Conservation a gruesome affair

Jim Jarvie, Ecologist, Jakarta

Autopsies have just been completed confirming that two guards whose bodies were found in the Kampar River in Riau recently were murdered. Others remain hospitalized. None of the mob, shooters or their backers, although identified and reported to police, has been arrested. The office of the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) in the capital, Pekanbaru, accused by a legislator of stirring up the trouble leading to this no longer needs police protection, yet the atmosphere is still tense. This was all to do with stopping traffic in illegal wood and enforcing the law. Yet those supporting law are the victims. The murders and beatings are unpunished and the entire incident has barely been reported. What went wrong?

Until 20 years ago Riau had the last great expanses of lowland dry and swamp forests in Sumatra. In 1983, 75 percent of the province was under forest cover. Today this is reduced to 40 percent with much of the remaining forests under increasing pressure. Uncontrolled logging, conversion to Acacia plantation to feed the huge APRIL and Indah Kiat pulp mills, and by others to oil palm, have been responsible for decimating natural forest. Soil and water quality have been seriously degraded. Local communities have rarely benefited. Large animals like tiger and elephant have little space left to range, increasing conflict between them and humans, usually to the detriment of the animals.

As the forests of Riau have dwindled, the fight to exploit remaining patches is intensifying. Now there is only one remaining large stand of dry forest, Tesso Nilo. Its 150,000 hectares provide the last large landscape for elephants in the province and its importance has led to much media coverage.

APRIL and others had plans to log and convert much of this habitat, but working with WWF and other non government organizations (NGOs), the opportunity arose to change business practices, leave natural forest and plant Acacia elsewhere. At last, an alliance of the private sector with the government and NGOs was working to benefit conservation, a rarity in Indonesia today.

Following APRIL's bold decision to improve its field practices and image, a decision was taken to temporarily close a ferry for repairs. Vehicles travel this ferry to the mill over the Kampar River. Security was established to control and prepare for the ferry reopening to ensure that no truck with illegal timber would pass. Yet during construction a local councilor called for any truck to be allowed access to the ferry, no matter what it carried. This was to be refused.

On Sept. 29, shortly before the ferry was to re-open, six Rangers were looking after the guard post construction site. That day a mob tried to dislodge the ferry prematurely from its dry dock and failed. Upset, between 30 and 50 gathered, attacked the Rangers and set fire to their post. Overwhelmed, the guards withdrew and word was sent for backup.

It was reported that one of them, Hendra Vicar was missing. His body was later found beaten to death and floating in the river. Later, another of the rangers, Markus Johannes, stood his ground by the water while ensuring the safe withdrawal of his men. He was attacked, killed and later thrown into the river. When his colleagues tried to retrieve his body into a boat, shots rang out from the bank from both a rifle and handgun. His body was left.

A member of the Riau council was quick to lay the blame for this incident at the door of WWF, saying their pressure to stop illegal logging had closed a major transport route for local communities, whose rage had led to the killings and beatings. The WWF office in Pekanbaru was closed and police provided protection.

Police are conducting investigations and the names of four murder suspects have been provided to them. Yet as is increasingly usual, the backers appear untouchable.

What can be learned from this? First of all, some badly needed good news. Private sector companies with poor histories in natural resource exploitation can make positive improvements and work with NGOs in ways that benefit conservation and profit. Then the bad news -- poor governance and the use of terror can easily stymie reforms, and can kill and maim, while remaining safe from prosecution and punishment. And finally, those trying to encourage good corporate behavior are blamed for negative outcomes. Indeed, some in the Riau legislative council seem to prefer the status quo that benefits short-term profits while committing remaining forests to destruction, and with them the communities and diversity they nurture.

The ramifications make the prospects for conservation in Riau darker, particularly for Tesso Nilo. Yet given the unusual cooperation between a pulp and paper giant and NGOs, there has arisen a strong role for one more set of actors to become involved, making it clear to industry and government that they do not want the blood of forest guards or the destruction of forests on their hands; consumers.

In Indonesia and beyond in Asia, the paper mills of APRIL and Indah Kiat dominate the photocopy and other paper markets. The chances are high that any paper you slip into the printer today will come from Riau. Think about that. Write to the companies and write to the provincial and district governments of Riau. Make it clear to all of them that you want to read and write with a clean conscience.

Dr. Jim Jarvie has worked with conservation, forestry and pulp and paper sectors in Indonesia.