Indonesia: Oil palm plantations replace mangrove forests on Sembilan island

Antara 13 Jan 11;

Langkat, North Sumatra (ANTARA News) - Hundreds of hectares of mangrove forests on Sembilan island in Pangkalan Susu district, North Sumatra province, have been turned into oil palm plantations, according to a local environmental observer.

"We have seen the destruction of mangrove forests at Pangkalan Susu, particularly on Sembilan island where the damage is the worst," Heri Widiyanto, executive director of the Langkat-based environmental non-governmental organization Lentera Institute, said here on Thursday.

Widiyanto said the condition of mangrove forests there had deteriorated continuously and the culprits had yet to be identified, He called on the Langkat district chief to take actions to stop the destruction of the environment and enforce the relevant laws to protect the environment.

According to Widiyanto, at least 400 hectares of mangrove forests had now become oil palm plantations, a condition that might eventually cause the island to disappear due to the absence of natural buffers against sea waves. The same thing had already happened to Tapak Kuda Lama island in the Tangjungpuraregion.

In addition, Widiyanto hoped that law enforcing institutions including the police would look into the causes why the forests had metamorphosed into plantations. He also regretted the Forestry office in the regency which had only resorted to token actions in view of such cases there.(*)