Tribespeople restricted in own home

PALU, Central Sulawesi (JP): When half-meter-high concrete posts were erected in Lore Lindu National Park in 1993, the tribespeople living in the forest thought it was the end of their long struggle for ownership of the land.

The tribespeople have been living there for generations upon generations.

The walls surrounding the 229,000-hectare park represented the division between two groups with different interests: the tribespeople and the government.

The people claim to be the rightful owners of the forest. However, the government insists that it is obliged to protect the park, and for that reason the government built the concrete posts around the forest.

About 60 villages are located inside the park's conservation zone. Most villagers have been living there for years, even before it was declared a conservation area.

Tribespeople depend on the forest for their livelihood, but after the area was made a reserve in 1973, the government sought to evict them, saying they were a "threat" to the forest.

The rule was strictly imposed and the people were no longer free to use the forest to survive. They were afraid to collect wood even for basic purposes such as building their houses.

"We could not collect wood from the forest. If Jagawana (the park rangers) found out, they would accused us of stealing and destroying the forest. And the fine could reach up to hundreds of millions of rupiah," said S. Torae, from Hangira village in Lore Utara district.

According to Arianto Sangaji, the executive director of Tanah Merdeka Foundation, a non-governmental organization that represents the tribespeople, the accusations are "too much".

"The tribal communities have traditional wisdom in protecting the environment. For that reason, the accusations they are robbers and environmental destroyers are baseless," he said.

He said that accusing local people of stealing and damaging the forests were based more on myth than reality.

Local people, he said, have been living there long before the area was officially protected and they cannot be treated like thieves simply because they use forest products.

Located in the heart of Sulawesi, Lore Lindu National Park comprises three conservation areas: the Lore Kalamanta Wildlife Reserve, Lindu Lake Forest Reserve and Lore Lindu Wildlife Reserve. The three areas boast a combination of natural beauty and unique collections of flora and fauna species, mostly endemic to Sulawesi.

The park lies across two regencies. Lore is part of Poso regency, while Lindu is located in Donggala regency. It covers four subdistricts in the two regencies: Sigi Biromaru and Lulawi in Donggala regency, and Lore Selatan and Lore Utara in Pose regency.

About 95 percent of the forest is still in good condition. Major threats are theft of forest products, illegal logging, land grabbing and forest fires.

Statistics released by the park's management shows that over the past year, there were 14 cases of land grabbing covering 66.5 hectares and 13 cases of illegal logging involving 40.85 cubic meters of wood. Besides, some 30 tons of rattan have been stolen and 200 hectares of the park illegally cleared over the same period.

"If there's no action taken, it is feared that the illegal activities will damage the conservation area," said head of the park's management Banjar Yulianto Laban.

He said that the land clearing should be carefully investigated and the indigenous people should not be unfairly blamed. If tribal people did it, he said, it might be due to economic pressures or because they needed the land. (38)