Seventy percent of the forest area in Kutai National Park in Sangatta, East Kutai, East Kalimantan, has been destroyed due to unregulated conversion projects, mining operations and illegal deforestation.
The rate of deforestation has increased in the region, also largely owing to preparations for the construction of the Bontang-Sangatta highway, which will cut through the area.
It is crucial that other parties share the burden of protecting the forest area with Kutai National Park, including the surrounding community, the regional government, research and education institutions and the private sector.
Stakeholders in the area, including contractors, should increase their efforts to support the environment.
However, some stakeholders have come under fire for running ineffective programs,
A scientist at the Center for International Forestry Research (Cifor), Moira Moeliono, said the companies should be doing more during a recent seminar themed "Not only for Profit" held in Sangatta.
"The Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs initiated by a number of companies are not effective, or do not support the preservation of a conservation area. CSR programs are just a step to redeem sins committed by the companies," Moira said.
She said there was a lack of supervision of and evaluation on the weaknesses of the CSR programs to find ways to improve them.
Areas surrounding Kutai National Park are being operated by a number of forest concession holders, and coal mining, gas and fertilizer companies under a partnership called Mitra Kutai.
Companies included in the grouping are PT Kaltim Prima Coal (KPC), PT Pupuk Kaltim, PT Badak NGL, PT Banpu Indominco Mandiri, PT Surya Hutani Jaya and PT Pertamina EP-KTI.
It is likely the companies' operations will increase the already rapid rate of destruction of the conservation area.
"Sometimes activities carried out by the companies are not in line with forest preservation efforts, such as Pertamina which has opened a well within the park. Isn't this the same as providing access for further deforestation," Moira said.
"That's why we organized a regency-level symposium in East Kutai this year to ensure that company development projects benefit their surroundings so they would not only think about profits in a particular development program."
PT Kaltim Prima Coal Conservation and Agribusiness Development superintendent Nurul Karim said the presence of parties destroying forests in the area could not be ignored.
Kutai National Park should have been protected, he said, but instead it was sold as plots by a number of dishonest individuals from the community and the companies.
"We don't deny that some workers are involved in the process of forest destruction, because around 2,800 workers work for KPC. The company cannot monitor or control the activities of each of its workers," Nurul said.
Kutai National Park is spread over three regencies -- East Kutai, Bontang and Kutai Kartanegara -- and spans 198,629 hectares. Some 70 percent of its forests have been destroyed, also in large part due to plantation conversion projects, and the establishment of sawmills and furniture enterprises in the region.
Cifor chose Kutai National Park as the subject of a research on deforestation it began in January, 2007.
The rate of deforestation has increased in the region, also largely owing to preparations for the construction of the Bontang-Sangatta highway, which will cut through the area.
It is crucial that other parties share the burden of protecting the forest area with Kutai National Park, including the surrounding community, the regional government, research and education institutions and the private sector.
Stakeholders in the area, including contractors, should increase their efforts to support the environment.
However, some stakeholders have come under fire for running ineffective programs,
A scientist at the Center for International Forestry Research (Cifor), Moira Moeliono, said the companies should be doing more during a recent seminar themed "Not only for Profit" held in Sangatta.
"The Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs initiated by a number of companies are not effective, or do not support the preservation of a conservation area. CSR programs are just a step to redeem sins committed by the companies," Moira said.
She said there was a lack of supervision of and evaluation on the weaknesses of the CSR programs to find ways to improve them.
Areas surrounding Kutai National Park are being operated by a number of forest concession holders, and coal mining, gas and fertilizer companies under a partnership called Mitra Kutai.
Companies included in the grouping are PT Kaltim Prima Coal (KPC), PT Pupuk Kaltim, PT Badak NGL, PT Banpu Indominco Mandiri, PT Surya Hutani Jaya and PT Pertamina EP-KTI.
It is likely the companies' operations will increase the already rapid rate of destruction of the conservation area.
"Sometimes activities carried out by the companies are not in line with forest preservation efforts, such as Pertamina which has opened a well within the park. Isn't this the same as providing access for further deforestation," Moira said.
"That's why we organized a regency-level symposium in East Kutai this year to ensure that company development projects benefit their surroundings so they would not only think about profits in a particular development program."
PT Kaltim Prima Coal Conservation and Agribusiness Development superintendent Nurul Karim said the presence of parties destroying forests in the area could not be ignored.
Kutai National Park should have been protected, he said, but instead it was sold as plots by a number of dishonest individuals from the community and the companies.
"We don't deny that some workers are involved in the process of forest destruction, because around 2,800 workers work for KPC. The company cannot monitor or control the activities of each of its workers," Nurul said.
Kutai National Park is spread over three regencies -- East Kutai, Bontang and Kutai Kartanegara -- and spans 198,629 hectares. Some 70 percent of its forests have been destroyed, also in large part due to plantation conversion projects, and the establishment of sawmills and furniture enterprises in the region.
Cifor chose Kutai National Park as the subject of a research on deforestation it began in January, 2007.
Nurni Sulaiman , The Jakarta Post , Sangatta
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