Fires and man ravage national park's wildlife<\/p>\n
By Iskandar Zulkarnaen<\/p>\n
TELUK PANDAN, East Kalimantan (Antara): A mother orangutan and
\nher two young were panicky as they tried desperately to flee an
\nadvancing forest fire by crossing a road in the Kutai National
\nPark.<\/p>\n
\"I witnessed the scene myself during the forest fire in the
\nTemputuk-Teluk Pandan area,\" the head of the park, Warsito, said
\nsadly.<\/p>\n
Most of the estimated 2,000 orangutans living in Kutai were
\nreturned to their natural habitat in a program run by the center
\nfor the socialization and rehabilitation of orangutans at
\nWanariset Semboja, Bukit Soeharto.<\/p>\n
Now back in the wild, the animals face a new danger.<\/p>\n
Although there have been no reports of deaths of orangutans in
\nfires which have destroyed 1,774 hectares since Feb. 13, some
\nanimals may have perished.<\/p>\n
Orangutans, which usually forage in an area of up to two
\nkilometers, will use their survival instinct to flee over greater
\ndistances as fires approach.<\/p>\n
But more dangers await them in the park's surroundings of
\nsettlement areas, timber processing sites and companies.<\/p>\n
During last year's catastrophic fires, at least three
\norangutans were killed by local residents.<\/p>\n
Although other endangered flora and fauna exist in the park,
\nthere are fears environmental damage from the fires, logging and
\nmining may render it a wildlife haven in name only in a few
\nyears.<\/p>\n
The park, including the Bontang conservation area, spans
\n200,000 hectares. A UNESCO survey found a quarter of a hectare is
\ndestroyed each month.<\/p>\n
Fires, most often caused by slash-and-burn practices,
\naccelerate the destruction as they occur every dry season.<\/p>\n
They are reportedly not the only destroyer. Community reports
\nto the regional office of the Ministry of Forestry claim
\nforestry concessionaire PT Porodisa is increasingly encroaching
\non protected areas of the park.<\/p>\n
Although the firm was questioned on the matter by the East
\nKalimantan provincial legislature, no further steps were taken.<\/p>\n
Mining maneuvers<\/p>\n
Coal mining companies are also moving into the park.<\/p>\n
After the failure of a national investor to exploit some
\n100,000 hectares of land last year, PT Taraco Mining is now
\nexploring opportunities in the conservation area.<\/p>\n
The province's environmental impact control agency -- while
\nsurveying damage from forest fires early this year -- discovered
\nPT Taraco Mining was preparing to exploit the core zone of the
\nconservation area.<\/p>\n
\"The discovery startled us greatly because the activities of
\nthe coal mining company are a serious threat to the conservation
\nof the nucleus zone of the Kutai National Park,\" said Awang
\nFarouq Ishak, the agency's chairman.<\/p>\n
The former legislator, a member of the environmental section
\nof the National Development and Planning Board (Bappenas),
\nwondered how the company could have obtained a mining permit for
\ninside the park.<\/p>\n
He explained that Law No.5\/1990 on natural resources
\nconservation and the ecosystem outlined that no individual or
\nenterprise was permitted to alter the nucleus zone of a national
\npark.<\/p>\n
Penalties for doing so include a Rp 200 million fine and five-
\nyear jail term.<\/p>\n
The survey found the company began its activities in the park
\nlast year.<\/p>\n
Domestic companies conducting mining activities classified as
\ntypes A and B -- vital and strategic -- seldom report them to the
\nEast Kalimantan regional administration.<\/p>\n
The company, which entrusted exploration to PT Geoid Reksa
\nBumi, is now planning to divert the current of the Banumuda and
\nSanggata rivers because it found its largest coal deposit in the
\nwaters, found in the nucleus zone of the park.<\/p>\n
Awang said the exploitation could be the final nail in the
\ncoffin for the park's environment.<\/p>\n
\"If the activities continue, the Indonesian government will be
\nin the international spotlight because there are various
\ninternational research institutes, one of which is UNESCO, in the
\npark.\"<\/p>\n
He regretted the granting of the permit for coal exploitation
\ndid not take into consideration the problems of environmental
\nconservation.<\/p>\n
Despite his warnings, many enterprises are now vying to
\nexploit the area for coal mining.<\/p>\n
The National Coordinating Agency for Disaster Management
\nmobilized two Transal C 160 aircraft on Feb. 9 to fight the
\nfires.<\/p>\n
The initial efforts succeeded in extinguishing several hot
\nspots in the vicinity of Teluk Kaba village in the park.<\/p>\n
Commander of the Aji Suryanata Kesuma 091 Regiment, Col. Inf.
\nDjali Yusuf, assisted by Suwarna Abdul Fatah, the head of the
\ndisaster management unit, also led 150 Armed Forces members and
\ndozens of residents on the ground in putting out the fires.<\/p>\n
Ludwig Schindler, team leader of the German-Indonesian
\nintegrated forest fire management project, put the size of burned
\nEast Kalimantan forests at 20,000 hectares, and added that Kutai
\nwas probably the most affected.<\/p>\n
\"Compared to last year, the Indonesian government is now very
\nquick in handling forest fires like in East Kalimantan,\"
\nSchindler said.<\/p>\n
East Kalimantan's deputy governor, Suwarna Abdul Fatah, who is
\nalso the leader of the coordinating unit, deplored the use of
\nfires to clear land, a practice of hundreds of families which
\nhave settled in the park.<\/p>\n
They come for the job opportunities as the park is ringed by
\nindustries: PT Badak LNG and Pupuk Kaltim fertilizer companies to
\nthe east in Bontang, and forestry firms of PT Surya Hutani Jaya,
\nPT Porodisa and PT Kiani Hutani Jaya to the west in Memamang.<\/p>\n
The provincial administration has spent tens of billions of
\nrupiah in efforts to relocate the inhabitants, but these have
\nfailed, despite assistance from the Ministry of Transmigration.<\/p>\n
All this has environmentalists worried. They warn that if
\nboth the fires and man's encroachment are not curbed soon, the
\npark will eventually be decimated.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/fires-and-man-ravage-national-parks-wildlife-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}