Transactions Facilitate Forest Encroachment
An investigation conducted by the Kompas daily in Kerinci Seblat National Park (TNKS), located in West Sumatra and Jambi, found illegal transactions involving farmland in protected forests, which is prohibited.
Piles of wood from the protected forest of Geumpang, Pidie District, Aceh Province were confiscated by the police as evidence related to the illegal logging case.
Many forest conservation areas have been illegally cleared and turned into community plantations. The buying and selling of land for agriculture in conservation areas has further encouraged forest encroachment.
JAKARTA, KOMPAS — Forest encroachment is being increasingly encouraged in a number of conservation areas partly due to illegal deals over land in protected forests that has been illegally cleared. Parts of protected forests have been turned into plantations that can change hands from one individual to another.