Regent acts to protect forests<\/p>\n
M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Following implementation of the 1999 Regional Autonomy Law, which
\ngranted more authority to local governments, concerns mounted
\nabout the possible abuses of power that could result.<\/p>\n
Observers feared that to boost regional revenue local leaders
\nwould issue regulations that would disregard environmental
\nprotection, or worse, would conspire with investors to exhaust
\ntheir areas of natural resources for personal gain.<\/p>\n
There fears were not unfounded. Reports of widespread
\nenvironmental destruction, including illegal logging and wildlife
\npoaching, have increased under regional autonomy, sometimes with
\ncatastrophic consequences.<\/p>\n
Environmental organizations have attributed a flash flood in
\nBohorok, North Sumatra, that killed 140 people to illegal logging
\nin the area, which has weakened the landscape's ability to absorb
\nwater. The logging is believed to be backed by corrupt government
\nofficials, councillors, businessman and members of the police and
\nmilitary.<\/p>\n
However, among the many corrupt and conservation-ignorant
\nlocal leaders, there is one who not only resists the temptation
\nof making easy money from plundering forests, he actually uses
\nhis new-found clout to save the environment.<\/p>\n
After the Bohorok catastrophe, a regent in neighboring
\nMandailing Natal regency decided to oppose Australian-based
\nmining company, PT Sorikmas Mining, which had attempted to
\nextract gold from the regency's 108,000 hectare virgin woodlands.<\/p>\n
With the support of the 300,000 people of the regency, on Dec.
\n31, 2003, the regent, Amru Helmy Daulay, unilaterally declared
\nthe entire extent of Batang Gadis forest, as it was locally
\nknown, and where the mining company ran its operation, a
\nconservation area. Batang Gadis is also a sanctuary to hundreds
\nof the country's endangered species.<\/p>\n
The declaration, which was decreed in a bylaw and later upheld
\nin a ministerial decree by the forestry ministry, means that all
\nmining activities in the forest were illegal.<\/p>\n
This act of defiance won him a prestigious 2004 Kehati Award,
\nconferred by the Kehati Biodiversity Foundation.<\/p>\n
\"We just do what we have to do. The conservation is merely
\naimed at protecting our livelihoods. The unchecked exploitation
\nof the forest is a standing threat to agriculture, the main
\noccupation of the Mandailing Natal population,\" Amru said in a
\nrecent interview.<\/p>\n
He said about 600 rivers that brought water to rice fields in
\nthe Mandailing Natal and other regencies in North Sumatra had
\ntheir sources in the Batang Gadis forests. \"If we don't stop the
\nmining activities now, in 15 years time I believe that our
\nlivelihoods will perish,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Amru said most of the population earned their living from
\nagriculture and aspired to become farmers. \"Harvest from the rice
\nfields will still be rewarding, provided Batang Gadis forest is
\nwell conserved,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Such a close attachment with the forest has made it easy for
\nAmru to campaign on the conservation front. \"We don't have to
\ndeploy police or other government officials to enact the bylaw
\nsanctioning the Batang Gadis protection, as the people guard the
\nforest on their own initiative.<\/p>\n
Protecting the forests also means protecting their
\nlivelihoods,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He said that the environmental destruction that the mining
\ncompany had caused had surpassed the financial benefit it had
\nproduced for the local administration.<\/p>\n
\"The mining company did not contribute much to our regional
\nrevenue. It only paid between Rp 20 million (US$2,200) and Rp 30
\nmillion on land taxes annually before we ordered the company to
\nshut down its operation,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Sworn in to office in early 2000, Amru was Mandailing Natal's
\nfirst regent following its establishment as new regency in 1999.<\/p>\n
Born 64 years ago in Binjai, North Sumatra, Amru spent almost
\nhis entire career as civil servant in the North Sumatra
\ngovernor's office, after a brief spell at the Medan-based
\nUniversity of North Sumatra as dean of the school of law between
\n1974 and 1976.<\/p>\n
Despite support from conservationists, as shown by the Kehati
\nAward, Amru still has a tough task ahead as the mining company is
\nstill encroaching on the protected forest on the grounds that it
\nhas secured a permit from the Ministry of Energy and Mineral
\nResources.<\/p>\n
The conservation initiative has also dealt a severe blow to
\nendorsement of the government regulation in lieu of law that
\nallows 13 mining firms to resume operations in protected forests
\nthroughout the country.<\/p>\n
\"We shall withstand any efforts to exploit our protected
\nforest. We shall push our agenda by constantly lobbying relevant
\ngovernment agencies at all levels, along with environmental
\norganizations. We shall persuade them to work for our cause -- we
\ndon't know for how long,\" he said.<\/p>",
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