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For Kutai Forest, Not Your Typical Threat
Fidelis E. Satriastanti | January 12, 2012

Ironwood tree trunk diameters can grow to more than 200 centimeters in East Kalimantan, but they are under threat from human encroachment. (Agency Photo) Ironwood tree trunk diameters can grow to more than 200 centimeters in East Kalimantan, but they are under threat from human encroachment. (Agency Photo)
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East Kutai, East Kalimantan. Aside from battling forest fires and illegal loggers, a protected forest here is facing an even greater challenge to its existence — humanity itself.

“Our main threat is land encroachment by people,” said Asep Sugiharta, head of Kutai National Park in East Kalimantan.

The national park encompasses 190,000 hectares spread across three districts — Bontang, East Kutai and Kutai Kartanegara — and is classified as a complete lowland rainforest.

Encroachment, Asep said, is particularly evident on the road connecting Bontang and Sangatta in East Kutai.

“I mean, it’s OK to use the road, but they’re not supposed to set up housing along the road,” he said. “People are not supposed to just go in and out of the national park without permission.”

For a time, Asep said, the government was considering establishing a “special zone” or “enclave” for the people.

“However, we have not received a final decision,” he said. “There was a plan to just release those lands to them, but I don’t know what happened.”

What he fears most from the increasing population and encroachment is the danger it poses to ironwoods, or ulin, the largest trees in Indonesia.

“With all of those developments, they were cutting down ulin trees illegally. We were working with local police trying to stop it and we succeeded in closing down some furniture operations using those trees,” he said.

Kutai National Park has the nation’s largest concentration of ironwoods, the bases of which can grow to more than 200 centimeters in diameter — the equivalent of about eight adults hugging the trunk.

Another concern is for the native orangutan population.

“We don’t have exact data yet on how many orangutans are here now, but extrapolating from 2009 data, we can estimate that we have at least 2,000. That’s the biggest population, I suppose, in East Kalimantan,” Asep said.

Recently, Asep had two orangutans handed over by villagers, an adult orangutan that was said to be “following” people around and a baby that was separated from its mother and being kept as a pet.

“Villagers came to us and handed them over. Because we, as national park [officials], have no authority to capture them, we just take them,” he said. “It’s a bit confusing, too, on where to put them because we don’t have a facility. But I let the adult go loose in the forest so it could adapt.”

He said the national park was still in good, habitable condition for the endangered primate.

“Experts said that tame or captive orangutans cannot share the same habitat with wild ones. Maybe it’s true. Even so, we’ll be prepared if they want to release them here,” he said.