Photo By Yusriadi, Walhi Aceh (September 10, 2012)
Photo By Yusriadi, Walhi Aceh (August 3, 2012)
A rise in world demand for cooking oil and bio-fuels has affected land use in Indonesia, home to vast areas of oil palm plantations, not unlike Thailand. State policy to promote oil palm plantations has led to encroachment on large areas of wetland. Similarly, fallow paddy fields in Thailand have been turned into oil palm plantations in the Songkhla Lake basin covering the provinces of Songkhla, Phattalung, Nakhon Si Thammarat, and the Bacho and To Daeng peat swamp forests in the southern border provinces. These areas in Thailand have been targeted for the promotion of oil palm.
The demand for cooking oil and bio-fuels grows constantly. Apart from increasing the area of oil palm plantations in Southeast Asia from 4.2 million hectares in 2000 to 7.1 million hectares in 2009 (McCarthy, John F. (2010). Processes of inclusion and adverse incorporation: Oil palm and agrarian change in Sumatra, Indonesia. Journal of Peasant Studies. 37: 4, 821–850), it has prompted the Indonesian Government to set a target of 4 million more hectares of oil palm plantation, or 25 million hectares, by 2015. According to the Indonesian Minister of Industry, by 2020, raw oil palm production in Indonesia should reach 50 million tons, or a 400% increase over the 11.8 million tons produced in 2007 (http://www.tcijthai.com/TCIJ/view.php?ids=902).
These figures will make Indonesia the world’s number producer of palm oil for bio-fuel, meeting the demand of countries, including the USA and Europe, which want to reduce their petroleum consumption and minimize environmental degradation (McCarthy, John F. (2010). Processes of inclusion and adverse incorporation: Oil palm and agrarian change in Sumatra, Indonesia. Journal of Peasant Studies. 37: 4, 821–850.)
This policy has led to a skyrocketing expansion of oil palm plantations in Indonesia, particularly in Sumatra.
The Tripa Peat Swamp Forest is one of forests being exploited by the oil palm industry. The forest covers 61,803 hectares and is located in Nagan Raya and Aceh Barat Daya regencies, Aceh Province, on the southwest coast of Sumatra.
It is the only peat swamp forest in the region to form part of the Leuser Ecosystem and has been declared the Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra site by UNESCO. It is home to an orang-utan protection zone managed by Yayasan Ekosistem Lestari (Foundation for Sustainable Ecosystems or YEL), which works on ecological management, and PanEco, an international not-for-profit organization working on natural conservation and environmental education with its headquarters in Switzerland, which have jointly declared that the peat swamp forests along the Aceh coast are home to the biggest population of orang-utans in the world.
The Tripa Peat Swamp Forest’s orang-utans account for around 4% of the world population. In 2009, the population was about 2,000, and the peat swamp forest is hailed as one of the six habitats with the highest potential for orang-utans (http://sains.kompas.com/read/2012/06/04/08465072/Rawa.Tripa.di.Ambang.Kemusnahan.Bagian.1).
Eksposnews.com reported on 19 February 2013 a survey by the Leuser International Foundation showing that in 2009, the Tripa Peat Swamp Forest covered an area of 61,803 hectares. By 2012 however, this had dwindled to 12,655 hectares. By October 2012, the situation had become even worse. Within nine months, the area of the Tripa Peat Swamp Forest has decreased to 10,023 hectares. In a short period of time, 28%, or 2,632 hectares, of the Tripa Peat Swamp Forest had been destroyed. Field surveys in 2008, 2009 and 2012 found that in the area of peat swamp forest where the state had given concessions to the private sector for oil palm plantations, vast tracts of forest had been wiped away.
This information echoes the word of Teuku Muhammad Zulfikar, Director of Walhi Aceh, who stated that large areas of the Tripa Peat Swamp Forest have been lost as a result of preparations for oil palm plantation. Should permits for plantations continue to be granted, protected areas and protected wildlife, particularly orang-utans, will certainly be endangered.
Given this problem, the “Save Tripa Peat Swamp Forest Network” or TKPRT (Tim Koalisi Penyelamatan Rawa Tripa) (Coalition Team for the Rehabilitation of Tripa) discussed ways to protect the forest. The effort is led by Irsadi Aristora, Deputy Head of Transparency International (TI) in Aceh.
TKPRT is composed of organizations including WALHI Aceh (Wahana Lingkungan Hidup Indonesia or the Indonesian Forum for Environment), an environmental conservation agency in Indonesia; Transparency International Indonesia (TII); TII Aceh; KuALA (Koalisi untuk Advokasi Laut Aceh or Advocacy Coalition for Aceh Sea); Green Journalist; Aceh Care Foundation (Yayasan Peduli Nanggroe Aceh); Network of Indigenous Communities in Aceh (Jaringan Komunitas Masyarakat Adat); Foundation for Sustainable Ecosystems (Yayasan Ekosistem Lestari), and Coalition of Human Rights Organizations in Aceh (Kaolisi NGO HAM). The Network works to promote the visibility of the situation in the Tripa Peat Swamp Forest, inside and outside the country.
