Table of Contents
Alleged origin of wood
DPR summons Minister of Forestry
The ecological sin of deforestation
Jakarta, hitclubapk3 Indonesia
—
The origins of the pile
logs
carried by the current
flash flood
in the Sumatra Island region is still a mystery.
In West Sumatra, piles of logs fill the estuary and lip of Parkit Beach, Padang City.Apart from piles of wood, various rubbish was also seen piled up at the location.
Meanwhile in North Sumatra, the logs were carried away by flash floods in the South Tapanuli, Central Tapanuli to Sibolga areas.
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Meanwhile in Aceh, flash floods not only caused piles of wood.A Sumatran elephant (Elephas maximus sumatranus) was even found dead and slumped with its head buried in material carried by floods in Meunasah Lhok Village (Gampong), Meureudu District.
hitclubapk3Indonesia.com
summarizes a number of facts related to piles of logs carried away by floods in Sumatra, as follows:
Alleged origin of wood
The Ministry of Forestry (Kemenhut) has revealed the alleged origins of thousands of logs carried away by flash floods in Sumatra.
Director General of Law Enforcement (Gakkum) of the Ministry of Forestry Dwi Januanto Nugroho said the wood could come from various sources, including illegal logging or
illegal logging
.
Some of these are suspected to be from rotten trees, fallen trees, material carried by rivers, areas of former legal logging, to misuse of Land Rights Holders (PHAT), and illegal logging.
Dwi said that his party was still investigating further the origin of the logs.He said, his party would professionally investigate any indications of violations and process evidence of forestry crimes through applicable legal mechanisms.
“Regarding the developing news, I need to emphasize that our explanation was never intended to deny the possibility of illegal practices behind the wood carried by the flood, but rather to clarify the sources of the wood we are tracing and confirm every element
illegal logging
“It will still be processed according to the provisions,” said Dwi in a statement confirmed from Jakarta, Sunday (30/11).
DPR summons Minister of Forestry
DPR Commission IV which is in charge of forestry and maritime affairs will summon the Minister of Forestry (Menhut) Raja Juli Antoni to discuss the phenomenon of thousands of logs.The plan is for the meeting to be held on Thursday (4/12).
Deputy Chairman of Commission IV DPR, Alex Indra Lukman, understands the public’s logic regarding the existence of thousands of pieces of wood that have been cut.He also agreed that there was something upstream in the major flood tragedy in Sumatra and Aceh.
“But from the material that was carried away, our logic also says that this is not just an abundance of water, but there is something upstream, on the hillside that is happening,” he said, Monday (1/12).
According to him, this case must be evaluated, because it is not impossible that a similar disaster will occur again in the future.
“Therefore, we really need a new forestry policy, which is up to date, so that disasters like this don’t happen again,” said Alex.
The ecological sin of deforestation
Gadjah Mada University (UGM) Forest Hydrology and Watershed Conservation Researcher Hatma Suryatmojo suspects that there is ecological sin or massive deforestation behind the flash floods and landslides that hit Sumatra Island.
Hatma assesses that extreme rainfall, which is triggered by extraordinary atmospheric dynamics, is only the initial trigger.He said, the destruction of the forest ecosystem in the upstream watershed (DAS) eliminates the carrying capacity and capacity of the base ecosystem to reduce high rainfall.
Hatma said, the Batang Toru ecosystem in Tapanuli, which is the last stronghold of North Sumatra’s forests, is now being pushed by human activities.This is due to the rise in concessions and company activities, ranging from illegal logging, clearing plantations, to gold mining.
“Many protected forests in the Batang Toru ecosystem, which should be water catchment areas, have been converted into plantations or cleared by illegal loggers. As a result, when it rains heavily, the abundant water can no longer be held naturally upstream and directly hits settlements downstream,” said Hatma, Monday.
The high rate of deforestation is reflected in West Sumatra.Hatma said that in 2020, this province was recorded as having a forest proportion of around 54 percent of its area of ±2.3 million hectares.
Then, in 2024 alone deforestation in West Sumatra will even reach 32 thousand hectares.Much of the remaining forest there is on the steep slopes of Bukit Barisan, so when it decreases, the risk of landslides and flash floods increases.
“Regulation and control of areas based on weak functions has also resulted in rampant forest encroachment and conversion of forest land into oil palm plantations, as well as illegal logging in upstream areas, which is the cause of various hydrometeorological disasters that often occur in the area,” said Hatma.
(dis/isn)
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