National park to be expanded<\/p>\n
Theresia Sufa, The Jakarta Post, Bogor<\/p>\n
The Gunung Gede Pangrango National Park management will expand
\nthe park, which lies in parts of Bogor, Sukabumi and Cianjur
\nregencies, due to its value as a water conservation area and a
\ntransit area for rare birds of prey that fly in and out of the
\npark.<\/p>\n
Head of the Bogor conservation unit Memen Suparman told The
\nJakarta Post recently that the Ministry of Forestry had evaluated
\nthe forest's function and decided to expand the park from 15,196
\nhectares to 21,975 hectares. The expansion plan was legalized by
\na ministerial decree.<\/p>\n
Land clearance inside the conservation area has reached 100
\nhectares and will therefore require some major rehabilitation,
\nMemen added.<\/p>\n
"The main problem is that we must do some major rehabilitation
\nto improve the condition of the soil. We will need thousands of
\ntrees for the reforestation and we call on the government to help
\nin providing them," he said.<\/p>\n
An employee at the national park's Bodogol sector, Ujang Edi,
\nsaid he was hoping that the forestry ministry would assist with
\nreforestation.<\/p>\n
"This national park is a treasure for everybody in the
\ncountry. At present, we are buying the seedlings and trees with
\nour own monthly salary, which is very small. Due to our idealism,
\nsome of us on staff have even raised funds from the public," he
\nstated.<\/p>\n
Ujang has been one of the most tireless fund raisers for the
\nrehabilitation program. He managed to get 4,000 trees donated by
\nelementary students last March, and those have been planted in
\nthe national park's Cibeling sector located in Caringin district,
\nBogor regency.<\/p>\n
The national park management has another problem with the
\nForest Police patrol because of the expansion plan. At present,
\nthe park police are understaffed with only 30 officers for all
\nfour sectors -- Bodogol, Cisarua, Cimande and Bojong Murni -- and
\nthe number of patrol vehicles is very limited.<\/p>\n
When the Post was invited on a patrol with them in the Cisarua
\nsector, an area that used to be an industrial forest managed by
\nstate-run forestry company Perhutani, the damage was very
\nevident.<\/p>\n
The worst conditions are located in the Balekambang block in
\nCiteko village, Cisarua district, and the Lemah Nended block in
\nSukagalih village, Megamendung district, both in Bogor regency.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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