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.