East Kalimantan Provincial Government and IKN Authority Synergise to Restore Bukit Soeharto Area

Penajam Paser Utara (ANTARA) - The East Kalimantan Provincial Government (Pemprov Kaltim) and the Nusantara Capital City Authority (OIKund) are working in synergy to regulate and restore the conservation functions of the Bukit Soeharto Forest Park (Tahura) through a humanist and educational approach.

The Vice Governor of East Kalimantan, Seno Aji, emphasised that Bukit Soeharto Forest Park is a conservation area and the “lungs of Kalimantan,” the sustainability of which must be jointly maintained to correctly restore the forest’s function.

“This is a shared vision. Bukit Soeharto Forest Park is the lungs of Kalimantan that we must protect together. We must restore the function of this Forest Park properly,” said Seno Aji while attending the Coordination Meeting for the Follow-up of the Bukit Tengkorak Conservation Area Regulation at the OIKN Office on Thursday.

Seno explained that the presence of communities within the Forest Park area is inseparable from the historical changes in the forest’s total area.

According to historical records, the area of the Forest Park was originally set at approximately 27,000 hectares in 1980, then changed to 64,000 hectares in 1987, shrank to 61,000 hectares in 1991, before finally being re-established at around 64,000 hectares.

“This is what we must understand: why there are communities within the Forest Park area. This may not only be occurring in Bukit Tengkorak but also in other locations,” he said.

Therefore, the Vice Governor hopes that this regulation process will be accompanied by proper education, as many community members likely do not know the legal status of the area where they reside.

He acknowledged that aligning the legal status of dozens of villages that have already been established within the Forest Park area is not an easy task.

However, the East Kalimantan Provincial Government stated its readiness to cooperate fully with the OIKN and law enforcement agencies to resolve the issue.

Basuki explained that approximately 50 per cent of the IKN area will be maintained as green open space (RTH). Consequently, the rescue of the Forest Park is a shared interest and not solely the responsibility of the OIKN.

“It is not only within the authority of the OIKN. There is approximately 34 per cent of the Forest Park area that needs to be saved,” said Basuki.

Previously, a joint team from the OIKN had conducted enforcement operations in the Bukit Soeharto Forest Park conservation area, specifically in the Bukit Tengkorak region.

According to OIKN data, at least 225 new huts were found to have been built illegally in the area, accompanied by unauthorised forest clearing activities.