US$38m from EU for Leuser Park
US$38m from EU for Leuser Park
JAKARTA (JP): The European Union has pledged to provide US$38 million to support Indonesia's efforts to save the Leuser National Park in Aceh, Minister of Forestry Djamaludin Soeryohadikusumo said yesterday.
The grant, to be disbursed over seven years, will be provided to the Leuser International Foundation, which was established by prominent Aceh figures last year.
The funds will be used to rehabilitate the park, develop ecotourism and train forest rangers, small-scale handicraft entrepreneurs and farmers that benefit from the park, Djamaludin said.
"Tourists will be made to feel at home not by putting them up in first class hotels but rather by accommodating them in residents' clean houses," he told journalists after meeting with President Soeharto.
The ecotourism to be developed at the national park aims not only at preserving the flora and fauna but also to help improve the local residents' well-being, the minister said.
The 850,000 hectare park is well-known for its richness in biodiversity. It is home to numerous protected animals, such as elephants, two-horned hippopotamus, Sumatran tigers and orangutans.
It is the habitat of numerous plants, including six species of durians. As a tourist spot, it is highly unique in that it combines beaches, swamps, rain forests and mountains.
Under threat due to ignorance and neglect, the landmark of the western-most province is a popular place for jungle trekking, rafting and mountain climbing. It has also been well-known as a research location.
Government officials say that damages to the park's ecosystem and forests have been largely caused by the local people's poor knowledge of the importance of the environment, the activities of forest concession holders and slack supervision.
Djamaludin said the government would intensify the supervision of activities by forest concessionaire near the national park.
Tighter supervision of the logging activities are necessary to make sure that forest concessionaire holders will not encroach on the park, he added.
The minister and the President also discussed ways to control the burning of wood waste, such as off-cuts from timber production, during the upcoming dry season, so as not to pose environmental problems.
The burning of wood waste sparked widespread smog last year in several provinces in Sumatra, where there is no pulp factory, he said. (pan)