Residents demand national park

MEDAN, North Sumatra: People from Mandailing Natal regency demanded late on Friday the North Sumatra provincial administra tion turn Batang Gadis forest into a national park, an official has said.

Listya Kusumawardhani, head of the Ministry of Forestry's Directorate of Nature Conservation, said that the request had been conveyed by Mandailing people to the provincial administration and the central government during a meeting recently held at Kerinci Seblat national park, Jambi province.

Should the government approve the proposal, Batang Gadis would become a protected area under forestry law. It means that irresponsible people plundering natural resources there, including trees, would be punished. Batang Gadis forest covers an area of 108,000 hectares.

Listya praised the proposal, saying that it was evidence that people's awareness of environmental issues was on the rise. -- Antara