Mt Betung National Park on brink of destruction

Oyos Saroso H.N., The Jakarta Post, Bandarlampung

The Wan Abdurrahman forest preservation area in Mount Betung National Park, South Lampung, is in a sorry state, with 76 percent or 17,000 hectares of the 22,249-ha forest destroyed by illegal logging and land clearing, an environmentalist says.

Meanwhile, the local forest authority said it would take until 2007 to expel all the illegal businesses still operating in the area, many of which were "difficult" to take action against because they were backed by big business.

The destruction had caused Bandarlampung residents to face water shortages in the dry season and floods in the rainy season, Lampung Indonesian Environmental Forum (Walhi) executive director Mukri Friatna said.

The forest, where large hardwood meranti, merbau and sengon trees once grew, has become wasteland and residents have turned it into patchouli, cacao and coffee plantations.

Businessmen had manipulated logging concessions in the area and illegal logging had stripped away most of the trees, Mukri said.

Walhi data shows that illegal logging was a long-term problem, which increased during the Reformasi era beginning in 1998. About 12,000 illegal loggers and land-clearers were estimated to have been involved in the recent destruction of the Mt Betung forest, data released in August last year showed. Some of them had even built houses in the forest, and others had established large plantations.

The group says it views the extent of the destruction as serious, and has called for the authorities to deal with the issue firmly.

The worst destruction was located on the slopes of the mountain in the Wiyono area, Mukri said.

The area had been damaged since the early stages of Reformasi, the destruction aggravated by the presence of charcoal and granite industries and plant oil distilleries.

"It's somewhat strange that forestry officers have not 'noticed' the illegal activities since their guard posts are located near the locations," Mukri said.

Residents had felled trees to burn to produce charcoal and Walhi had previously suggested to the provincial administration to restrict hikers and residents from coming into the area.

"We hope security personnel will not only arrest those caught red-handed, but also those who back them," Mukri said.

When asked by The Jakarta Post, a worker at a patchouli oil distillery said that there were 10 such facilities in the forest owned by people from outside South Lampung.

Lampung Forestry Office head Arinal Djunaidi said he did not think his office had been biased or negligent when handling issues of forest protection. He promised to slap sanctions on all illegal operations by closing down all plantations and oil distilleries operating without permits.

Djunaidi admitted that all of the distilleries, most of which had been established during the past year, were illegal because they did have permits from the forestry office to operate inside the forest.

He acknowledged that his office had faced "difficulties" in stopping people involved in land-clearing activities because they were backed by big businessmen.

The waste from the patchaoli oil distilleries, which are located on 70 to 90 degree gradients in the forest reserve, was likely to have a serious impact on the environment, Wahli said.

"Due to our limited funds, we can only target 2007 for all land clearers to leave the Mount Betung forest preservation," said Djunaidi.

Although they would be eventually made to leave the forest, they would still be allowed to go into it to manage and protect the area and would be issued identity cards, he said.

Meanwhile, head of the Wan Abdurrahman Forest Reserve, Guntur Harianto, acknowledged that illegal logging still prevailed in Mt Betung.

He said his office had faced problems stopping illegal logging because it had only 16 forest rangers over more than 22,000 ha.

The Wan Abdurrahman Forest Reservation encompasses seven districts, 36 villages and 67 hamlets. The area is divided in two zones, comprising of 11,099 ha. designated a "beneficial zone" and 11,150 ha. as a protected zone.

Based on 2002 satellite images, the condition of Register 19, which is known as a catchment area for Bandarlampung city and South Lampung regency, was of much concern.

Destruction had reached 72 percent, or 17,049 ha. Around 82 percent of the area had been deforested and turned into wasteland, rice plantations, grasslands and residential areas.

There were 2,063 huts or houses, and 403 of them had been torn down as of July 2004.

In an order to prevent forest destruction, the Lampung Forestry Office expelled 400 families from the preservation area last year.

There were 2,300 huts and other structures in the 22,249.31 ha. forest. There are still 5,000 families in the area now.