WWF wants Kalimantan reserve protected<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is urging
\nthe government to designate 400,000 hectares of pristine lowland
\ntropical forest in East Kalimantan as a conservation area.<\/p>\n
The tract is located in Bulungan regency on the northeastern
\ntip of the province, about 500 kilometers north of the capital
\nSamarinda. The WWF believes the biodiversity-rich area could
\nbecome \"one of the most important reserves in Asia, on par with
\nGunung Leuser in Sumatra, and Lorentz in Irian Jaya\".<\/p>\n
\"It is very urgent for the gazettment of the reserve right
\nnow,\" WWF ecologist Frank Momberg told The Jakarta Post here
\nMonday after announcing the proposal. Also present were WWF
\nIndonesia Executive Director Agus Purnomo and British ecologist
\nPaul Jepson.<\/p>\n
The WWF team said it had discussed the proposal with the
\nMinister of Forestry and Plantations Muslimin Nasution, who is in
\ncharge of natural conservation in the country, and termed the
\nlatter's response \"very positive\".<\/p>\n
\"The minister agreed to establish the new Sebuku-Sembakung
\nConservation Area in East Kalimantan, Bulungan (regency), and
\nasked the Dirjen PHPA (Director General for Forest Protection and
\nNature Conservation) to prepare the proposal,\" according to
\nminutes of the meeting between the team and Muslimin last week.<\/p>\n
The WWF made the minutes available to the media.<\/p>\n
Momberg also said the WWF was \"very optimistic\" because
\nMuslimin gave his commitment \"to stop all forest conversion\"
\nwithin the proposed reserve.<\/p>\n
Several companies linked to former president Soeharto had
\napplied for permits to exploit the areas.<\/p>\n
\"He (Muslimin) wants to issue a ministerial decree for the
\narea as a conservation area, possibly as a national park or a
\nwildlife reserve,\" said Momberg, a project executive for
\nBioregional Planning and Integrated Park Management.<\/p>\n
Environmentalists have warned that little primary lowland
\nforest in Kalimantan remains in good condition, especially after
\nmore than three million hectares were destroyed in forest fires
\nearlier this year.<\/p>\n
Momberg argued that industrial plantation firms should limit
\ntheir activities to burned areas and leave pristine land alone.<\/p>\n
\"There is no justification for converting healthy natural
\nforest to oil palm and industrial plantations when there's so
\nmuch fire-damaged forest land and nonforest land now available
\nfor this purpose.\"<\/p>\n
The WWF also noted that a few Dayak tribespeople and elephants
\nlive in the proposed conservation area.<\/p>\n
\"(Elephant) footprints and dung were observed in July along a
\ntributary of the Sebuku River in Bulungan regency. A population
\nof 5,000 elephants survives in the Malaysian state of Sabah, but
\nprior to these observations biologists were unsure whether this
\npopulation extended into Indonesian Borneo,\" the WWF said in its
\nmedia release.<\/p>\n
It said international conservation strategies had identified
\nthe Sebuku and Sembakung watersheds as critical areas for the
\nsurvival of Borneo's rich flora and fauna.<\/p>\n
A WWF team comprised of Momberg and Jepson also confirmed the
\npresence of other endangered wildlife in the area, including the
\nox called banteng (Bos Javanicus), orangutan (Pongo Pygmaeus) and
\nproboscis monkey, known locally as Kera Bekantan. (aan)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/wwf-wants-kalimantan-reserve-protected-1447893297",
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