Located in the heart of West Java, Masigit Kareumbi Hunting Park is now being designed to protect its biodiversity as well as nurture public awareness about ecological values.

The park was originally meant for the hunting of wild boars that disrupted farmlands belonging to residents around the park. Deer were later brought into the zone as part of the park’s conservation efforts for biodiversity.

“We’re now conducting a deer breeding program in an area of 8 hectares,” said Prasidi Widya Sarjana, a senior member of Wanadri, an association for forest trekkers and mountaineers

The 63-year-old had just finished inspecting the breeding area’s fences for damages.

“We have to repair damaged fences immediately, otherwise the deer could be preyed upon by leopards,” he explained.

As a hunting park, the 12,500-hectare conservation area should be home to various game species, but their numbers have been declining, thus disturbing the local food chain.

“Leopards are known to be on top of the food chain here, although they’re rarely found. Local residents have confirmed their presence and we’ve also ascertained this through trap cameras,” Prasidi said.

While the presence of leopards indicates a healthy ecosystem, the species is being threatened by the shrinking of its habitat. According to Prasidi, this should be promptly addressed and the government — as the highest regulatory institution — should be able to mediate the conflict, which is a tough job but must be executed if ecological harmony is to be maintained.

The hunting park, maintained Prasidi, should continue to be a forest zone. However, farm expansion has remained a threat, which will overwhelm the need to conserve leopards as the habit for this key species is further reduced.

“The shortage of natural prey forces leopards to aim at easier targets, including those in the ranch,” he added.

“We’re even more concerned by possible attacks on men. Although there have been no such reports yet, encounters with locals frequently occur. In a village not far from here, a leopard was said to have devoured a goat,” he noted.

As West Java’s fauna mascot, leopards have been categorized as a critical species by of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) since 2007, which may need an evaluation with intense forest degradation happening in recent years.

To anticipate increasing forest damage, the park’s management offers tree adoption facilities to individuals wishing to become tree guardians as a program to restore nature. Visitors can adopt trees by paying Rp 50,000 (US$3.80) and the trees under their guardianship will be taken care of by park management for at least three years, or until they can grow naturally. 

Masigit Kareumbi park is situated in the upper stretch of the Cimanuk watershed, with many tributaries flowing into Citarum River, the pride of West Java.

As one of the upstream zones of Citarum, Masigit Kareumbi deserves restructuring by a humane conservation approach with due regard to the interests of surrounding communities. It is a task to be executed by all relevant parties.

The sound of luntur gunung, or blue-tailed trogons (Apalharpactes reinwardtii), surprised Nurul Huda, a bird researcher from Bandung who was exploring the park.

As he searched for the endangered birds, which were endemic to Java, he couldn’t trace the source of the sound.

“They might be luntur harimau, orange-breasted trogons[Harpactes oreskios],” he said, stressing the role of birds in distributing seeds in the forest ecosystem.

A green tree frog (Rhacophorus reinwardtii) jumped out of its hiding place at sundown as a trap-camera team was working. The bright blue lines on its toe webs was a striking feature among its body’s green and yellow shades, with dots adorning its skin surface and a yellow stripe running from under its front legs.

Herpetologist Ady Kristanto described frogs as one of the indicators of a sound forest ecosystem that was frequently overlooked.

“I’ve only stayed at this park for one night and have found almost over a dozen frog species,” Ady said.

He regretted not having a complete set of data on reptiles and amphibians in the zone needed to gauge the park’s capacity to support wildlife.

“Various kinds of vegetation are thriving here. Lots of pasangtrees [Quercus Sp] grow here,” Prasidi said.

One such tree can be found near a brook behind the park’s camping ground, standing at a height of 30 meters. Western nations know them as oak trees, with wood suitable for furniture and construction.

The park is also peppered with saninten (Castanea argentea),rasamala (Altingia excelsea) and puspa (Schima walachii), with a large number of pine trees spread around the area.

Prasidi said these trees were introduced when the park was under the management of state forestry company Perhutani. Now it’s jointly managed by the provincial Natural Resources and Conservation Center and Wanadri. 

The park also serves as a place for students to study biology and ecology. Youths are expected to be concerned over environmental conditions in the future, Prasidi said.

“Without such awareness, we’ll be facing devastation. We have only one Earth, no other places in the universe have yet been discovered for human habitation,” he remarked.

The revitalization of this hunting park can’t just be handled by Wanadri’s forum alone. It requires the contribution of various parties to maintain the park as the fountain of West Java’s fresh air and clean water.

 “We’re just a small part of a larger effort. So, let’s all work together,” appealed Prasidi.

— Photos by Syafrizaldi