Mt. Merapi National park, important lesson for govt

Mt. Merapi National park, important lesson for govt

Bambang Muryanto, Contributor, Yogyakarta

The Ministry of Forestry learned a valuable lesson about the
importance of communication when it tried to establish the Mt
Merapi National Park.

Villagers rejected the park, which includes territory from
both the Central Java and Yogyakarta provinces. The community
also registered their displeasure with Minister of Forestry M.
Prakosa about not being involved in the park's establishment.

Concern that park would be off-limits

Locals were concerned the establishment of the park would make
Merapi an untouchable area that was closed to human activities
and would not take into account the community's long-established,
sociocultural relationship with the area.

People living on the slopes of the volcano have interacted
with Merapi for generations, either harvesting grass to feed
their livestock, selecting dry branches as firewood, or
cultivating food crops there.

A discussion on the establishment of a TNGM caused controversy
early on.

On Nov. 26 2001, Yogyakarta Governor Sultan Hamengkubuwono X
and Ministry of Forestry director general of forest protection
and natural conservation Wahyudi Wardojo agreed to establish the
TNGM as a conservation area.

Government officials from Yogyakarta and Central Java also
attended the meeting.

Lack of public information

In fact, it was not until almost a year later that the people
most affected by the change in status for the land would be told.

A public information program was carried out on the slopes of
Merapi in August and September 2002 by the Yogyakarta provincial
Forestry and Plantation Office.

At that time strong objections were aired by locals and
environmental activists. Some, however, were persuaded to change
their mind after they attended the program.

"We accepted the plan because were allowed to continue using
grass on the slopes of Merapi," Sadjiman, of Kaliadem village,
Kepuharjo, Sleman, said.

However, as not all locals attended the program, not everyone
concerned had the same information about the plan.

A housewife in Kinahrejo, Sleman, for example, said she knew
nothing about TNGM when she was asked about it. T. Maryoto, Head
of Ngargomulyo village in Dukun, Magelang, said his people had
never received any news about the matter.

Wignyo Suprapto of Umbulharjo, Sleman, meanwhile, said
although he had received an explanation about the plan he still
could not understand what TNGM was really all about.

Many people, therefore, reacted strongly when the Minister of
Forestry, in May this year issued Decree No 134/2004 on the
establishment of the 6,410-hectare park.

Locals rally against park

In July, they staged a rally involving thousands of people
from the four regencies of Sleman (Yogyakarta), Magelang, Klaten
and Boyolali (Central Java) in Deles, Klaten.

At the same time Walhi, a non-governmental organization on the
environment,
also accused the ministry of forestry of violating Article 5 (3)
of Law No 23/1997 on the management of the environment by not
involving the community in the establishment of the park.

The Ministry of Forestry, however, insisted the decree was in
line with legal procedures, but admitted the publicity could have
been better.

The irony is that many people who are against the
establishment of the TNGM agree that Merapi badly needs
conservation programs.

It is public knowledge that the forest is the main water
catchment area for the surrounding region. Its Umbul Wadon
spring, for example, is the main source of clean water for the
majority of Sleman's population. Its mountain slopes form the
upper reaches of some 27 rivers below.

Overexploitation in Merapi area

Yet, due to the overexploitation of the region, Merapi has
become endangered ecologically. A study on the potential of the
TNGM as a possible conservation area, carried out by the UGM
school of forestry, identified large-scale sand quarrying,
unsustainable tourism and unsuitable buildings as blights on the
landscape.

Of the whole area, only the southern slopes of the mountain in
the Yogyakarta province including the 1,283 hectares of Plawangan
Turgo nature reservation and tourist attraction, is still
considered to be in good condition and rich in biodiversity.

Yogyakarta Natural Resources Conservation Office (BKSDA)
reported in October 2001 that it was home to some 95 species of
plants -- 19 as-yet unidentified -- and some 96 species of birds,
including the endangered Java eagle (Spizaetus bartelsi).

Since objections to TNGM have been raised, people have
expressed concern that its establishment would only lead to a
mass eviction of the indigenous people from the protected area,
as has often been the case upon the establishment of national
parks around the globe.

BKSDA Yogyakarta head Kuspriyadi however has assured residents
no one would be evicted in order to create a TNGM, as it would be
established on state land. People, similarly, would still be
allowed to exploit grass on the slopes of Merapi, he said.

Community involvement

"We shall involve the community in deciding where the
(conservation) zones are later," said Kuspriyadi. The zones which
local people used for grass would be gazetted "traditional use".

Similarly, the zone in which people used to cultivate
land belonging to the state forestry company Perhutani I would be
included in the "rehabilitation" zone, where people would be
still allowed to continue agricultural activities but would be
required to plant large trees, including fruit trees, from which
they could harvest fruit.

Kuspriyadi also gave an assurance that national park status
was the most suitable of the five types of conservation
approaches as set out in Law No 5/1990 on natural resource
conservation and ecosystems.

The other options, which include a nature and wildlife
reserve, he said, focused more on conservation, while taman hutan
raya and taman wisata alam status took into account local culture
and usage.

"The national park concept accommodates both conservation and
sociocultural interests," Kuspriyadi said. By establishing Merapi
as a national park, management of the area would be under the
yet-to-be-established TNGM Office, and not under the three
different institutions -- BKSDA Yogyakarta, the Yogyakarta
provincial Forestry Office and Central Java's Perum Perhutani I.

Transtoto said the Ministry of Forestry was ready to
facilitate a social contract between the new park management and
the local community.

He referred to it as a "new model" of a national park.

Now it seems the toughest thing to do is to convince the local
community that establishing a TNGM will not marginalize them.

But as ministry of forestry officials admit, their task is
now more difficult because a thorough awareness campaign was not
carried out in the first place.