Merapi national park plan sparks anxiety

Merapi national park plan sparks anxiety

Ridlo Aryanto, Contributor, Yogyakarta

It has been an unusual sight in the houses of the residents of
Turgo hamlet, Cangkringan district, Sleman regency, Yogyakarta.
Since mid August, residents owning cattle -- either cows or goats
-- have been storing twice as much grass in their houses as
normal.

House wives have also kept a stock of firewood. They have
collected more dry twigs than usual from the Turgo and Plawangan
protected forests. What has caused a change in their regular
activities?

"Just for stock, in case a decision is finally made to make
our hamlet part of the Merapi National Park. With the stock in
our houses, we can easily feed our cattle. We've been told that
we will not be able to collect grass or firewood from the forest
at the edge of our hamlet if the area is declared a national
park," said Sriyono, 54, a Turgo villager.

"There will be a special regulation. We have also heard that
if the area is made a national park, we will all be required to
leave our hamlet and move elsewhere. Obviously, we will refuse
because my parents and I were born and bred here. Why should we
abandon our ancestral land?"

Sriyono's anxiety is shared by other villagers in Turgo and
the surrounding hamlets. The people of Cangkringan district are
also worried.

In mid August, Sutarto, chairman of a team in charge of
promoting the government's plan came up with a shocking piece of
news for the villagers at the Cangkringan town hall.

"We will not wait until everybody gives their approval. We
won't collect signatures to show approval. The decision was made
late last year. The Mount Merapi National Park project will
proceed and it will be inaugurated in October this year," Sutarto
said.

Legally speaking, Sutarto may be correct. The Mount Merapi
National Park brings together the legal status of various nature
conservation areas. The national park area, which encompasses a
total of 8,702 hectares, is located in two provinces, which
administratively serve as boundaries of Mount Merapi, Yogyakarta
and Central Java.

Some 7,000 hectares comprise state forested areas located in
Boyolali, Klaten and Salatiga (Central Java) while the remaining
area is located in Sleman regency, Yogyakarta.

Meanwhile, Kuspriyadi Sulistyo, head of the Yogyakarta Natural
Resources Conservation Center, said that since 1975 part of the
area at the foot and on the slopes of Mount Merapi has been
earmarked by the government as the Plawangan Turgo conservation
forest measuring a total of 186 hectares, and another 141
hectares has been declared the Turgo Plawangan Nature-Related
Tourism Park.

"This is with a view to promote the function of forested areas
in the Merapi area for the regional administrations in Central
Java and Yogyakarta and maintaining the conservation of the area.
The central government has decided to expand the area by
combining the two forested areas as one national park," said
Kuspriayadi.

Sutarto, also head of the Yogyakarta Forestry and Estate
Services, explained why Merapi has been designated a national
park.

First, the area's fertile land must be protected. Second, the
rich biodiversity must also be protected, such as tricolored
orchids (Vanda tricoloor) and Javanese eagles (Spizatus
bartelzi). Third, the presence of Mount Merapi as a source of
development of various kinds of sciences, he said.

"The government acknowledges that Merapi is the 'soul' of
culture with an assortment of traditions developing around the
volcano. Therefore, it would defy logic for us to send people
away from there. We really need their participation in taking
care and keeping watch over the national park. Some will be
employed as forest rangers," said Sutarto.

The problem is whether the locals will believe Sutarto.

"How can we be sure that our people will get new jobs? When
they determined the zoning of the national park, they did not
involve us in discussing this matter. So, we may not have a
chance to be forest rangers. Then we may no longer collect grass
and dry twigs in the forest that, for us, is a legacy from our
parents. There is clearly an intention to gradually marginalize
us," said Sriyono.

Given the complex development, Fajar Irawan of the Indonesian
Forum for the Environment (Walhi) of Yogyakarta has suggested a
way out.

"The Ministry of Forestry actually need not insist that the
national park be inaugurated in October. Before the management
planning of this project has been clearly explained to the
residents and the idea of the national park promoted among the
villagers, the project should be postponed. Otherwise, there will
always be resistance on the part of the community because in the
drawing up of the policy on the national park, the role and the
position of the community were simply neglected," said Fajar.

Now, the regional administration and the forestry ministry has
only two options: to proceed or to take a step back in order to
move forward with the wide support of the community.