It is Easy to Steal Wood in a Conservation Forest

DOK POLRES PIDIE

Timber from the protected forest of Geumpang, Pidie District, Aceh Province was confiscated by the police as evidence related to the illegal logging case.

Forests in a number of conservation areas in Indonesia continue to shrink due to illegal logging and land clearing. As the result, the damage to the water-catchment area leads to an ecological disaster.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — Illegal logging and encroachment of conservation forests in several parts of Indonesia are continuing. Investigations conducted by Kompas daily in the Kerinci Seblat National Park, West Sumatra and Jambi Provinces; the Papua Cycloop Nature Reserv; and the Kamojang Crater Nature Reserve and Park, West Java, revealed the shrinking of conservation forest areas due to encroachment and illegal logging.

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An investigation in the Kerinci Seblat National Park (TNKS) in May 2022, found a number of locations for illegal logging and forest clearing in the national park area. On one of the hills in Nagari Gambir, Sungai Sako Tapan, Pesisir Selatan Regency, many camphor or Borneo trees with a diameter of 1.5 meters and a length of 20 m were cut and abandoned.

Tree trunks, which fell on other plants, had not been cut into smaller pieces. Only a few meters away there was a meranti tree that had been cut down and split into logs. A bottle of oil for the chainsaw was left on the pile of blocks.

The result indicated that the logging location in Nagari Gambir Sungai Sako Tapan is part of the TNKS area.

After finding a number of logging sites in the Tapan area, the coordinates were stored in the global positioning system (GPS) device. These coordinate points were overlaid with a map of the TNKS area using a geographic information system (GIS) application. The result indicated that the logging location in Nagari Gambir Sungai Sako Tapan is part of the TNKS area.

Subsequent investigations on the Batang Betung River, Nagari Riak Danau, Basa Ampek District, Balai Tapan, even found loggers who were drifting meranti logs in the river. When the Kompas team tried to approach, a woman suspected of being a relative of the loggers immediately shouted, "Pak, there is someone, Pak." The loggers then quickly jumped into the river. One hurriedly asked the woman to go on his motorbike.

The meranti wood that was about to be washed away was suspected to be illegal because no letter or yellow bar code was found to indicate the origin of the wood. In addition, a bamboo was found, which is commonly used to direct the wood when it is drifted in the river.

The investigation on the Batang Betung River continued until sunset. When the team returned to their initial location, the meranti wood that had been moored on the riverbank was gone.

KOMPAS/SYAHNAN RANGKUTI

Illegal timber from the Bukit Rimbang Baling Wildlife Reserve forest, Kampar, Riau was washed away in the Subayang River, at the end of June 2019.

Timber obtained from the TNKS area is usually transported via the Batang Betung River. The log is cut into blocks and tied together into a raft, then floated downstream. When the wood is floated, there are loggers who escort it by walking down the river downstream.

One logger, Ison (43), said they used to work in a team of five people. Four people were tasked with cutting down trees and transporting the logs, while the remaining one specialized in carrying basic needs. "This person is usually paid Rp 350,000 [US$23.59] to carry chainsaws and a large jerry can of gasoline to the logging site," he said.

The boss paid Ison and his friends to take 10 cubic m of meranti wood. For this, they had to cut down about four meranti trees. The boss bought a cubic m of meranti wood at a price of Rp 1 million. “Usually, the boss gives us an advance payment of Rp 3 million to buy basic needs and pay for porters. The rest will be paid after the wood arrives downstream,” he said.

Kompas visited UD Tapan Jaya, one of the wood-processing companies in Tapan. There, a boss named Dedi alias Kodoi was waiting. He sat on a pile of logs surrounded by about five of his men.

At that time, the stock of meranti and Borneo wood ran out. "Behind a lot," said Kodoi. The word "behind" is a term to refer to TNKS.

Kodoi acknowledged that he could provide 15-30 cubic m of meranti wood in just a day. He priced meranti at Rp 2.3 million per cubic m. He also acknowledged that he could provide the wood with a transportation permit, but there was an additional fee. "The fee for the transportation permit is Rp 500,000 per cubic [m]," he said.

Some of the wood-processing companies have obtained permits from the government. According to government regulations, they are only allowed to process wood from production forests.

