Logging causes monkey business in Gunungkidul

Logging causes monkey business in Gunungkidul

Bambang M and Gigin W. Utomo, Contributors, Yogyakarta

The fierce sun beat down on Supardi as he cut down a tree to make
charcoal. As he worked, he talked about some of the difficulties
faced by local farmers.

"Farmers have to keep an eye on crops like corn and tubers,
otherwise the plants will be devoured by monkeys," said Supardi,
who lives in Giripurwo, Gunungkidul regency, about 57 kilometers
east of Yogyakarta.

Long-tailed monkeys, or Macaca fascicularis, have been the
main enemy of farmers in four subdistricts of Gunungkidul --
Paliyan, Saptosari, Panggang and Purwosari -- since 1997.

And after five years, this problem still has not been solved.
"Many farmers are hesitant about cultivating their fields because
of this pest," said Suvibri Purwanto, the village chief of
Giripurwo.

The monkeys also prey on crops in Yogyakarta's western regency
of Kulonprogo, but Gunungkidul is the worst affected area.

"The monkey population in Kulonprogo is small," said Nuryadi,
an official with the Yogyakarta Natural Resources Conservation
Agency (KSDA).

The monkeys come in the hundreds when they raid the farmers'
crops, devouring everything from corn and cassava to coconuts.
The problem is worse in the dry season when the monkeys' natural
food in the forest becomes scarce.

Farmers, usually accompanied by dogs, are forced to guard
their fields from the time they plant their crops through to
harvest time.

According to the chief of the Gunungkidul Forestry Office,
Dwinggo Nirwanto, the animals are overrunning farmers' crops
because of deforestation.

The monkeys are destroying crops in the Saptosari, Purwosari
and Panggang subdistricts because monkeys living along the
southern coast have lost most of their habitat to deforestation.

Apart from the land clearing, the monkeys are also disturbed
by the presence of more and more people along the coastal areas
catching lobsters. This presence forces the monkeys to move to
the quieter forests to the north, close to the farmers' fields.

Akhmad Dawam of Gunungkidul's forestry office says people
began to clear the forests in 1998. Now most of the forest along
the southern coast has disappeared.

"We are unable stop the land clearing. One day, our officers
patrolling the forest were threatened by 1,000 illegal loggers,"
Akhmad said.

Near the Paliyan subdistrict, the monkeys have been forced
onto farmers' fields because much of their home, the Sodong
Nature Reserve, has been turned into agricultural land.

"We have been cutting trees in the nature reserve since 2000
because many people were doing it ... no one was arrested," said
one farmer, Sudiman, who was guarding his field from monkeys near
the nature reserve.

Land clearing in nature reserves and national parks has gone
largely unchecked since the era of political reform began in
1998, accompanied as it was by a weakening of law enforcement.

With so many trees in the nature reserve gone, the monkeys
have been forced to live in the bushes along the edges of the
nearby rocky hills.

After five years, the farmers have grown tired of trying to
fend off the monkeys and are calling for the government to do
something about the problem.

"Do the peasants have to guard their fields for three months
straight?" asked Suvibri.

But local officials claim the responsibility lies with the
Yogyakarta provincial government.

The Yogyakarta plantation and forestry office has initiated
reforestation efforts, but, alas, the young trees were also
devoured by the hungry monkeys.

To lower the monkeys population, KSDA has provided farmers
with monkey traps. But Nuryadi acknowledged that this method has
largely been ineffective because the monkeys seem to be too smart
for the traps.

And critics say that trapping the monkeys violates a 1999 law
on conservation. Plus, they point out that the monkeys are
necessary to spread plants and vegetation.

"We have contacted some businesspeople in Jakarta who might be
interested in exporting the monkeys," said Nuryadi. "But no one
has responded to the offer."

Both the government and the farmers are undecided about what
to do with the wild beasts.