Kerinci Seblat Park: Conservation vs economic interest

Kerinci Seblat Park: Conservation vs economic interest

By Yusran Edo Fauzi

KERINCI SEBLAT, West Sumatra (JP): Conservation efforts at
Kerinci Seblat National Park are being thwarted. The park, which
straddles Jambi, West Sumatra, Bengkulu and South Sumatra
provinces, has become a stage where the interests of conservation
and economics clash.

With the support of provincial administration officials and
legislative councils, the community has taken the initiative to
act as the vanguard of economic interests.

Community members have often claimed in the local media that
they are "executing" or "facilitating" a now trendy bottom-up
model of development. Eventually they won the support of the
governors and regents.

The argument is that in line with Law No. 22/1999 on Regional
Autonomy, part of the conservation area within the park is
designated as a rural economy production zone. Regional
administration officials and the majority of legislative
councillors believe this policy will boost the region's revenues
as a whole.

"They have a low level of commitment to conservation," said
Wandojo Siswanto, ex-manager of the park and now a staffer in the
forestry ministry in Jakarta.

Wandojo said that during and before his three-year term of
office as park manager people living in the vicinity of the park
considered it to be their inheritance.

This belief is still held and locals believe they can exploit
the forest. They believe that whatever they plant is useful to
conservation efforts. They ignore warnings that they should stop
practicing nomadic farming. Any comments that slash-and-burn
farming techniques are damaging the environment are considered a
threat to scare them away.

"In meetings with the villagers, they always ask why it is
only the government that benefits from the national park. In
fact, we always remind them that clean water and clean air from
the park will ensure fertile land for agricultural and
unirrigated rice farming. This is the benefit in maintaining the
ecosystem of the national park," said Helen A. Cruz, an
international consultant in communications attached to the park's
conservation project.

Who are provocateurs?

The damage to the ecosystem usually begins with land clearing
for farming within the park. The villagers reason that this is ok
since they have been doing it for generations. They do this on
behalf of a tauke (financier) for money. A middlemen will later
buy the produce from these illegal farms.

"The tauke are not only traders but also police and military
officers, members of the regional legislative assembly and
regional administration officials," alleged Wandojo.

As a result, much of the forest that borders on villages has
been cleared for the planting of cinnamon, potatoes and chili. If
you ask the farmers what is the effect of this practice on a
sustainable ecosystem, they will invariably answer: "None of your
business."

They care about nothing but growing crops for survival. They
feel exasperated because even in this reform era they are still
poor.

Pak Entis of Pelompek village at the foot of Mount Tujuh,
Kerinci district, Jambi -- one of the villages on the border of
the national park -- is a case in point.

He claims he has no other means of living but tilling the land
in the forest. Besides, the prices set by the tauke are
prohibitive.

Harvest prices continue to slide. Cinnamon, which used to sell
for between Rp 10,000 and Rp 12,000 per kg, has plummeted to
between Rp 1,000 and Rp 1,200 per kg. Potatoes fetch between Rp
700 - Rp 1,000 per kg. Ordinary potato seedlings cost Rp 2,000 a
kg. Top quality ones from Medan are available at Rp 4,000 per kg.

Pak Entis is used to nomadic farming. The fact that the forest
where he tills the land is protected by law does not bother him.

"What I know is that Pak Surya (a forest ranger posted in the
village), who has been imprisoned several times, can clear land
for unirrigated farming in many places. He has asked me to take
care of his rice fields until harvest time. The harvest will be
sold to Pak Surya, because he has given me the capital," he said.

You can hear the same admissions from other villagers.

"What the villagers know is that these rice fields belong to a
tauke. We will feel safe and secure if the tauke is a member of
the security forces," he said.

Wandojo said that the behavior of some security officers gives
the impression that the park belongs to the government. The
villagers think that this behavior reflects government policy.

"Many provincial councillors have become tauke in this regard
and have encouraged farming in protected forests. To the
villagers, these regional legislators are the government," he
said.

Agustono, forest rangers coordinator assigned for Jambi
province, said, "If we give them a warning, they will react in an
emotional way."

The housing compound for visitors to Mount Tujuh forest was
once broken into and its furniture stolen.

"As a mater of fact we served them three warnings before
taking action. We have never been told to open fire. However, the
locals believe that if they meet us while they are farming, they
must fight back rather than being arrested or shot at," said
Agustono.

Pak Entis said: "It is true I have been served a warning. But
I said, please shoot me but not in the field. If you dare, shoot
or arrest me at home. Then the locals will be angry."

Pak Entis and others don't mind being arrested. They believe
that the government is behind them because they have been asked
to (farm illegally) by security officers.

Protracted Disaster

Unirrigated rice farming in a forest area damages the
environment.

Ani Mardiastuti, a forest conservation expert at IPB, said
that clearing a protected forest area means a protracted
disaster.

Land clearing this way firstly encourages the emergence of a
new settlement area, which later grows into housing estates and
mining operations that need large amounts of capital. A disrupted
or damaged ecosystem is the result.

Habitats of rare animals will be fragmented. Other animals
will suffer difficulty in adjusting to the new
environment. And there is always a threat posed by hunters.

Rural areas could suffer from drought, pests, reduced soil
fertility, economic collapse and social, economic and political
conflict.

The signs of this disaster are already present in villages
near the park. They have undergone drought and attacks by wild
boars in Bangko, Merangin district, Jambi. Other districts have
reported elephant attacks.

The root cause is the same -- clearing forest land has pushed
boars and elephants to find new habitats. As they are unused to
their new environment, they suffered stress, prompting them to
return to their original habitat, which man has damaged.

Only two options are left: venting their anger on man or
finding new food on villager's farms.