Nusakambangan forests on the brink of destruction

Nusakambangan forests on the brink of destruction

Agus Maryono and Amin A. Abdurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Cilacap, Central Java

Most people might know Nusakambangan as a prison island with its maximum security lock-up for hundreds of hardened, dangerous criminals like former president Soeharto's son Tommy Soeharto. But only a few may be aware that the island has some rich low- land forests which are home to many kinds of species, including protected ones.

There are at least four conservation areas with more than 535 kinds of plants on the island measuring 17,000 hectares. It is situated south of the town of Cilacap in on the main island of Java.

Many of the flora and fauna are protected, such as a native plant called pelalar (dipterocarpus littoralis) which can only be found on the island. There also rare plants like bunga wijayakusuma (pisonia grandis) and bunga bangkai (raflesia padma), a giant plant with flower that oozes putrid odor when it blooms.

However, the rich forests are disappearing as the island is facing a serious threat from unscrupulous illegal loggers.

The Yogyakarta-based Silvagama Foundation of Nature Lovers, which has done intensive research on the island since 1999 predicted that if the illegal logging was not halted, by 2010 Nusakambangan island would be completely denuded.

Thousands of people living on the island's coastal areas will face water crises following the destruction of the forests.

Silvagama recorded that since 1999, nearly 13,000 trees were chopped down annually by illegal loggers.

"The environmental impact is very serious. One of the most serious impacts is that some 14,000 people living in Kampung Laut in a coastal area of Nusakambangan will suffer due to the lack of clean water sources. Even today, they have started to experience a problem as it is difficult to get clean water because a part much of the forests have been destroyed," Timer Manurung, chairman of the foundation, told The Jakarta Post here recently.

Timer lamented the fact that the local administration did not care enough to do anything to stop illegal logging. He said that the loggers use not only traditional tools like axes, but also large chain saws.

"What's more, is that they also chop down trees that are located in the conservation area," he said.

He said that due to the illegal logging that started in 1999, around 50,000 trees in Nusakambangan had been cut down. Now there are only around 80,000 trees that remain.

"The illegal loggers are people who live outside Kampung Laut. If there are local residents who are involved in the activities, the number is very small," Timer said.

He said he witnessed the illegal logging activities conducted by people from other areas who came in groups.

"Some were from Wonosobo and from Purbalingga (both in Central Java) but some from Ciamis (West Java)," he said.

He said that a group of illegal loggers usually consisted of at least 30 people, who would later transport the timber from the island to another place. Timer suspects that this illegal behavior goes on without a hitch because the loggers are backed by corrupt state officials, most likely the prison officers.

"We talked to the loggers. They said that they had secured a permit, which they obtained after paying a sum of money," Timer said.

Timer said that the rampant practice of illegal logging was possible because it was not clear who has the right to manage Nusakambangan island.

Both the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights and the Cilacap administration claim the right to manage the island.

Based on the law on regional autonomy, the Cilacap regency issued two bylaws, No. 6 and No. 23, in 2000, stipulating that Nusakambangan is part of the Segara Anakan region that is under the jurisdiction of the regency.

The Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, however, argued that Nusakambangan is under its authority, as stated by Minister Yusril Ihza Mahendra in his visit to Cilacap last year.

Due to the dispute, there is a lack of coordination in the management of the island and the control over the island is ineffective, at best. As a result, Nusakambangan now has open access and anyone can enter the island.

"Certain officials are making use of this unclear status to destroy the forests in Nusakambangan without taking into consideration the fate of people who are threatened by a loss of clean water," said Timer.