Sumatra's forest in a critical state
Sumatra's forest in a critical state
Jon Afrizal, Jambi
"Protected" forests in the country are increasingly at risk from
illegal logging and one, the Bukit Duabelas National Park in
Sumatra, is now in a critical conditional, environmental data
says.
The wood from Jambi and Riau goes into luxurious houses and to
manufacture furniture. While Meranti Jambi and Tembesu species
grow only in the Bukit Duabelas and Kerinci Seblat national
parks, the wood is easily found in timber shops in Jakarta,
Semarang and Surabaya.
This precious wood is also traded in Singapore, Malaysia,
Japan and Taiwan.
As an result, the Bukit Duabelas National Park has been left
in a critical condition, with forestry office data showing 60
percent of the trees in the park are already decimated.
It is estimated several species of trees in the 60,500-hectare
park will be extinct in three to four years unless the illegal
logging is halted.
Local forestry office information details illegal logging
occurring since the 1970s, a sad chronicle of dozens of timber
companies systematically employing locals to loot the park.
An inadequate number of security staff and the park's large
size are the office's classic excuses as to why the illegal
logging has not been stopped. However, many media reports have
indicated the involvement of corrupt park staff and police in
illegal logging operations is the main reason why logging in
Indonesia goes on unabated.
About 70 percent of the park is located in the Batanghari
regency, 20 percent in Sorolangun and 10 percent in Tebo.
The logging of quality wood such as meranti, jeluntung,
kedundung, kulim and tembesu has also "washed away" many rare
varieties of flora and fauna and destroyed the habitats of
protected species such as elephants (Elephas maximus) and the
Sumatran tiger (sumatrean panthera tigris).
The nation's potential biological resources are also under
threat. Scientific institutions in Jambi have identified as many
as 137 plant varieties that could be used as raw materials for
drugs -- species that are being depleted as the deforestation
continues.
A particular loss to the medical world would be pasak bumi
(eurycomafisa longifolia) that scientists say has the potential
to cure malaria and impotency, the bowl mushroom (cookenia sp),
locally used for birth control, and yellow root (arcangelisiu
flava), which is used to ease high fevers.
The rampant logging is also a serious threat to the existence
of the park's traditional hunter-gatherer tribe -- the Orang
Rimba (also known as the Orang Kubu or Anak Dalam). According to
a recent survey, the tribe's population has dropped to about
1,300 people from around 4,000 in the 1980s.
The tribe used to live off the forest's plants and animals
without damaging the ecosystem. However, many timber companies
are now recruiting its members to help in illegal logging,
trading daily commodities such as cigarettes, cakes and clothing
in return for timber.