Police face tough challenges in fighting illegal logging

Antara/Pekanbaru

The weather was hot and the five passengers in the Riau Police helicopter were sweating profusely.

Headed by Riau Police chief Brig. Gen. S. Damanhuri their mission was to document the level of devastation caused by illegal logging, taking aerial photographs.

While the devastation was obvious, it was not until they had been flying for two hours that they saw piles of logs alongside the Gaung river. The timber derived from illegal logging was bound for Malaysia and Singapore through the Kuala Gaung River estuary in Indragiri Hilir, which directly borders the Strait of Malacca.

"Descend further. If possible circle over the area," Damanhuri instructed the pilot.

Because it was impossible to land nearby the pilot landed more than 20 kilometers away. The team then took a speedboat about two hours up the river.

As they neared the camp of the illegal loggers, fearing trouble, the chief decided he would need more backup to go inside. They left the area soon after, pledging to send a team later to investigate.

The Riau Save the Forest Working Network (Jikalahari), an environmental NGO, says Kuala Gaung is a well-known base for illegal logging in Riau. "The area is a main gateway for smuggling ramin wood to Malaysia and Singapore," Jikalahari coordinator Zulfahmi said.

Most of the logs had already been sawn in at least 74 mills dotted down the Gaung River.

The sawmills usually process the local red meranti, kempas, ramin, suntai and other timber.

The local red meranti is usually sold to Batam, Jambi and Jakarta. The suntai variety is generally sold to Jakarta, Batam, Malaysia and Singapore, while the ramin is sold to Malaysia and Singapore, and the kempas variety to Malaysia.

Prices range for meranti at Rp 120,000 to Rp 140,000 per cubic meter (m3), and ramin at Rp 170,000 to Rp 270,000 per cubic meter.

Each of the sawmills process about 30 cubic meters of ramin wood per week, turning out about nine to 10 tons of sawn timber in the three months between June and August last year, Jikalahari data says.

Processed ramin exported to Malaysia and Singapore came from the sawmills along Gaung river, Zulfahmi said.

In response to the Jikalahari information, Brig. Gen. Damanhuri asserted that his office would track down an Ali Jambi, a big-time illegal logging financier, based in the Gaung river.

The Riau office of the Indonesian Environmental Forum (Walhi), Jhoni Setiawan Mundung, expressed his support for the police, forestry office and the naval base in Dumai for their efforts to eradicate illegal logging.

He added another matter that needed improvement were the selective permits issued for processed timber and other forest products.

Forest destruction in the province reaches 160,000 hectares annually, with only one million hectares of thick natural cover remaining in Riau.

More than 2.8 million hectares of forested areas are now in a critical condition.