Illegal clearing takes mangrove reserve to brink of extinction
Illegal clearing takes mangrove reserve to brink of extinction
Text and photos by Apriadi Gunawan
LANGKAT, North Sumatra (JP): Mangroves are abundant in the
coastal area of Langkat, and one of the most famous mangrove
forests is in the subdistrict of Secanggang.
It is the forest wildlife reserve known as Karang Gading,
established in the Dutch colonial era. Located between Karang
Gading and Selotong villages, the reserve is protected and
managed by Langkat North-East II Resort of Nature Resources
Conservation (KSDA).
The reserve occupies 9,520 hectares of an estimated 35,000
hectares of coastal area in Langkat regency. Mangrove forests
take up about 70 percent of the reserve, while a pine-tree forest
occupies the remaining coastal area. The reserve is home to a
variety of mammals, reptiles and fish, and is rich with
shellfish, mangrove crabs, shrimp and fish. Animals predominantly
found here include monkeys, particularly black or gray long-
tailed monkeys, as well as boars, otters, monitor lizards,
snakes, white egrets, herons, hawks and seagulls.
However, the reserve is now on the brink of extinction.
Since 1960, businessmen posing as locals have vied with one
another to take control of the area. Illegal clearing of
mangroves to build shrimp ponds has increased steadily over the
past decade. Today an estimated 2,000 hectares of the reserve has
been turned into shrimp ponds managed either traditionally or
intensively.
According to field reports, most of these ponds are owned by
people hailing from Stabat, Binjai and Medan.
A visit by The Jakarta Post in late March to the area around
Slingkar island in Secanggang, which previously was covered in
mangroves, found barely any.
"The mangrove forest here has been turned into shrimp ponds,"
confirmed Ismail, a Secanggang resident.
Locals denuded the island's mangrove forest due to strong
demand for wood to make charcoal, he said. New settlers and
others have also flocked there to clear the mangrove forests and
build shrimp ponds.
Slingkar, an area of about 1,000 hectares, is now almost
completely bare, the once-beautiful mangroves ripped out to
create a vast expanse of shrimp ponds. Heavy machinery is usually
used to completely uproot the trees. As a result, marine
organisms that once lived beneath the roots of the mangroves have
died out. The dense mangrove forest that served as a fortress
against waves and high tides has gone.
Local residents have long complained about the mangroves'
destruction and the wider damage it will cause. Marine life in
Karang Gading reserve has already been reduced, and the local
people, most of whom are fishermen, now have to sail farther away
for their catch.
Sea water already frequently inundates the area, especially at
high tide. Fishermen fear that unless the environmental damage is
managed quickly, Secanggang will become like Tapak Kuda, which
was massively inundated by the sea some time ago.
Rembo, a local youth, said rising sea water flooded the market
area of Selotong village on at least one occasion.
Locals have tried to fight the complete disappearance of the
forest animal reserve to the businessmen. Jandri, who once worked
for KSDA, said the center warned people a number of times but to
no avail.
For example, a letter was sent to Secanggang officials
instructing that the reserve must not, under any circumstances,
be sold or managed in the interest of individuals or groups.
"A field inspection shows that in areas with SM 15 up to SM 19
boundaries, the protected forest area of this animal reserve has
been illegally cleared," Jandri said. This had violated Law No.
5/1990 and Government Regulation No. 28/1985.
It may be concluded, then, that certain government officials
are likely responsible for what could be the extinction of the
mangrove forest in Karang Gading Nature Reserve. Supporting this
conclusion is the claim by a shrimp-pond owner, Kim Hok, also
known as Junaidi, that he had no idea the land for his ponds,
covering a total of 34 hectares, was part of the reserve. "We
have an official transaction deed for these shrimp ponds from the
subdistrict head," he said.
Court action
A staff member of North Sumatra KSDA, L.M. Naibaho, confirmed
that illegal clearing of mangrove forests inside Karang Gading
reserve had occurred since 1960, starting with land cleared by
local rice farmers.
In the 1980s the reserve's sustainability came under threat as
shrimp ponds were established on a massive scale, with locals
selling their land to make way for extensive illegal clearing.
In 1995, large companies and wealthy individuals established
a number of oil-palm plantations in the reserve area, increasing
the damage. Naibaho said a 1999 inventory carried out by KSDA
North Sumatra I Medan showed that the total area of the reserve
damaged because of illegal clearing stood at 3,932 hectares.
A KSDA team who performed a field inspection on Feb. 14, 2001,
found that a further 650 hectares of the animal reserve area had
been cleared illegally. An area of some 150 hectares has been
turned into intensive shrimp ponds while the remaining 500
hectares was being cleared. Naibaho said that during this
inspection the team had detained Kim Hok, known as the chairman
of the intensive shrimp-pond owners.
KSDA I Medan identified 42 people involved in illegal clearing
at the reserve, Naibaho said. Some acted under the name of
limited liability companies or partnership firms. Some had been
taken to court, including Tengku Rahman, who was sentenced to
four months' jail with a probationary period of eight months.
Naibaho said the KSDA involved was unhappy that most action
against alleged illegal land clearers had been processed only up
to the police level, and gave the case of Kok Huang as an
example.
In mid-2000 the local KSDA allegedly caught him clearing land.
He was taken to the police, who reportedly later set him free.
Naibaho said very few of those involved in illegal clearing
had been brought to court. The outcome of many cases was unclear,
such as that of PT Eka Sindo, which was handled by the provincial
prosecutor's office of North Sumatra a year ago.
Naibaho said KSDA had teamed up with the Langkat regional
administration to erect boundary poles and notices prohibiting
forest clearing within the reserve. The prohibition was based on
Law No. 41/1999, with punishment of up to 15 years in jail or a
maximum fine of Rp 5 billion.
Activists from non-government environmental organizations, who
have protested against the tardiness of local officials in
stopping illegal clearing, welcomed the latest steps to safeguard
the reserve.
"We have visited the location of this animal reserve in
northeast Langkat and found it in dire condition because of
heartless illegal clearing," said Siti Nurbaya, director for
environmental affairs of ELPPAMAS Langkat. "Besides, as a result
of this massive illegal clearing, the sea water around the
residents' settlement has also been contaminated."