TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – The Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK) responded to forest encroachment in the Singkil Wildlife Reserve, Aceh. One of the causes of the reduction in forest area in the peat swamp conservation area is said to be due to changes in the gazettement of the area following the 1998 and 2021 Decrees of the Minister of Forestry.
“The reduction in the Rawa Singkil SM area is not due to encroachment, but because of changes in the area’s designation following changes in area,” said the Director General of Natural Resources and Ecosystem Conservation (KSDAE) of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Satyawan Pudyatmoko, in a written statement to Tempo, Tuesday, July 30, 2024.
Apart from that, Satyawan revealed the results of his party’s observations that there has been a total of 4,107 hectares of forest land clearing in the Rawa Singkil Wildlife Sanctuary since 2019 until now. Previously, 20,677 hectares of forest area in the same area had been released between 1998 (Decree of the Minister of Forestry Number 166 of 1998) and 2021 (Decree Number 6616 of 2021).
Satyawan claims that KLHK in securing and supervising conservation areas has implemented a smart patrol system to prevent illegal activities in the Rawa Singkil Wildlife Sanctuary. Every attempt at deforestation can be detected early so that prevention can be carried out as quickly as possible.
He mentioned the pressure on the Rawa Singkil Wildlife Sanctuary because the area borders residential areas and lacks a buffer zone. “The Aceh Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) is aware of the pressure on the Rawa Singkil Wildlife Sanctuary, and we have implemented various efforts to address it,” he said.
In fact, according to Satyawan, BKSDA Aceh has conducted a joint operation involving security forces and local government as part of the patrol. As a result, until last week, according to Satyawan, the security of the wildlife sanctuary area did not find any new land clearing.
There are only a few hotspots but Satyawan is convinced that these are only old clearing areas and can be controlled. “A letter of appeal to also supervise so that there is no additional land clearing has also been distributed to ensure that there is no heavy equipment activity and land burning in SM Rawa Singkil,” said Satyawan.
According to Satyawan, the Rawa Singkil Wildlife Reserve is quite risky to trigger forest and land fires. He has instructed the Aceh BKSDA to restore the ecosystem covering 321.8 hectares since 2018 through hydrological control which also mitigates Karhutla. Furthermore, security efforts also involve local communities to become Polhut Partner Communities (Forest Police).
Different Findings from the Field
Previously, the Aceh Natural Forest and Environment Foundation (HAkA) monitored increasingly massive deforestation in the largest peat swamp wildlife sanctuary in Aceh. Since early 2019 until June this year, the loss of forest cover has covered 2,030 hectares or equivalent to more than seven times the area of the GBK complex in Senayan, Jakarta.
Corrections were made on August 7, 2024 at 18:15 WIB for the accuracy of the Director General of KSDAE’s quote regarding potential threats to the Rawasingkil Wildlife Sanctuary and changes in its forest area.
This article has been published previously and read in full at: Tempo.co
