THE POLITICS OF EXTINCTION
Executive Summary   Introduction   A Future Without Forests?   Summary   Indonesia's Forest Cover   Real Value of the Forests   Indonesia's Biodiversity   Sumatran Rhinoceros   Sumatran Tiger   Clouded Leopard   Primates   Proboscis Monkey   Sun Bear   Protected Forest Areas Kutai National Park   The Orangutan Crisis   The Timber Barons   Palm Oil	A Future Without Forests? - Protected Forest Areas According to the Indonesian Government, by 1990, 303 terrestrial protected areas totalling 160 000 km2 had been established, with a further 175 sites proposed. Indonesia currently has 37 (terrestrial) national parks chosen "to ensure the inclusion of viable and representative samples of most of the nation's ecosystems and populations of most native species". However conflicts have frequently arisen and powerful interest groups have resisted or ignored rulings in favour of conservation.61 Thus whilst Indonesian laws are designed to protect these parks (and indeed other nominally protected areas such as reserves), adequate enforcement is lacking and many of the national parks have undergone illegal logging or other encroachment. Furthermore, "protected status" has frequently proved to be temporary, with park boundaries shifted to allow logging or other development. Under Indonesian law, mineral exploration is allowed under a permit system. Kerinci Seblat, Sumatra, is Indonesia's largest national park and one of the most species rich. In 1993, 43 of Sumatra's 47 key mammal species and eight of the key birds were recorded there. However, as elsewhere in Indonesia, the surviving forests, many of which have been illegally logged in the past, are under pressure from farmers, timber operators, agro-conglomerates and other interests. This "protected forest" is currently reported to be in the process of conversion to an oil-palm plantation.62
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