0651 51337
Fax: 62 0651 53119
******
If you or your organization may be able to provide additional
assistance in the form of donated equipment or financial support,
please contact me:
Michelle Y. Merrill
Dept. of Biological Anthropology and Anatomy
Duke University, Box 90383
Durham, NC 27708
Fax: (919) 660-7348
E-mail: mym1@acpub.duke.edu
ITEM #2
Title: Ecological Anarchy
Source: The Indonesian Nature Conservation Database
http://www.bart.nl/~edcolijn/index.html
Status: Copyright 1999, contact source for permission to reprint
Date: July 25, 1999
Byline: Ed Colijn
In the power vacuuum following the collapse of the Suharto government
last year, illegal activities inside Indonesia's protected areas have
accelerated. People in Indonesia are looking at the national parks and
protected areas as bastions of central control. As such, they have no
respect for the protected area system and are just taking whatever
they please. Indonesia's national park system, along with its unique
flora and fauna, will be destroyed if no international action stops
this destruction soon.
The below has reports and photo's illustrating just a tip of the
iceberg. The situation is worst in Tanjung Puting National Park but is
being repeated at the same devastating scale in parks on Sumatra, Java
and most probably other parts of Indonesia.
The situation at Tanjung Puting National Park can be described as pure
anarchy. Illegal loggers, gold-miners and poachers have threatened the
park authorities, scientists and Eearthwatch volunteers, and even
tourists visiting the area. All have abandoned the park now and the
area is in the hands of thugs destroying one of the last orangutan
safe havens in Indonesia.
Logging and poaching in Indonesian reserves have accelerated in the
power vacuum since the collapse of the Suharto government last year,
and local authorities as well as the military are implicated in the
destruction. Those that pay the most can buy their way in so the only
way to conserve forests in Indonesia may be to bribe, whoever happens
to be in control locally, more than the loggers, poachers and miners,
or to subsidize dangerous military operations. Unfortunately, the
Ministry of Forestry continues with its policy of benign neglect.
Indonesian press reports mention the destruction of the park is a
retaliation upon the 32 years ruling of the Suharto regime and the
forced translocation of local inhabitants to make way for the park
during Orde Baru. Other sources mention the park has been taken over
by more than 3000 Javanese, Madurese, Buginese and Dayak thugs who
didn't lived their previously. Whatever the reason, the park is being
destroyed if nothing happens.
As documented below Tanjung Puting National Park is not the only
'protected' area affected. There are reports mentioning increased
illegal logging in the other parts of Kalimantan, among others Gunung
Palung; various reliable sources report illegal logging is becoming a
major threat to Sumatra's orangutans, rhinos and other wildlife in
Gunung Leuser, Gunung Kerinci and Bukit Barisan Selatan National
Parks; recent Indonesian press articles report on the destruction in
Gunung Salak Protection Forest and clear-cutting in parts of the Javan
Meru Betiri National Park. One, an other large National Park on
Sumatra, Way Kambas, seems to be the only area not affected by illegal
activities.