Kutai Park on the decline

BALIKPAPAN, East Kalimantan: A local forestry official blames illegal logging and nomadic farming on the degeneration of preserved areas at Kutai National Park.

Warsito, the head of the national park, told The Jakarta Post Friday that the park used to cover 200,000 hectares of nature preserves. The area has been reduced to 150,000 hectares, he said.

He said it was difficult to prevent local people from illegally felling trees or carrying out nomadic slash-and-burn farming activities as they did not fear the patrolling forest guards.

"Some of them even dared to use violence against our security forest rangers because they said they had the backing of some senior military officers," Warsito said.

Chief of the Bontang District Police, which oversees the Kutai National Park, Lt. Col. Suparni Parto, said the forest guards are now equipped with long-barrel rifles to deal with illegal loggers. (42/imn)