Save Lake Toba

Save Lake Toba

From Merdeka

Bonapasogit Communication Forum in Jakarta urges the
government and appeals to all parties concerned to give serious
attention to the condition of Lake Toba in North Sumatra.

Of late, the lake's condition has gone from bad to worse. The
destruction of the forest through felling of trees in the entire
hilly area around Lake Toba, also on Samosir Island, has
destroyed its function as a water catchment area.

According to observations made by the forum and clarification
by local inhabitants half a month ago, there has been an
increasing decline in the water level in the past 15 years,
plunging by about four meters.

Conditions will worsen for inhabitants and the ecosystem is
the problem is not immediately addressed.

Led by M. Tampubolon, the six-member team observed that
Samosir, formerly known for its produce like onions, peanuts and
livestock of cows and buffaloes, is no longer an island because
it has become one with the mainland of Sumatra at the foot of
Mount Pasuk Buhit.

And the canal Tano Ponggol, built in Dutch colonial times and
separating Samosir and Pengurusan subdistrict on the mainland, no
longer functions because it is overgrown with trees and
underbrush.

Bonapasogit Communication Forum

Jakarta