Elephant problem is human problem: Forestry official<\/p>\n
By T. Simawati Gunawan<\/p>\n
PEKANBARU, Riau (JP): A senior official of the Forestry
\nMinistry is calling for a coordinated effort by government
\nagencies and private institutions to contain the problems of
\nrecurrent raids on villages in Sumatra by wild elephants.<\/p>\n
"The elephant problem is not the problem of the elephants,"
\nsaid Widodo S. Ramono of the Directorate General of Forest
\nProtection and Nature Conservation.<\/p>\n
"It is the problem of human beings, and we have to work
\ntogether to solve it," Widodo said on Thursday during a meeting
\nwith officials from the provincial forestry office and the
\nenvironmental agency of the Riau provincial government.<\/p>\n
The recurrent attacks by wild elephants on rubber and palm oil
\nplantations in Riau has racked up total material losses amounting
\nto Rp 14.3 billion ($6.9 million). This amount excludes the
\nmaterial losses inflicted on villagers.<\/p>\n
Widodo said that unless an integrated action is taken, the
\nmarauding elephants would cause greater losses, possibly even
\ninjure humans.<\/p>\n
The meeting was held following a trip to several plantation
\nestates and a transmigration location which had been stormed by
\nthe elephants.<\/p>\n
Widodo said the government, too, should consider the
\necological aspects in its decision to set areas for
\ntransmigration, agriculture, mining or other activities.<\/p>\n
He said there must be a change in the government's policy to
\nenable the implementation of the sustainable development
\nprinciples.<\/p>\n
"We should consider not only the economic benefits but the
\necological benefit as well. Development should be advantageous
\nfor the people, not for the conglomerates," he said.<\/p>\n
Alternatives<\/p>\n
He said there are two practical alternatives in dealing with
\nthe wild elephants now roaming outside their natural habitat:
\nsimply rounding them up or herding them to designated national
\nparks by placing corridor barriers along the way.<\/p>\n
Samuel Panggabean, head of the Riau Office for Conservation of
\nNatural Resources, said several plantation estate companies have
\nagreed to lend a hand in the efforts to cope with the elephant
\nproblems. But others refused as the elephants were not rampaging
\ntheir plantations.<\/p>\n
In the past four years about 200 elephants which roamed
\noutside their habitats attacked more than 11,800 hectares of
\nrubber and palm oil plantations in Riau, according to Suparto
\nBroto from the plantation agency of the forestry office.<\/p>\n
The elephants also stormed villages and fields in
\ntransmigration sites, but there were no records of financial
\nlosses suffered by the people.<\/p>\n
Ratman Tasmin, who represented the provincial forestry office,
\ntold the meeting that there had been no casualties in any of the
\nelephant raids.<\/p>\n
A local newspaper earlier reported that a farmer was killed by
\na stampede of elephants which raided his field last week but the
\nreport was never officially confirmed.<\/p>\n
Besides Riau, Bengkulu and Lampung in southern Sumatra, and
\nAceh have reported similar problems in dealing with elephants and
\nsome of the raids have been fatal.<\/p>\n
Official figures said that 14 people have been killed during
\nsuch raids in the last five years.<\/p>\n
Riau is home to some 1,600 elephants. Two hundred of them are
\nstraying outside their designated habitats.<\/p>\n
Officials said the size of Sumatra elephant population
\ncontinues to increase but their natural habitat has been
\nshrinking because more and more land and forest is being
\nconverted for residential or commercial purposes.<\/p>",
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