Save our national forests<\/p>\n
Almost two weeks since the tragedy that hit North Sumatra, the
\nflash flood that swept away much of the resort town of Bukit
\nLawang in Bahorok is still on everybody's lips. For good reason,
\ntoo.<\/p>\n
By any measure, the Bahorok deluge was a disaster of major
\nproportions. At least 125 people, including several foreign
\ntourists, died in the catastrophe, while hundreds more went
\nmissing and more than 400 families were left homeless. The
\ngreatest tragedy, however, was that most Indonesians felt the
\nBahorok disaster was one that could have been avoided.<\/p>\n
An investigation conducted by the Leuser Management Unit (LMU)
\nfound that the rampant deforestation over the past several years
\nat Gunung Leuser National Park, Langkat regency -- where the
\nresort was located -- was the root cause of the disaster. An LMU
\nspokesman said some 42,000 hectares of the park, located about 50
\nkilometers above Bukit Lawang resort, had been turned into barren
\nland, mostly due to illegal logging. This finding was verified by
\na forestry expert at the Bogor Institute of Agriculture (IPB),
\nBambang Hero Saharjo, who also believes that the disaster was an
\nindirect result of the partial destruction of the Leuser
\necosystem.<\/p>\n
These findings only confirm the status quo on illegal logging
\nas media reports and analyses have increasingly covered, to the
\noutrage of the general public. Even President Megawati
\nSoekarnoputri joined the chorus, blaming illegal loggers for the
\ndisaster when she expressed her condolences last week.<\/p>\n
\"Nature is angry with us because we have destroyed the
\nenvironment. Our relatives in North Sumatra have had to suffer
\nbecause of this,\" she said at a Flora and Fauna Day event in
\nJakarta.<\/p>\n
Then, amid the public outcry, a denial comes all of a sudden,
\nstraight from the top. Speaking to reporters after a Cabinet
\nmeeting on Monday, Minister of Forestry M. Prakosa said that
\nillegal logging was not at all to be blamed for the Bahorok
\ntragedy. It was \"purely a natural disaster\", caused entirely by
\nan abnormally high rainfall. To prove his point, the minister
\npointed out data that he and two other accompanying Cabinet
\nministers had obtained on a tour of the afflicted region,
\naccompanied by government surveyors and experts from Yogyakarta-
\nbased Gadjah Mada University.<\/p>\n
The landslide had occurred because the soil along the steep
\ngradient of the mountain could not hold under the continuous
\nheavy downpour, the minister said. Trees fell, were carried with
\nthe soil down to the river and formed a dam, which broke under
\nthe pressure of the water, causing the flash flood that washed
\naway Bukit Lawang resort.<\/p>\n
Up to a point, the minister's chronological explanation of the
\ndisaster seems reasonable -- until one begins to argue that heavy
\nrains are an annual phenomenon in the area, and surely the area
\naround the resort had seen such heavy rains many times before.
\nMany observers believe that illegal logging has not only
\nincreased, but has increased dramatically over the past five
\nyears or so. The trend, some say, has grown much worse than it
\nhad been during the Soeharto regime, which ended in 1998.<\/p>\n
Therefore, even if illegal logging cannot be held directly
\nresponsible for the Bahorok disaster, it can be suspected of
\nhaving contributed to the weakening of soil in the area. Perhaps
\nit is in acknowledgment of such suspicions that the minister
\nsoftened his denial and told legislators on Wednesday that his
\nfindings were only tentative, based on video footage taken a few
\ndays after the flood.<\/p>\n
In light of all this, it is only with partial relief that we
\nlearn that the government is considering to relocate the planned
\nLadia-Galaska highway. This highway, which was to cut through
\nGunung Leuser National Park, is meant to develop the local
\neconomy by linking Aceh's northwest coast with the southeast.
\nEnvironmentalists, however, fear that the road will only make it
\neasier for illegal loggers to profit from their criminal trade.<\/p>\n
The government would be wise to reconsider constructing the
\nLadia-Galaska highway at all and, finally, better management and
\ncontrol must be exerted over all national parks the country still
\nboasts at present. This goes especially for Gunung Leuser and the
\nKerinci National Park in West Sumatra, two of Indonesia's
\ngrandest nature reserves that are in danger of destruction.<\/p>\n
Indonesia is in real danger of losing its once lush tropical
\nforests. Serious efforts must be undertaken to stop illegal
\nlogging, at whatever cost.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/save-our-national-forests-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}