According to Irsadi Aristora, around December 2011, TKPRT came out to oppose the Aceh government which expanded the concession rights given to the oil palm plantations of PT Kalista Alam (PT = Perseroan Terbatas or “limited company”). They were given the right to exploit peat swamp forests to a depth of three metres, and a case has been filed with the Court.
On 6 May 2012, concerned Ministers from Jakarta made a trip to the Tripa Peat Swamp Forest. The delegation was composed of H. Zulkifli Hasan, Minister of Forestry, and representatives from the Ministry of the Environment, the Police Department, the Task Force on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation, the REDD+ Task Force, and the President’s Delivery Unit for Development Monitoring and Oversight (UKP4).
It was found that the Tripa Peat Swamp Forest had been burned to prepare for oil palm plantation by PT Kalista Alam, and H. Zulkifli Hasan and representatives from the Ministry of the Environment gave instructions to investigate the environmental damage caused.
TKPRT has questioned the Aceh government about exapnding the concession area given to PT Kalista Alam in the peat swamp forest to a depth of three metres. They deem the permission a breach of the law since existing regulations permit exploitation of peat swamp forests to a depth of only 0.5–1.5 meters. In other words, the Aceh government has been accused of not abiding by the law and abusing their power.
TKPRT works on the issue by dividing roles according to each organization’s expertise, while sharing the same direction and mission. They have vowed to fight until the Aceh government stops giving concession rights to PT Kalista Alam.
Though the case of Tripa Peat Swamp Forest has drawn wide attention, the Network is far from sure that the company will stop encroaching on the peat swamp forest since their concession rights still stand.
As a core member of TKPRT, Irsadi Aristora works on information dissemination at the national and international levels. As Deputy Head of the Aceh chapter of Transparency International (TI), he uses his organization headquartered in Berlin, Germany, to boost the visibility of the problems of the Tripa Peat Swamp Forest.
During 10-14 November 2010, Irsadi Aristora presented the issue of the Tripa Peat Swamp Forest at the 14th International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC) held in Bangkok. Since then, information about the Tripa Peat Swamp Forest has been spread far and wide via email.
“During the 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship in Denmark from 11–25 June 2011, a GreenPeace volunteer ran into the pitch showing a banner that says “SAVE RAWA TRIPA” to call international attention to the issue. It raised the question in people’s mind as to what is happening to the peat swamp forest,” Irsadi Aristora said proudly about efforts to raise more awareness about the Tripa Peat Swamp Forest.
Eventually, the question was raised at the G20 Summit on 12 March 2012, held in Bali, Indonesia.
Irsadi Aristora further said that apart from PT Kalista Alam, the Tripa Peat Swamp Forest is home to communities, many of which have been forced to resettle elsewhere by the Aceh government. But many families have refused to move as they legally own the land and have been living off the Tripa Peat Swamp Forest. They continue to stay there to defend their land located just inside the peat swamp forest.
On 5 August 2012, TKPRT was invited to meet the Governor of Aceh to report on what they have been doing. Also participating in the meeting were three leaders of communities living inside the Tripa Peat Swamp Forest.
“In front of the three community leaders, Muhammad Yahya, Chief Officer of the Integrated Services Licensing Agency (Badan Pelayanan Perizinan Terpadu), told the Aceh Governor that there has been no people or community inside the Tripa Peat Swamp Forest. The villagers have simply encroached on the forest.”
Irsadi Aristora found the information put forward by Muhammad Yahya self-contradictory. While he reported that there have been no traditional communities in the Tripa Peat Swamp Forest, he claimed that they have been living on land where concession rights have been granted. TKPRT thus rejected the report by Muhammad Yahya.
The dispute has led to litigation. On 16 August 2012, Irsadi Aristora brought the three community leaders to file a complaint at Aceh Police Station accusing the official for the Integrated Services Licensing Agency of reporting false information to the Aceh Governor that there have been no traditional communities in the Tripa Peat Swamp Forest and accusing the Aceh government of giving concession rights to exploit parts of the Tripa Peat Swamp Forest to a depth of more than three metres.
The police were very slow in taking action as PT Kalista Alam was awarded the concessions while Mr. Irwandi Yusuf became Governor of Aceh after winning the elections in April 2012.
According to Irsadi Aristora, to make it clear, the Aceh government has to revoke all concession rights given to PT Kalista Alam as a way to prevent encroachment into the Tripa Peat Swamp Forest by other companies.
“The first thing the government can do is revoke the concessions,” asserts Irsadi.
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The views of the author do not reflect those of the API Fellowships Program, The Nippon Foundation, the Coordinating Institution, and/or the Partner Institutions
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