This story excerpt was translated from bahasa Indonesia. To watch the original video in full, visit TribunPekanbaru.com. Our website is available in English, Spanish, bahasa Indonesia, French, and Portuguese.
The Bukit Tigapuluh National Park (TNBT), which covers an area of 144,223 hectares, is threatened by illegal logging and encroachment. Investors with large capital employ various efforts to be able to control the buffer forest area of TNBT. The investigation in Alim Village, Batang Cenaku Subdistrict, uncovered the sale and purchase of land in the TNBT buffer forest area has been going on for decades. As a result, the buffer forest is lost, and disaster strikes. The people of Batang Cenaku now feel the catastrophic flood disaster is due to the missing forest which would have functioned as a water reservoir. In addition, conflicts between animals and humans are increasingly prevalent. This condition shows the sad reality that the benefits of managing oil palm plantations in the buffer zone of TNBT are only enjoyed by a few people.