Miners blamed for park damage

BOGOR (JP): Some 255 hectare of the 30,000 hectare Gunung Halimun national park has been damaged allegedly by illegal mining activities, an official said on Thursday.

An official at the local branch of the Regional Environmental Impact Management Agency (Bapedalda), Eran Subarna, said the damaged areas were polluted with mercury, a substance used by miners to separate gold from other elements.

Forest rehabilitation and efforts to reduce the impact of mercury pollution on the damaged areas were underway, Eran said.

Of the total 255 hectare of damaged forest, Eran said, 26.34 hectares had been rejuvenated.

The agency, in cooperation with the management of the Gunung Halimun National Park, has planted some 22,870 trees in the destroyed areas, including pinus, mahogany, kaliandara, albasia, African wood and waru tree.

The Halimun national park, spanning across the regencies of Lebak, Bogor and Sukabumi, in Banten and West Java, is a crucial water catchment areas for at least 30 million people, including Jakartans. (21)