Indonesian Government Boosts Efforts On Forest Protection In West Papua

The Indonesian Government is ramping up its efforts to preserve the forests in Wondama Bay District in West Papua.

It has recently opened a new branch of the West Papua Forestry Office in Region III at the Wondama Bay.

“The forests are the lungs of our planet and we need to protect the forests together so that it can benefit us all,” said Paulus Waterpauw, Acting Governor of West Papua.

According to Waterpauw, the new branch will help the Government in its efforts to protect and preserve the forests of West Papua.

“The district government is trying to reconstruct or rearrange the boundaries of protected forest areas to allow for more room for development for our local communities.”

“Majority of the forests in the district is protected forest which are in the form of nature reserves, national parks and marine areas,” said Wondama Bay District Head Hendrik Mambor.

Meanwhile, the West Papua Forestry Office says it needs more forest rangers to help guard 8.39 million hectares of forest.

The Head of the West Papua Forestry Office Hedrik Runaweri says that in each district and city of West Papua, there should be at least 20 forest rangers.

“We currently have around 100 rangers and each ranger guards around 90 000 hectares. It is important to protect the forest because there are several unrecorded activities that has been going on and this is contributing to the deforestation.

“We are trying our best to ensure that there are no illegal activities happening because if we don’t then there is a threat to the people’s lives, ecosystems and biodiversity,” said Runaweri.

The forest rangers are tasked to ensure that there is no illegal logging, illegal mining, forest encroachment and poaching of animals.

Earlier this year, the Norwegian Ambassador to Indonesia, Rut Kruger Giverin, visited West Papua and met Waterpauw to discuss ways to further support and develop West Papua’s ecotourism while preserving its national resources.

Story by: Monica Aguilar

• Monica Aguilar is a lawyer by profession and a former journalist.