W

ith great joy I read the Post's article (May 19) stating that the government has finally recognized areas defined as customary forests.

This means that the government's ownership of customary forests is now declared void. Moreover, the government has to respect and recognize indigenous communities' rights to own and use their customary forests to meet their daily needs.

This law, however, has materialized too late for hundreds of Dayak on the island of Borneo. They have lost their customary forests already to coal mining companies, oil palm plantation owners, gold mining concessions and giant sawmills.

Their precious forests are gone. Even protected forest areas belonging to the Orangutan and Proboscis apes, including Pygmy elephant conservation centers, are being cut down, making way for oil palm plantations. This is a nightmare for me as I grew up in these rainforests.

The Post also published an article in March that the Court in Aceh has overruled Aceh's Governor's plea to protect its forests from being cut down to make way for oil palm plantations.

I was absolutely horrified to read that the Aceh Court has decided against the Governor's plea and has sided with the oil palm plantation owners.

Aceh is therefore now turning into a giant oil palm plantation. How much did the judge receive from oil palm plantation owners?

I have lived in Aceh and I was so proud to see that Aceh's prime forests were at that time still protected and reserved for the abundance of its flora and fauna.

I have even seen three enormous Sumatran tigers in cages at the provincial agricultural department offices. These huge animals were already wearing tracking devices, waiting to be released in Lampung's forests.

These tigers were caught near several villages in the Aceh
province, threatening the lives of farmers. Since these forests were still in prime condition at that time, Sumatran tigers were living peacefully and multiplying so fast, threatening the lives of villagers.

Indonesia is losing its rain forests, including its precious flora and fauna, at such a fast pace that this country will soon turn into a second Sahara.

Lynna an der Zee-Oehmke
Bogor, West Java