`Jungle People' at mercy of chain saws
`Jungle People' at mercy of chain saws
The devastation of the Bukit Tigapuluh National Park's buffer
zone has not only destroyed the traditions of the Talang Mamak
tribespeople in Riau, but has also adversely affected the orang
rimba, or "jungle people", living in the southern part of the
park, in Jambi.
The southern buffer zone of the Bukit Tigapuluh National Park
(TNBT) forms a relatively undivided expanse of production
forests, which is a very good safeguard for the TNBT.
Rudi Syaff, director of the park's information station, told
The Jakarta Post that most of the jungle inhabitants (also called
the Kubu tribe) occupied PT IFA's concession area in the
Gelumpang Besar River catchment area, the upstream area of Batang
Sumay and a concession area belonging to PT Dalek Hutani Esa.
These forest people, though they move about with freedom and
gather non-wood forest products in concession areas, sometimes
even in the TNBT, have at times come into conflict with other
parties. Living below the poverty line as nomadic farmers, they
are very much dependent on non-wood products as the main source
of family income.
In several locations, the products they gather have been
further reduced in quantity, notably jernang, a gum from resin
trees that have been considerably damaged by logging.
The high price of this product, reaching Rp 200,000 (about
US$24) per kilogram, has prompted forest dwellers to search for
it upstream of Batang Sumay, where the trees are more adequately
available.
The process of land clearance, however, has made it
increasingly difficult for the jungle dwellers to find sources of
income.
"Rampant illegal logging in the IFA area and the opening of
farm land by local communities reduces forest potential, while
concessionaires pay less heed to the health of the forest," said
Rudi.
He also pointed to the planned development of oil palm estates
by PT Pelangi Sentra Nusa in southern villages of TNBT. With
licensing still underway, tree felling has begun for the
plantations. The forestry ministry has allocated the area to the
villages of Semambu, Muara Sekalo and Suo-suo for farming.
The threat to the forests is even directed at TNBT as a
conservation zone. It is feared that the corridor through the
national park used by PT Dalek Hutani Esa to transport timber to
Riau, will make it easier for illegal loggers to operate in TNBT.
"We are seeing more overt cases of logs were taken out of the
park," Rudi said.
He said Jambi's forest dwellers relied on natural resources,
so it would be a disaster to cut off their links with the forest
all at once, because "they cannot really enjoy the effects of
development programs unless their access to forest potential is
guaranteed".
Caught between various interests along the Trans-Sumatra
central highway, the forest dwellers are facing the loss of the
trees on which they rely for their livelihood.
Apart from depending on the forests, the residents of the
jungle living in the southern area of the park have also planted
various fruit trees to support claims to private ownership.
"But they have found it hard to make the fruit trees serve as
evidence of land ownership. Now all the trees are gradually
disappearing," Rudi said.
To make matters worse, most of these people have not received
a formal education. By moving from one place to another around
the southern areas of TNBT, they have become isolated. The Jambi
administration has built elementary schools for them, but the
buildings were eventually abandoned.
What is now to be resolved is how to assign teachers who can
follow the nomadic people, which according to Rudi is complicated
but the only choice, in view of the forest dwellers long
established customs.
Therefore, his station is initiating a program to recruit
teachers prepared to follow the nomadic people.
"By relying on government programs, we are afraid the forest
people will never get schooling. We have assigned some tutors to
live with them," Rudi said.
-- Haidir Anwar Tanjung