Hundreds of families living inside the Way Kambas National Park (TNWK) in East Lampung regency have refused orders from the park management to move, claiming the 6,000-hectare area they have inhabited since 1999 is their birthright.
In a show of defiance, the marched in front of the TNWK office Monday and Tuesday and blockaded the only road leading in and out of the park.
"We did this because the government stole our property," protest coordinator Hermanto said Tuesday.
"We're mad because our voices have fallen on deaf ears."
The protesters dispersed after hundreds of police officers were deployed to guard park office.
The protesters came from Rajabasa Lama Induk village in Labuhan Ratu district and the villages of Rantau Jaya Udik and Sukadana in Sukadana district.
Apart from building homes in the 125,000-hectare park, they have also cleared land to grow crops.
Hermanto said the three villages had repeatedly urged the government to redraw the park limits.
The park's boundaries are outlined in Forestry Ministry Decree No. 670/Kpts-II/1999.
"But we have the map issued by the Dutch colonial administration in 1938 stating that our land is not part of the national park or the protected forest," Hermanto said.
TNWK management head John Kenedi said his office would stick by the ministerial decree.
He added he had reported the case to the Forestry Ministry's director general of forest protection and natural conservation, Darori, and had been assured the villagers were illegal dwellers.
"We'll use it as legal basis to get these people out of the forest," Kenedi said.
The planned eviction is backed by the East Lampung administration and Lampung provincial police.
"We plan to have all these dwellers out of the TNWK forest by December," he said.
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