Students, activists oppose national park

YOGYAKARTA: Hundreds of students, non-governmental organization (NGO) activists and community members held a rally on Wednesday in downtown Yogyakarta, demanding the government revoke a decree that has declared forests around Mount Merapi a national park.

As the forests have been declared a national park local residents are prevented from benefiting from them, such as by taking firewood, according to the protesters, grouped under the Alliance of People Concerned about Merapi.

The decree, issued recently by the Minister of Forestry, rules that some 6,410 hectares of forest on the slopes of Merapi be declared a national park, to be named Mount Merapi National Park. -- JP