Illegal logging in national park

Illegal logging in national park

As American visitors we just completed our seventh extended
stay in Central Kalimantan to see the endangered orangutan in
Tanjung Puting National Park, my husband and I are saddened by
Indonesia's apparent total indifference to the welfare of its
forests and unique wildlife.

Although over the years we have observed the occasional
illegal logger sneaking his wares down river in the middle of the
night, we were appalled the other day to count more than 1,000
ramin logs being brazenly taken from the park in the middle of
one day. Apparently, this is done with the full cooperation of
local law enforcement, who chased us down to demand we give them
the film from our cameras. We did not comply.

What a shame that as Indonesians finally take a stand against
government corruption, an unrenewable national treasure is
virtually disappearing to greed and a system unwilling to enforce
the law. Perhaps as humans we do not deserve forests or
orangutans, but a barren planet unable to sustain life. We are
well on our way to creating one.

BARBARA JACK SHAW

Semarang