The Herman Johannes Forest Park has an area of 1,900 hectares. It is located in 12 villages and four...
This story excerpt was translated from bahasa Indonesia. The original story was printed in full on Media Indonesia. You may also view the original story on the Rainforest Journalism Fund website here. Our website is available in English, Spanish, bahasa Indonesia, French, and Portuguese.
The looting of trees at the Herman Johannes Forest Park is still happening to this day. Many cases are revealed, but many more are still in the dark. To save the park, a management block was created.
The looting and illegal use of the protected park is the same old story. The fact of people living in forest areas, as well as taking firewood, clearing the forest to open new farms, grazing livestock illegally, and hunting for animals, is still there. As these cases often occur, they are even considered normal.
"The government is often confused by facts like these, so what we can do is to allow the people to garden inside the park, but ask them not to cut down the trees," said Head of the Environment and Forestry Agency of Kupang Regency, Peternus Vinsi in an interview in April 2022.
