APRIL's
operations have great negative impacts on the natural forest cover of Riau. It
holds concessions largely covered with natural forest which are being converted
to fast-growing plantations. Company's impact does not limit only inside its concessions.
It buys large amounts of wood elsewhere from valuable forests thus contributing
to their demise. The following two cases demonstrate the impact in close proximity
of the sole national park in Riau, Bukit Tigapuluh or Tigapuluh Hills. In both
cases, RAPP is buying wood from land clearings that destroy viable and conservationally
valuable forest habitat.
Impact
of RAPP does not limit only in its concessions. Company's wood procurement from
outside its concession areas contributes to natural forest destruction elsewhere
as well. The following two cases demonstrate the impact in close proximity of
the sole national park in Riau, Bukit Tigapuluh or Tigapuluh Hills. In both cases,
RAPP is buying wood from land clearings that destroy viable and conservationally
valuable forest habitat.
National
Park of Bukit Tigapuluh is situated in the border of two central Sumatran provinces,
Riau and Jambi. It was established in 1995 to protect northern core part of a
forest area that, in 1993, was estimated to be the largest remaining block of
lowland rain forest in Sumatra (Sandbukt & Østergaard 1993, WWF 1999) The northern
part of the area, Bukit Tigapuluh, has a rich rain forest flora including such
rarities as giant flower Rafflesia hasseltii (Sandbukt & Østergaard 1993). The
area harbors populations of five forest dependent, globally threatened mammal
species including Malayan Tapir (Tapirus indicus), Tiger (Panthera tigris)
and Clouded Leopard (Neofelis nebulosa). All in all 192 bird species have
been recorded in the area. This is almost one third of all Sumatran bird species,
and includes ten globally threatened, forest dependent species such as Great Hornbill
(Buceros bicornis) and White-winged Wood Duck (Cairina scutulata).
Unfortunately,
when the national park was established it only included 127 698 ha, a mere half
of what was proposed (WWF 1999, Sandbukt & Østergaard 1993). According to WWF
this was due to opposition of logging companies that held concessions in the area
(WWF 1999). The reserve at present may not be large enough to maintain viable
populations of all the endangered species currently inhabiting it, and e.g. Sumatran
rhinoceros is already extinct in the area. Valuable areas were left out of the
national park even in the northern core part of the area, Bukit Tigapuluh. The
areas left out of the national park in the north are earmarked for conversion,
and their destruction diminishes the value of the whole area for conservation
since they were viable primary forests despite earlier selective logging in the
area (Sandbukt & Ostergaard 1993). This area earmarked for conversion has now
largely been handed to oil palm and plantation companies. Their conversion furthermore
opens the national park for intrusion. The local Administrative Head of the National
Park has demanded retraction of licences of logging and oil palm companies in
the area (Potter & Badcock 2001).
Two
oil palm concessions have already cleared large tracts of the forest near the
national park's northern borded, naimly PT Sumatra Makmur Lestari (SML) with a
9100 ha concession, and PT Arvena Sepakat with a 4040 ha concession (WWF 1999).
They have obtained permits for the clearing, but the legality behind the permits
is questionable: most of the concession areas of the two companies are steeper
than what the law and regulations allows to be converted. More than 80% of the
combined area of the two concessions is steeper than 25% and approximately 45%
steeper than 40%. According to law (Undang-undang no 5 tahun 1990, tentang Konservasi
Sumberdaya Alam Hayati dan Ekosistemnya. Keputusan Presiden no 32 tahun 1992)
concerning Management of Protected areas, slopes above 40% or 18 degrees should
be protected. Furthermore, according to regulation of Ministry of Forestry and
Plantation Crops (No 376/Kpts-II/1998) about preparing forest areas for oil palm
production, areas steeper than 25% should not be used. Despite this, large-scale
conversion has gone ahead in the area, with some clearings in slopes of 40% steep
(Potter & Badcock 2001).
