JPIK explained the results of monitoring deforestation and illegal logging that occurred in the Kerinci Seblat National Park (TNKS) area in the provinces of Bengkulu, South Sumatra and West Sumatra. The press conference held on Tuesday, December 19th 2023 was also attended by media colleagues.
From the results of monitoring in Bengkulu, there were encroachment locations where there were still burning residue, white meranti wood and kruing found and oil palm plantations in the area. Furthermore, the findings in South Sumatra also show that there is clearing of new land and parking lots for trucks loaded with wood. Pesisir Selatan is also a priority point for monitoring deforestation in West Sumatra. The findings using the Global Forest Watch (GFW) platform also show 200 points of land clearing and are thought to be the cause of the floods that submerged 800 houses in Pesisir Selatan in 2021.
TNKS collaborative protection efforts have been carried out over the last few years, starting from Community Based Forest Management (PHBM) through business development based on local village potential in social forestry schemes and conservation partnerships, to involving communities around TNKS to carry out patrols. However, cases of encroachment and illegal logging in the TNKS area still continuing to occur, wider public participation is needed. With a spatial platform such as Global Forest Watch (GFW) which is freely available today, the public can be actively involved in monitoring the condition of the TNKS area and examining the causes of damage effectively and efficiently.