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.