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.