Sumatra highway project to tear apart world's lungs

Illegal logging in the Leuser ecosystem zone in North Sumatra and Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam is out of control, while local, national and international efforts to prevent it have not been successful, due in part to backing from the military and police, environmental activists have said.

Skirmishes between groups of soldiers and policemen have reportedly become commonplace in North Sumatra as they try to protect their respective illegal loggers. Legislation to conserve this zone seems to be ineffective, with loggers ignoring last year's presidential decree to stop illegal logging and the distribution of its derivatives.

With the announcement of the Ladia Galaska highway project, which plans to build roads connecting the Indian Ocean, Gayo, Alas and the Malacca Strait, there is mounting fear that greater damage will be inflicted on the Leuser ecosystem. The new thoroughfare, which will go through the protected forests and Leuser National Park, will rip the ecosystem apart, and stretches of tropical rain forests are sure to vanish sooner than later.

Even before the road project was initiated, squatters have been opening up trails to carry out their logs. Therefore, if the Rp 1.5 trillion Ladia Galaska project goes ahead, there will be more serious destruction that would lead to the forest's eventual disappearance. Illegal loggers backed by security personnel and financed by tycoons would be free to plunder the forests.

The Leuser zone, covering 2.6 million hectares, is one of the world's richest tropical rain forests made up of magnificent lowland forests, an alpine park, fresh water marshes, valleys and a volcano. Apart from its unique and invaluable biodiversity, Leuser also serves as a buffer zone for the life of surrounding communities, by providing clean water, controlling erosion and flooding, maintaining biodiversity, regulating the local climate, absorbing carbon and offering inland fishing and natural beauty.

The Leuser National Park has a highly diverse flora, ranging from coastal or marshy vegetation and lowland woods to highland and mountain forests. There are no less than 3,500 floral species, which include hard-stem trees, blooming plants, fungi and mushrooms, forest orchids and rare flowers, such as the Rafflesia.

With some 89 rare wildlife species protected by law, Leuser is known as the last sanctuary for 130 mammalian species, such as the orangutan, carnivores, such as Sumatra tigers and bears, herbivores, such as the Sumatra elephant and rhinoceros, 325 bird species, reptiles and amphibians, including snakes and crocodiles, as well as fish, most notably the Jurung of Alas river, which can grow up to one meter long. Will this park last much longer?

Data from the Leuser management office in Medan that monitors the extent of damage done shows that the forests are shrinking. Since the 1980s, Sumatra's pristine forests have become increasingly ravaged, leaving only the Mt. Leuser national park comparatively unscathed. The destruction has resulted from, among other reasons, illegal logging and the granting of forest concessions to several major companies.

In order to conserve one of the world's natural lungs and the last sanctuary for the wildlife of the Leuser ecosystem, the central government and the regional administration have been advised to step up their coordination.

Indonesia signed Agenda 21 in the United Nations environment and development conference in 1992 in Rio de Janeiro, identifying the Leuser ecosystem as one of the world's most important zones of biodiversity that requires serious protection. In 1998, Indonesia made its commitment to conserve this zone through Presidential Decree No.33/1998, which determined the total area of this zone and the method of its management.

Leuser is very vital to the international community. As Indonesia's only remaining pristine tropical rain forest and one of the world's natural lungs, the damage and disappearance of forests occurring in this zone will adversely affect the global ecosystem.

The provincial administration's plan to build roads linking the east and the west as well as the north and the south of the region, therefore, has shocked various circles even though the project is claimed to be a means to end the isolation of local people and to aid their economic advancement.

The Ladia Galaska project will consist of a 504.69-kilometer trunk road stretching from the Indian Ocean to the Malaka Strait, linking Meulaboh, Lhok Seumat, Ceulala, Jagong Jeget, Blangkejeran, Piding, Lokop and Peureulak; a 713-km road running from the north to the south from Babah Rot to Simpang Krueng Geukuh; and a 369-km support road through Lawe Pakam-Bahorok on the border with North Sumatra, Takengon-Jantho and Pondok Baru- Ale Mirah.

This megaproject will inevitably traverse the Leuser National Park and its protected forests, and if this plan is quickly realized the ecosystem will be torn to shreds by the highway's penetration through the zone. Nature conservation and economic development are in fact opposing interests almost everywhere, but in advanced countries, such as the U.S. and Holland, there are win-win solution accords to ensure development while safeguarding the environment.

The construction of highways across nature reserves in several countries through win-win solutions should serve as an example for Ladia Galaska. The regional administration may need to review this scheme by inviting relevant state agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and environmental activists. It can consider tunnels or flyovers in certain sections to avoid wildlife or even cancel the plan by enhancing the available roads.

"Ladia Galaska should go on but forest conservation has to be observed. We in Kuta Cane have been hoping for a short cut to Medan. Without the highway we'll be trapped like this and (our community) can't grow. Environmental advocates should not just defend the monkeys, but please take care of our people," said Southeast Aceh regent Armen Desky.

If the plan is withdrawn, "the central government and world environmental supporters should assist this regency by making investments or subsidizing Leuser's forest-buffer community, because in this remote area we can only safeguard Leuser from destruction," he added.

Environmentalists who have investigated the Ladia Galaska construction site did not share the regent's view.

"We propose that the new highway should not be built but the existing roads should be widened and improved instead. Even without the highway, the plundering of the forests has been very serious. With new facilities, what will happen to Leuser?" said Hasjrul Junaid of the NGO Network for Forest Conservation.

Apart from the pros and cons in the situation, the central government and international agencies are expected to intervene to rescue the zone and prevent the disruption of the Leuser ecosystem. But on the other hand, the development and welfare of the population of Aceh should also receive proper attention so that both interests can be reconciled. --Tarko Sudiarno