The head of the TNKS conservation park, Teguh Ismail, said he was aware of the operation of sawmills (timber processing companies) that obtained wood from TNKS. Currently the TNKS is investigating their operation. Some of the wood-processing companies have obtained permits from the government. According to government regulations, they are only allowed to process wood from production forests.

“The problem is that wood [from the TNKS area] is brought into production forests. That's what we're working on," said Teguh.

In Cycloop

Meanwhile, in the Cycloop Nature Reserve, from the two locations that were investigated last November, several illegal logging sites were found. One of them was in Heram district, Jayapura City. Here, illegal logging activities were seen along the Jayapura Regional Water Company (PDAM) pipeline. The forests on the right and left of the PDAM pipe have been replaced with papaya and banana plantations.

Meanwhile, in Bhayangkara Village, North Jayapura district, residents have opened plantations in the Cycloop conservation area. The forest was cleared and replaced with pineapple plantations. Using a drone camera, it could be clearly seen that some of the hills around the water source had been denuded.

Not only that, on a hillside in the Cycloop conservation area, a stove for making charcoal wood was also found. The furnace was in the form of a hole in the ground with a diameter of about 3 m. In the hole, suang or sowang wood, a typical Cycloop plant, was processed into charcoal.

KOMPAS/JUMARTO YULIANUS

Piles of processed wood from various types of forest wood were confiscated by police in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, Friday (18/3/2022).

A charcoal collector named Argos admitted to buying charcoal from residents who live at the foot of the Cycloop. On the right side of Argos's house, there was a pile of charcoal packed in sacks. He bought them at Rp 80,000 per sack. In one transaction, he bought up to 500 sacks. The charcoal, which he said was made from Sowang wood, was resold again to restaurants.

Community leader in RT 004 neighborhood unit of the RW 004 community unit in Bhayangkara Village, Beni Gombo, acknowledged that many of his residents had produced charcoal wood in the past. The wood was taken from the Cycloop conservation area. A sack of charcoal was sold for Rp 35,000. Beni had sold between 100 and 200 sacks of charcoal.

Since 2015, Beni claimed that the community has no longer made charcoal wood because it had been prohibited by the government. However, Beni still receives requests for logs. The price is Rp 300,000 per log. "That's if someone makes an order," he said.

The head of the Center for Conservation and Resources of Papua, Edward Sembiring, admitted that land-clearing activities were still found in Cycloop, which covers an area of 31,480 hectares (ha), and is located in Jayapura Regency and Jayapura City.

Kamojang Crater

During an investigation at the Kamojang Crater Nature Park (TWA) in Barusari Village, Pasirwangi District, Garut Regency and Kamojang Crater conservation area in Sukarame Village, Pacet District, Bandung Regency, last May-June, the Kompas team also found forest-encroachment activities. The local residents cleared the forest to create vegetable plantations.

Matching with the Situation Map of the Kamojang Crater Nature Reserve, the AR chili garden turned out to be in the Kamojang Crater conservation area.

Residents planted various types of vegetables, such as cabbage, carrots, chilies and beans, in the forest area of Barusari Village. One of them, AR (43), acknowledged that he grew chili in an area of 200 tubak (2,800 square m). AR admitted that he had been working on the land for three years. Matching with the Situation Map of the Kamojang Crater Nature Reserve, the AR chili garden turned out to be in the Kamojang Crater conservation area.

The forest in Barusari Village is part of the upstream area of the Cikamiri River. The overflow of this river and the Cimanuk River, which carried away various materials, had partly contributed to flash floods in Garut in September 2016.

In Sukarame Village, precisely around Mount Rakutak, there is a large area of vegetable plantations. HN, the owner of the onion garden there, was aware that he had illegally trespassed the restricted area. He admitted he had cleared an area of 150 Tumbak (2,100 square m) since last year. Not far from the land, there is the Ciharu River, which flows to the Citarum River. In 2018, the Citarum River overflowed and caused severe flooding in Bandung regency.

KOMPAS/SYAHNAN RANGKUTI

Timber from the Rimbang Baling Wildlife Reserve forest was cut down in the forest in December 2018.

The head of the West Java Natural Resources Conservation Center (BBKSDA), Himawan Sasongko, tried to cope with encroachment activities by a humanistic approach. "It would be counterproductive if we could reduce encroachment, but the community is still suffering economic difficulties," he said. (NDU/FLO/FAI/ICH/JOG/DIV/FRD/ILO)

(This article was translated by Hendarsyah Tarmizi)