A group of people seemed to have no choice but to log illegally and destroy the conservation area. Even though they face great risks, they still do it in order to survive.
The road connecting the South Coast with the Sungai Penuh, Jambi penetrates the Kerinci Seblat National Park conservation area, Sunday (8/5/2022).
Big and tall trees line up along the banks of the Gambir River, South District, West Sumatra. The forest gets denser and denser upstream of the river, in the hills. The sound of insects is chirping in the distance.
The magnificent jungle is a tangible manifestation of the Kerinci Seblat National Park (TNKS), which covers an area of 1,389 million hectares. The vast area of the tropical rainforest stretches from the northwest to the southeast of the island of Sumatra, covering West Sumatra, Jambi, Bengkulu and South Sumatra provinces.
The TNKS is the last stronghold for various types of endemic flora and fauna. A giant lotus (Rafflesia arnoldii) and rare corpse flower (Amorphophallus titanum) also grow here.
The TNKS is also a habitat for the Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae), Sumatran elephant (Elephas maximus sumatranus), tapir ( Tapirus indicus), sun bear (Helarctos malayanus), clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa), Asian wild dog (Cuon alpinus), mentilin ( Tarsier bancanus) and the rhinoceros hornbill (Buceros rhinoceros).
Because of such wealth, in 2004, TNKS and two other national parks in Sumatra, namely Gunung Leuser National Park and Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park, were recognized as world heritage sites for tropical rainforests by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
On Tuesday afternoon (10/5/2022), Ison, 43, sat in a coffee shop on the banks of the Gambir River, with his back to the TNKS forest, which stretched as far as the eye could see. He ordered a cup of hot tea, lit a cigarette, then began to talk.
"Actually, nobody wants to become a logger because their lives are at stake. However, what else could do? It is for the sake of our livelihoods; for our children and spouses," said Ison.
RIAN SEPTIANDI
Vegetable plantations is located in the Kerinci Seblat National Park (TNKS) conservation area at the foot of Mount Kerinci, Kayu Aro, Kerinci Regency, Jambi, Saturday (14/5/2022). In fact, it is clear that the TNKS area is written on it.
Ison started cutting wood frequently in the TNKS forest when he was 17 years old. He did not want to be called an illegal logger or a wood thief because, he said, residents had lived around the forest before the area was designated as a national park.
Initially, Ison only cut wood in the forest to meet the material needs to build a house for his family. However, over time, he also began to receive payments from the owner of an illegal wood processing factory to go to the forest to cut logs.
He usually cuts meranti trees. Apart from getting exhausted every day, loggers also take a big risk when taking wood from the TNKS area. According to Ison, several loggers had been killed by falling trees or swept away by the river.
Ison was once injured by a chainsaw that slipped from his grip while he was cutting trees.
"If you have a choice, it's better to do another job. [The earning from cutting down trees] is not worth the risk. It is only the cukong [boss] who gets a big profit," said Ison
At the foot of Mount Kerinci, 85 kilometers from the shop where Ison told his story, a young farmer was spraying pesticide on a potato field. Dry trees stood among the potato plants. There were a number of signs warning that the field was in the TNKS area.
The name of the area is Kayu Aro, which is located in Kerinci Regency, Jambi.
"Actually it is forbidden [to farm here]. But, since childhood, all we’ve known is farming; we can’t do other jobs," said Syahban.
Syahban acknowledged that TNKS officers had distributed tree seeds to be planted in people's farming fields so that their land would turn back into forests. However, the reforestation efforts were not successful because the tree seedlings died after being sprayed with pesticides by residents.
"If the fields are turned into forests again, what are we going to do next? Anyway, we just ignore it because our lives depend on farming," he said.
Economic needs
RIAN SEPTIANDI
Vegetable plantation on Mount Rakutak, Bandung Regency, West Java, Sunday (29/5/2022). Some of these vegetable plantations have entered the Kamojang Crater Nature Reserve area.
The same problem was faced by HN, an onion farmer in Puncak Rakutak, Sukarame village, Pacet district, Bandung regency, West Java. Last year, HN worked on land in the Kamojang Crater Nature Reserve.
Even though he was aware that he had violated the rules, HN continued his farming activities because he did not have land in his village. Instead of buying land owned by other farmers, which could cost tens of millions of rupiah per hectare, encroaching on the protected forest is a more realistic option for HN. A year ago, HN cleared land with help from another farmer. HN paid him Rp 100,000 (US$6.74) per day for a month.
"For these 150 tumbak [2,100 square meters], I need Rp 15 million in capital, starting from land clearing to harvesting," he said.
Similar to HN, MI is also farming land in the Kamojang Crater Nature Reserve area. He had no other option because farming land was getting scarce.
"Yes, getting limited. The size of the land does not change, while the number of people continues to increase. Meanwhile, we are mostly farmers. So, we have no choice but to enter the forest," he said.
Maybe it can be a solution for us, but it's a problem for them. It could be also – on the contrary – a solution for them, but a problem for us. Indeed, there is poverty that must be overcome by many parties.
Meanwhile, land in the protected forest that can be cultivated by the community under a partnership program with state-owned forestry company Perum Perhutani has been fully used.
The head of the TNKS Center, Teguh Ismail, said on Friday (13/5) that illegal logging and forest encroachment were closely related to the economic needs of the people. Therefore, the TNKS Center prioritized prevention efforts to solve the problem.
Teguh explained that for the last few years, community groups have been involved in efforts to restore forests in degraded areas. One of the programs is being implemented in Kebun Baru village and Girimulyo village, Kerinci regency.
“We are working with six [community] groups in the two villages. Each group works to restore 25 hectares of degraded forest,” he said.
Teguh said he was continuing to coordinate with the Forest Area Management Center and the Directorate General of Planology to re-check a number of important location boundaries in the TNKS. For TNKS areas that are prone to encroachment, officers have also installed a number of markers and warning boards.
“In Merangin and Kerinci regencies, we planted certain types of trees according to an agreement with the community to mark the boundaries of the TNKS so that the forest boundaries can be seen clearly from the air and if checked with satellite imagery,” he said.
The head of the West Java Natural Resources Conservation Center, Himawan Sasongko, said a special approach was needed to reduce encroachment from the Kamojang Crater Nature Reserve area. According to him, imprisoning squatters, who are mostly poor people, is not the best solution.
"Maybe it can be a solution for us, but it's a problem for them. It could be also – on the contrary – a solution for them, but a problem for us. Indeed, there is poverty that must be overcome by many parties," he said.
This article was translated by Hendarsyah Tarmizi.
