Leuser Park<\/p>\n
Most national parks in Indonesia have suffered from illegal
\nlogging and encroachment. It is widely known that forestry,
\nofficials, police and military personnel, and businessmen are
\nmost responsible for encroaching on national parks. This at least
\nhas been shown in a court verdict in Medan on Sept. 11, 2000. Ten
\ngovernment institutions, one cooperative, two companies and one
\nmilitary foundation were asked to pay Rp 300 billion to
\ncompensate for the reforestation of the Leuser Park.<\/p>\n
The chief judge Mr. Hakim Aspar Siagian, based on the strong
\nevidence, decided that the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry,
\nthe North Sumatra Regional Provincial Forestry, the North Sumatra
\nForestry, the government office of Langkat regency, the Langkat
\nNational Land Agency, the Langkat Forestry, the government office
\nof Bahorok district, PT Amal Tani, KUD Sapopadang, PT Kencana,
\nand Yayasan Bukit Barisan guilty of encroaching on the park. The
\ngovernment offices had provided licenses that allowed
\ncooperatives and companies to damage the park.<\/p>\n
The violators destroyed about 400 hectares of the Sapopadang
\npark area with the construction of new roads, the planting of oil
\npalm trees and the logging of endangered trees besides causing
\nwildlife disturbances. Indeed, Rp 300 billion is not sufficient
\nto compensate for the damage but nevertheless this verdict gives
\nnew hope for strengthening laws on parks.<\/p>\n
The Student Nature Group of Himalaya and Genetika have filed a
\nclass action suit against the encroachers. They have given the
\npower of attorney to Biro Bantuan Hukum UISU (Legal Aid Office of
\nIslamic University of North Sumatra) to represent them in court.
\nThe organizations are members of a consortium of more than 30
\nNGOs known as KPH-KEL (Consortium for the Protection of the
\nForest and the Leuser Ecosystem) who actively advocating and
\nlitigating forestry violations in North Sumatra and Aceh. Another
\nmember of the consortium, FKP61, is a legal organization with
\nmore than one hundred lawyers currently taking legal action
\nagainst the provincial and Langkat regency police offices
\nregarding the release of a businessman suspected of encroaching
\non Leuser Park.<\/p>\n
The judge's verdict should be seen being in favor of
\nprotecting parks in Indonesia. Weak law enforcements have
\nresulted in the near extinction of many endangered species in
\nvarious parks. According to Prof. Carel van Schaik of University
\nof Duke, every year about 1,000 orangutans die in Leuser Park.
\nThis trend has been going on for the last six years, resulting in
\na tremendous reduction in the orangutan population, from about
\n12,000 in 1993 to only 6,000 in 1999. The main causes for this
\nare conversion of forest land into plantations and illegal
\nlogging. If the trend continues, it is estimated there would be
\nless than 1,000 orangutans in Leuser Park in the year 2010.<\/p>\n
Economically this would be a great loss for Indonesia. A great
\ntourism potential would vanish. The orangutans also play an
\nimportant role in the ecosystem. The decline in the orangutan
\npopulation may also be followed by a decline in the population
\nof other animal species. Because orangutans are very sensitive
\nanimals, they require a healthy environment to survive.<\/p>\n
To safeguard the parks, the local people, local NGOs, judges,
\npolicemen, lawyers, and prosecutors should be empowered The
\nresponsibility to stop illegal logging should be shared by the
\nlocal people and organizations in the provincial and regency
\nlevels.<\/p>\n
DENI PURBA<\/p>\n
Medan, North Sumatra<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/leuser-park-1447899208", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }