Community-based national park to curb illegal logging in Sumatra<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
President Megawati Soekarnoputri is scheduled on Friday to
\ninaugurate the Batang Gadis National Park, Mandailing Natal
\nregency, North Sumatra, a model community-based park that
\nexemplifies the government's efforts to curb illegal logging.<\/p>\n
Jatna Supriyatna, the regional vice president of Conservation
\nInternational (CI) Indonesia, said Batang Gadis was a bottom-up
\nnational park, because it had the full support of Mandialing
\nresidents, who had requested it be established.<\/p>\n
He said the request was triggered primarily by the trauma
\nfollowing the flooding at Bukit Lawang resort in the neighboring
\nregency, Langkat, in November 2003, which killed over 140 people.<\/p>\n
The local government accepted a demand from 30,000 people
\nliving along the banks of the Batang Gadis River, who went to the
\nregent's office after the disaster to ask for the designation of
\n108,000 hectares of forest near the river as a national park,
\nJatna said.<\/p>\n
Many environmentalists and the local administration have
\nblamed the natural disaster in Langkat on illegal logging in
\nMount Leuser National Park.<\/p>\n
\"In many cases, the illegal logging in conservation areas or
\nnational parks occurred because the local administration didn't
\nallow residents to benefit from the areas,\" Jatna said on the
\nsidelines of a presentation on the biodiversity of Batang Gadis
\nat the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) recently.<\/p>\n
Data from the Ministry of Forestry in 2003 shows that about 43
\nmillion hectares of a total of 120.3 million hectares of forest
\nhave lost productivity due to illegal forest exploitation, with
\nthe forest degradation rate at more than 2 million hectares per
\nyear.<\/p>\n
Jatna said that the management of the national park would
\nimprove the prosperity of residents by developing agroforestry
\nfor coffee, silkworm breeding and other agricultural products.<\/p>\n
\"We have already established cooperation with the
\ninternational Starbucks chain. The company will buy Arabica
\nMandialing coffee from residents at premium prices, especially if
\nit is organic (cultivated without using pesticides or chemical
\nfertilizers).<\/p>\n
According to a biodiversity survey carried out from Feb. 2 to
\nMarch 20, Batang Gadis park has 228 different types of flora per
\n0.2 hectare of land -- richer than the Amazon forest in South
\nAmerica, which has fewer than 200.<\/p>\n
The survey team also discovered a new type of Rafflesia\"?
\nflower, the padma. The flower is currently being studied by
\nexperts at the LIPI Biology Research Center.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/community-based-national-park-to-curb-illegal-logging-in-sumatra-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}