Research group finds further damage to Leuser

Research group finds further damage to Leuser

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan, North Sumatra

An independent forestry research group in Medan shared on
Saturday its findings that the development of a road connecting
Karo and Langkat regencies was environmentally damaging to Mount
Leuser National Park.

The Social Forestry Research Unit (SFRU) has found signs of
illegal logging along the 37 kilometer road, said SFRU chairman
Hery Joenaedial Azmy.

The road connects Kuta Rayat village, Karo regency, and
Telagah village, Langkat regency, and a section of it cuts
through the national park.

In a recent visit to the area, the group -- whose members
consist of agriculture students from North Sumatra University --
saw logs with a diameter of 40 to 50 centimeters strewn along
both shoulders of the Karo-Langkat road.

Newly cleared paddy fields also lined the road, which they
suspected were a result of illegal logging and would be used for
rotating rice cultivation.

Squatters typically poach trees and use a slash-and-burn
method to clear the deforested land, and sell both the illegal
logs and illegally cleared land.

"We suspect that illegal logging and rotating cultivation have
been going on for the past few years since the government built
the road, as indicated by the tell-tale signs of illegal logging
and rotating cultivation within the national park," said Hery.

He said the road was developed in 1986 by the government under
the ABRI Masuk Desa Program -- a community service program of the
Indonesian Armed Forces (ABRI, now the Indonesian Military, or
TNI).

Hery regretted the development of the road, as it had
encouraged illegal logging in the area.

"The government has to shut down the road. If it doesn't,
illegal logging in the national park will continue at a rapid
pace and in the end, ruin the park."

Bobby Nopandry of SFRU research and data said it was a
universal phenomenon that new roads would ensue in new real
estate development.

"It is certain that the same thing will happen on the Karo-
Langkat road... and expedite environmental damage in the national
park," he said.

A local forestry official claimed to have no knowledge of the
road.

"If the road has, in fact, been developed, it must be stopped
immediately, because it can cause environmental damage to the
national park," said Prie Supriyadi, head of the North Sumatra
Forestry Office.

He further said the road was illegal, as the Ministry of
Forestry had not approved its development.