Village takes stand against logging<\/p>\n
Sebastien Blanc, Agence France-Presse\/Setulang<\/p>\n
The Borneo village of Setulang was offered US$300,000 by loggers
\nwho wanted to hack down their trees. The villagers considered the
\noffer, then in a rare stand against the illegal felling that has
\nlaid waste to Indonesia's jungles, they refused.<\/p>\n
It wasn't an easy choice for the 200 people of Setulang, who
\nlive nestled under a canopy of immense, valuable and sometimes
\nextremely rare trees.<\/p>\n
Many among the village's ethnic Kenyah Uma' Long farmers would
\nhave gladly taken the money to improve their basic quality of
\nlife. But the residents of Setulang are dependent on the forest
\nfor their existence.<\/p>\n
\"In our community, opinions were divided between those who
\nwanted to make a deal with the loggers and the others,\" says
\nRamses Iwan, a member of the village's council.<\/p>\n
\"But some of us have worked in Malaysia where trees have been
\ncut. They told us of the difficulties finding resources. We have
\nthought about our children and we have said no.\"<\/p>\n
Indonesia, third only to Brazil and Democratic Republic of
\nCongo in terms of forest cover, has been pillaged by \"timber
\nbarons\", merchants who bribe highly placed government officials
\nto ensure they can exploit forests with impunity.<\/p>\n
The dilemma faced by the people of Setulang is repeated almost
\ndaily across Southeast Asia, where an area of forest equivalent
\nto half the size of Switzerland is being lost annually in
\nIndonesia, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea.<\/p>\n
\"This is the typical modus operandi of the timber barons. And
\non the first approach, many villagers say 'yes',\" says Hapsoro, a
\nforest campaigner for Greenpeace in Southeast Asia who uses only
\none name.<\/p>\n
For many villagers the offer of cash is seized upon as it is
\nthe first tangible return they have seen from the government-
\nowned land on which they live, Hapsoro says.<\/p>\n
\"But after the forest is gone, they realize they have been
\ncheated. They do not have anything left to fulfill their needs,
\ntheir resources are gone and they are finished.\"<\/p>\n
Setulang's decision earned it a commendation at a summit in
\nKyoto, the Japanese city which in 1997 gave its name to a
\nprotocol to combat global warming.<\/p>\n
On the banks of the Malinau river, which once carried only
\ndugout canoes to Setulang, gaps in the greenery testify to the
\ndemolition in progress. The cacophony of wildlife is being
\nreplaced by the rumble of bulldozers, loading logs onto barges
\nbound for Malaysia, China and Vietnam.<\/p>\n
Experts say that most of lowland Borneo's trees will have
\nvanished in 20 years -- in the same way they will have
\ndisappeared from the Indonesian regions of Sulawesi and Papua.
\nDeforestation in Indonesia is often secret and illegal, abetted
\nby the confusion caused by a power decentralization in 2000 that
\nput many decisions over logging in the hands of easily-
\nmanipulated local officials.<\/p>\n
It is not only the people who suffer. The forests of
\nKalimantan -- the Indonesian part of Borneo where Setulang, 1,400
\nkilometers (870 miles) northeast of Jakarta, is located -- are
\nhome to unique animal and plant species.<\/p>\n
The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural
\nResources says that because of deforestation, there are now as
\nfew as 30,000 orangutans left in the wild, most of them in
\nKalimantan.<\/p>\n
Despite Setulang's stand, the unchecked felling of nearby
\nforest has taken its toll on the Kenyah Uma' Long, polluting the
\nrivers where they fish and destroying the habitat of the wild
\nboars that are their main source of meat.<\/p>\n
Without the trees, says Iwan, his people would struggle to
\nsurvive.<\/p>\n
\"The forest answers many of our needs, from wood for
\nconstruction, medicine to many types of fruit. It is like a
\nsafety net if we run out of rice.\"<\/p>\n
Not all the people of Setulang are able to resist, joining the
\nloggers to earn cash they hope will allow them to leave their
\ntraditional life behind.<\/p>\n
Unscrupulous forestry firms often take advantage of their
\nskill in handling tropical wood, paying them low wages to work as
\nfar afield as Brazil, Trinidad, Gabon and Guyana.<\/p>\n
In and around Setulang, experts from the Centre for
\nInternational Forestry Research avoid telling the Kenyah Uma'
\nLong not to cut down trees, but offer them advice on ways to
\nlimit the damage when felling.<\/p>\n
\"If their logging practices were a bit better, a lot of animal
\nspecies could be preserved.\" says David Kaimowitz, director
\ngeneral of the centre.<\/p>\n
Among their success stories is Lukas Sarun, a 35-year-old who
\nworked with exploitative logging gangs in Malaysia, using
\nhelicopters -- an expensive method but one which limits damage by
\nextracting valuable logs without having to clear the land around
\nthem.<\/p>\n
Sarun studied further with the centre on returning to Setulang
\nand is now a fierce advocate of environmental protection, wearing
\na T-shirt with the logo \"responsible logging\".<\/p>\n
But the villagers of Setulang remain in the minority says
\nGreenpeace's Hapsoro, as despite pledges from the president to
\ncombat logging and the arrest of officials, the government is not
\neducating forest communities.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/village-takes-stand-against-logging-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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