South Sulawesi national park threatened by illegal settlers

By Zainuddin Bakulu

KENDARI, Southeast Sulawesi (Antara): Forestry authorities in Southeast Sulawesi are struggling to cope with the problem of intruders encroaching into the Rawa Aopa Watumohai National Park in protest at not being resettled elsewhere.

About 300 families have made their way into the park and established settlements there after the regent reneged on a promise to enroll them in the government's transmigration program.

For the last year, forests and other essential areas of the national park have been abused by the squatters, who have cleared swathes of forest to grow vegetables and obtain logs in order to support themselves.

This activity has obviously disrupted the balance of the ecosystem of the 105,194-hectare park.

Herds of deer (Cervus unicolor brookei) used to roam the park, and it was easy to see them even close to roads. Now, sighting a single deer is considered a rarity. As a result, the watchtower erected for the benefit of tourists has become redundant. Not only because the deer are now rarely seen, but because the picturesque thick line of trees that use to line the side of the main road is now but a memory. The trees have been cut down by illegal settlers and replaced by vegetable plots.

The government initially made the national park a conservation area through a Ministry of Forestry decree in 1990.

It has 323 types of flora, including two species which are protected: the resin tree (Agathis homii) and black oak tree (Dyospyros malabarica). The national park is also a habitat for 155 types of birds, 32 of which are considered rare, and 37 classified as endemic to the island, such as the maleo bird (Macrocephalon maleo), the white egret (Mycteria cineria), and the hornbill (Rhyticeros cassidic).

The most notable primates are the podi (Tarsius Spectrum), and dark furred monkey (Macaca ochereata). Other rare species which are protected include the anoa, kuskus (phalanger) and babirusa.

The illegal settlers' justification for their action is that they claim the area is a legacy from their ancestors and that they have every right to be there.

Yusran Silondae, the head of the provincial office of the Environmental Impact Management Agency, says there is neither written nor reliable other evidence to support their claim.

The settlers have merely pointed out a few mango trees and burial grounds of their ancestors to support their right to the land.

The Kendari authorities investigated issue last year. It was resolved by the regent at the time, Abdul Razak Porosi, who promised to relocate the settlers by enrolling them in the local transmigration program.

However, he never fulfilled the promise and the settlers decided to reclaim their land after waiting for a whole year.

The two main entrances to the national park, which are roads going through the Buton, Kolaka and Kendari region, are now left unguarded as the guards are afraid of being attacked by the squatters.

H. Aburachim Idris, the head of the provincial forestry office, says that his staff have tried to prevent the trespassing.

"We drove them from the park last year, but they returned due to an inappropriate approach to resolving the situation."

Idris adds that the forest authorities had already begun technical coordination programs to control the situation. They are planning to relocate the settlers and the program will be handled in cooperation with the Southeast Sulawesi social services office.

"If we do not handle this serious issue properly, we will have to go through the same problem in the future," Idris said.

Sulhan, 31, one of the illegal settlers, says that the presence of the ancestral burial grounds and trees, from which they collect fruit such as mangoes and coconuts, is concrete evidence to support their ownership claim.

"Ever since the government claimed our land and made it a national park, we have never received any compensation even though we have asked for it from all levels of government, even to the vice-president via mail to PO Box 5000," another settler adds.

The settlers admit that this second encroachment into the national park is due to the failure of the regent to keep his promise to provide them with land and housing through the transmigration program.

"Had the local authorities provided us with the land, we would not have take action such as this. We are fully aware that this is now a government-protected conservation area," added another squatter, Nandaris, rather emotionally.