Chainsaws imperil the lovely Soraya
Chainsaws imperil the lovely Soraya
BANDA ACEH, Aceh (JP): To meet the beautiful Soraya, we had to
travel 1,000 kilometers, going along the northern coasts down to
Medan where a four-wheeler took us to Brastagi, Bukit Barisan and
Simpangkiri in southern Aceh.
We continued by speedboat up the Alas River, before walking
upstream and trekking up and down hills and valleys.
Finally, we arrived for our date with Soraya.
Actually "shorea" but mispronounced by an American researcher
to sound like the women's name, it is a 500-hectare forest area
which has become one of Leuser Development Project's centers for
research, monitoring and documentation activities.
Shorea is locally known as meranti, a highly valuable wood for
furniture.
The project has another two centers in Ketambe, southeast
Aceh, and Suaq Balimbing, south Aceh.
Nature lovers will revel in the forest journey to Soraya,
which is largely virgin jungle. Waterfalls, birds, primates,
tigers, deer, butterflies, elephants -- all exist without human
disturbance.
Living in the station are a dozen personnel from both
Indonesia and abroad who consist of field managers, assistants,
researchers, mechanics and cooks. They work at the station for 23
days a month, "descending" to town in Aceh or North Sumatra
during their week off.
Syawaluddin, one of the local staff members at the station,
said more than 100 people had visited the center to conduct
research or tour the forest since it was set up three years ago.
The unique aspect of research assistants is that they have no
formal educational background but still play a key role in the
success of a project. Learning by doing, they have high expertise
and researchers rely on them for field data collection.
They are specialized. Marlan, 33, is a specialist in the
Thomas leaf monkey (presbytis thomasi), Bahlias Putra Gayo, 36,
in the orangutan, Idrusman, 45, in vegetation, and Jalalludin,
35, in tracing animals' trails.
It is thanks to their expertise that many researchers obtain
their academic degrees in their respective universities. Many
have suggested the assistants also deserve such degrees.
Research assistants will patiently explain in great detail
what they know about anything in the jungle, from tiger paw
prints and monkeys' behavior, to bird species.
They are friends with the wild animals. They dread most the
noise of chainsaws breaking the quietness day in and day out in
their research areas.
"It sounds like a death knell for the jungle and its
inhabitants -- or that death is approaching," an assistant said.
The continuing logging, both legally and otherwise, has cast
doubt on whether the multimillion dollar conservation project
will bring any significant results. (Wiratmadinata)