Recently
a cooperative consisting of three cooperatives of local villages (Tunas Mekar,
Tani Rahmat Usaha and Beligan Manggal) called Tunas Mekar has demanded major part
of the PT Sumatra Makmur Lestari concession to be handed to their use on the basis
that it is land owned traditionally by the villages. After reaching agreement
with the company and receiving permits (Izin Pemanfaatan Kayu in 2000 Dep. Kehutanan
dan Perkebunan, Kantor Wilayah, Propinsi Riau, Pekanbaru, no. 6290/KPTS/KWL-3/2000)
the cooperative now control 6400 ha of which still approximately 4000 ha were
forested in 2000 before conversion by the cooperative had started. While visiting
the area in September 2001 the clearing was in full swing. According to the coordinator
of the cooperative, Mohammad Syafii (discussions 26.-27.9.01), the clearing and
wood transportation is done by a contractor (PT Surya Palma Nusa) and wood is
sold to RAPP except for plywood quality logs that are sold to PT Sumatra Timber
Utama Damai (STUD), Jambi . In October 2001 it had not been decided what the locals
would plant after the clearing. This demonstrates that the selling of wood is
a major incentive for the cooperative to clear the land.
Another
case study of forest conversion supported by RAPP is the case of PT Kencana Amal
Tani (KAT) a bit further away from Bukit Tigapuluh not directly adjoining the
area. The company has an oil palm plantation established in the mid-1990 that
it has since that wanted to enlarge. The efforts proved effective after making
a deal with the local villages that claimed part of a neighboring selective logging
concession of PT Inti Inhutani as their property based on that it is their traditionally
owned land. One of the villages was Pangkalan Kasai and its cooperative Tani Rahmat
Usaha, also one of the cooperatives involved in the PT SML case. The locals received
the land, and started clearing the area by hiring a contractor, PT Surya Kencana
Unggul. After clearing the area will be handed to PT KAT. The fact that locals
seek the control of the land clearing demonstrates again that the actual wood
sold from the clearing is a major incentive for the clearing to take place. The
wood from the clearing is sold to PT STUD (plywood quality logs) and RAPP (the
rest) according to the head of Tani Rahmat Usaha cooperative Mohammad Syafii (discussions
2.10.2001). This was assured by following the logging trucks from the clearing
to RAPP mill (2.-3.10.2001). In one of the clearing sites visited in the area
the clearing had started in June 2001 according to logging personnel and was still
going on in October 2001. It was also discovered that the area has been burned
after clearing, which is prohibited by law.
In
both of the above mentioned cases the forest before the logging was not degraded.
The trees extracted were often more than one meter in diameter and the stock per
ha was high. This is also indicated by the fact that part of the timber from these
areas was sold for plywood production, which requires big, good quality logs.
>>>
Recent photos from Riau rainforests and logging
References:
Barr,
C. 2000: Profits on Paper - the Political Economy
of Fiber, Finance and Debt in Indonesia's Pulp and Paper Industries: Banking on
Sustainability: Structural Adjustment and Forestry Reform in Post-Suharto Indonesia.
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Mogea,
J.P., Gandawidjaja, D., Wiriadinata, H.,Nasution, R.E. & Irawati 2001: Tumbuhan
Langka Indonesia [Endangered Plants of Indonesia]. Indonesian Science Institute,
Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia (LIPI). Bogor.
Parasitic
Plant Connection - Rafflesiaceae at http://www.science.siu.edu/parasitic-plants/Rafflesiaceae/index.html.
Southern Illinois University (SIU). Visited 25.1.2002.
Potter,
L. & Badcock, S. 2001: The Effect of Indonesia’s Decentralisation on Forests and
Estate Crops: Case Study of Riau Province, the Original Districts of Kampar and
Indragiri Hulu. DRAFT - OCTOBER 16, 2001. CIFOR at www.cifor.org.
Sandbukt,
Ø & Østergaard, L 1993: Bukit Tigapuluh: Rain Forest and Resource Management.
WWF and Ministry of Forestry. Jakarta.
Syafii,
Mohammad. Discussions Sept. 26-27 and Oct. 2.2001. Mohammad Syafii is a coordinator
of a co-operative and the head of the Tani Rahmat Usaha-co-operative of Pangkalan
Kasai-village.
Walton,
T. & Holmes, D. Indonesia's forests are vanishing fster than ever. International
Herald Tribune 25.1.2000.
Whitten,
T., Damanik, J.S., Anwar, J. & Hisyam, N. (2000): The Ecology of Sumatra. Periplus.
Singapore.
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1999: Kondisi Terakhir Taman Nasional Bukit Tigapuluh [Bukit Tigapuluh - the latest
conditions of the national park]. WWF Indonesia, project Bukit Tigapuluh.
