Bengkulu Police Investigating The Sale And Purchase Of Elephant Habitat Forest Area

Illustration/Photo: Antara

BENGKULU - The Bengkulu Regional Police (Polda) has dispatched a team to conduct an investigation regarding the alleged case of buying and selling forests that are the habitat of the remaining Sumatran elephant (Elephas maximus Sumatranus) in North Bengkulu Regency and Mukomuko Regency, Bengkulu Province.

Bengkulu Police Chief, Inspector General Pol. Agung Wicaksono through the Head of Public Relations of the Police, Grand Commissioner Pol Sudarno, said that his party would coordinate with the Provincial Government and the Kerinci Sebelat National Park (TNKS) regarding the matter.

"Later, a team will be dispatched to conduct an investigation and it will be coordinated with the Bengkulu Provincial Government and TNKS," said Sudarno in Bengkulu, Tuesday, March 1.

The person in charge of the Seblat Landscapes Consortium, Ali Akbar, said that based on the results of an eight-month investigation and routine monitoring carried out collaboratively by members of the Seblat Landscapes Consortium, it is strongly suspected that there was a sale and purchase of elephant habitat forest areas of up to hundreds of hectares in the Mukomuko Regency area.

In addition, he said, the results of the analysis of forest cover carried out by the Seblat Landscape Consortium in the working area of the Essential Ecosystem Area (KEE) of the elephant corridor covering an area of 80,987 hectares, it is known that 39,812.34 hectares or 49 percent have become secondary dryland forest and an area of 23,740.06 hectares, or 29 percent of them have switched functions to non-forest.

The consortium assesses that law enforcement is weak, especially from regional stakeholders, which makes the actions of the mafias of buying and selling forest areas increasingly open, he said.

In fact, he explained, among the people, the selling price of forest areas that have been cut down and ready to be planted with oil palm is sold in the range of IDR 10 million to IDR 15 million per hectare.

A number of areas are under high pressure due to forest encroachment, including the Lebong Kandis Limited Production Forest (HPT), the Rami Water Production Forest, and the Teramang Water Production Forest.