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orest fires in Sulawesi are threatening native animal species in Lore Lindu National Park (TNLL) in Central Sulawesi and destroying hectares of plantations in Bone Bolango regency, Gorontalo.

In TNLL, a fire spot was discovered in the middle of the park, making it difficult for firefighters to extinguish the fire.

'€œThe team is forced to walk two kilometers to the fire spot from the Kamarora subdistrict, Sigi regency,'€ the park'€™s conservation technical division head Achmad Yani said.

He said the park was the habitat of various protected animals including ones native to the island such as Anoa (Bubalus quarlesi), Maleo birds (Macrocephalon maleo) and Tarsius (Tarsius bancanus).

Some of their habitats are located around TNLL in the Kamarora and Lemban Tongoa subdistricts.

'€œWhen the forest is on fire, the animals automatically leave their habitats and may never return there,'€ Yani said.

He added that the damage to the habitat would disadvantage both park management and the locals because the animals acted as the main attraction for foreign and domestic tourists in the region.

TNLL is one of six biosphere reserves across Indonesia. The other biosphere reserves are Siberut Island, in West Sumatra, Komodo Island in East Nusa Tenggara, Tanjung Putting in Central Kalimantan, Cibodas in West Java and Leuser National Park in Aceh and North Sumatra province. These reserves were officially named as such in 1977 by Man and the Biosphere UNESCO (MAB UNESCO).

TNLL covers a plot of 217,991.18 hectares in the Poso and Sigi regencies. It is surrounded by 140 subdistricts, 74 of which directly border the park, making the park vulnerable to illegal logging practices and forest fires.

The park is home to some 117 species of mammals, 29 reptiles and 14 amphibians. Over 50 percent of the animals are native to Sulawesi.

Meanwhile in Bone Bolango, Gorontalo, a fire burned down over 100 hectares of plantations belonging to people in the hilly region of East Suwawa district, causing hundreds of millions of rupiah in losses.

'€œMany of the burned plantations were ready to harvest,'€ West Tulabolo subdistrict head Herawati Mokodompit said, adding that the plantations comprised cacao, candlenuts, cashew and cloves.

West Tulabolo was the worst-hit region. The fire also devastated eight other subdistricts in East Suwawa. Herawati said the fire might have been caused by a farmer who burned his fields.

Separately, Bone Bolango Police Chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Wahyu Tri Cahyono said that his office was still investigating the fire to see if there was an element of deliberateness.

'€œIf it contains an element of deliberateness, the perpetrator can be charged with many articles including Article 78 of Law No. 41/1999 on forestry which carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and a fine of Rp 5 billion,'€ Wahyu told The Jakarta Post.

He said fires were also reported to have sprung up in the South Suwawa and Bone Raya districts in at least 16 different spots.

Bone Bolango Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD) head Gagarin Hunawa said that at least four fire trucks had been deployed but they could not do anything because of the difficulties in accessing the fire spots.