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THE FINAL CUT
Illegal Logging in Indonesia's Orangutan Parks |
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Tanjung Puting National Park - Along the Sekonyer River
It is the timber barons of Kumai and Pangkalanbun who are responsible for the havoc descending along the river systems in the west of Tanjung Puting. The Sekonyer River, along which a series of research stations, tourist lodges and ranger posts are located, was untouched by illegal logging until the summer of 1998. The situation has rapidly spiralled out of control. In mid-May an EIA/Telapak team travelled along the river and found a deteriorating situation. A few days before a team of rangers from the PKA (Forest Police and Conservation Department) provincial office in Palangkaraya had conducted an enforcement operation in Tanjung Puting, confiscating 300 illegal ramin logs. The confiscation provoked an angry reaction from the loggers, who had already paid the local PKA rangers for a "permit" to log in the park. Local people spoke of a further levy demanded by the rangers of Rp.10, 000 ($1.5) for each log emerging from the Sekonyer. The boat driver who had transported the Palangkaraya team into the park was attacked by loggers armed with machetes, and was forced to dive into the Sekonyer River to escape. After an angry confrontation between loggers and rangers at the Tanjung Harapan post, most of the rangers were pulled out of the park - leaving it at the mercy of the loggers. Evidence of unbridled illegal logging was recorded all along the Sekonyer. The sight of illegal log rafts and the sound of chainsaws from within the park were commonplace over a five-day period. Two logging camps were entrenched on either side of the proboscis monkey research centre at Natai Lengkuas, and a system of wooden rails had been built to move the logs from the interior forest to the river. The situation at the ranger post of Pondok Tanggui further downstream was even worse, surrounded on three sides by logging camps. Rangers said a team of 40 loggers carrying machetes had walked through the post recently in a show of strength. One of the most famous ex-captive orangutans of Tanjung Puting, called Gistok, had disappeared from Pondok Tanggui. The rangers feared loggers had killed him, as the orangutan was domesticated and had never left the post for more than a day before. The proximity of the logging camp had also forced the rangers to move the orangutan feeding station to a new position, further away from the loggers. On a single day EIA/Telapak observed six large log rafts moving down the Sekonyer. The rafts were composed solely of ramin, in some cases part-sawn and in others raw logs. The largest raft snaked for over 100 metres and was made up of over 200 ramin pieces. Altogether over 800 ramin logs were counted during a two-hour period. At several sites along the river loggers were busy lashing ramin logs into yet more rafts. The logging gangs operating along the Sekonyer receive a pittance for their labours and are organised by a handful of middlemen based in Kumai, notably Akiong. These people ferry supplies along the river, such as fuel for the chainsaws, and pay the loggers around Rp.25,000 ($4) for each cubic metre of ramin. They then sell the timber to sawmills for between Rp.300, 000 ($46) and 600,000 ($90) per cubic metre. Two of the Kumai middlemen were observed travelling up the Sekonyer by speedboat towards the logging camps. Between 14th June and 18th June almost 500 ramin logs were moved down river, owned by the Kumai middlemen Bawai, Kusnadi, Wito, Sabur and Sipur. The following month the arrival of a joint enforcement team, comprising park rangers, police and the army provoked anger among the loggers and some residents of Kumai. The park was closed for a day and the operation led to the seizure of 800 logs in the Natai Lengkuas area. Within a year the situation along the Sekonyer has radically changed - from being relatively untouched by timber theft, to being blatantly logged in full view of the authorities charged with protecting the park. The most valuable tree species in the park - ramin - is the sole target for the Sekonyer logging gangs, and is being removed at an alarming rate. The logging frenzy is reported to be even worse in the Buluh Besar River area, to the south of the Sekonyer and in the centre of the park. On a single day in July eight logging camps were spotted on the banks of the Buluh Besar, and huge log piles of ramin were awaiting transport down the river. Over 1,500 logs were counted and an extensive network of wooden rails for moving the logs permeated the area. The owners of the logs included Basri, Acong and Jalil. |
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