Logging persists in Palu's protected forest
Logging persists in Palu's protected forest
Illegal logging in the Lindu Lore National Park in Central
Sulawesi is continuing unchecked, threatening the future of the
protected 228,000 hectare-forest.
Park management office headn Bandjar Yulianto Laban said at
least 1,500 hectares of the forest, located in the Donggala and
Poso regencies, had been destroyed or damaged.
The destruction followed last year's occupation of the land by
more than 1,000 people from Dongidongi, Kadidia and Kamarora
villages in Palolo subdistrict, who had looted the forest, he
said.
Speaking to the press in the Central Sulawesi capital of Palu
on Thursday, Bandjar said the villagers had refused to leave the
forest on the grounds that they had no other place to live.
The occupation had even spread to other areas in the forest
with the villagers continuing to clear the forest, he said.
This happened despite "tight" patrols of the forest by
security guards to stop further occupations, Bandjar said.
Central Sulawesi Governor Aminuddin Panulele has ordered local
authorities to prevent more villagers from entering the forest.
Bandjar urged the provincial government to soon find land
outside the forest for the villagers before evicting them.
The governor had agreed to move the villagers, he said, adding
that a new location had not been decided on.
Bandjar also said his office was ready to welcome
environmental scientists to conduct research in the forest should
they outline their activities to members of the park's
partnership forum which included local community leaders.
Researchers must also obtain permits from the local
authorities, including from the heads of each subdistrict and
village, he added.
He said a survey was being done by the German-based Storma
University in cooperation with Tadulako University in Palu.
Edmon Leonardo, an activist from the Indonesian Forum for
Environment (Walhi) based in Central Sulawesi, agreed that
researchers must obtain permits before doing their activities,
saying if surveys did not contribute positively on the local
people, the requests should be turned down.