Raja Ampat may be the most famous vacation destination in West Papua. However, this province also has various beautiful places that you can visit and enjoy. One of them is its forest area. The west papua forest is one of the best places where you can see the amazing biodiversity and living creature beauties. Therefore, people and government in this area keep trying to the utmost to keep the forest conservation in west papua running for a long time.
What Makes Forest Conservation Necessary in West Papua?
This question leads us to the sad facts about the west papua forest. You may have already guessed. West Papua lost most of its forest area. The worst of all, it is all because of humans. In this case, we are talking about the palm tree plantation for manufacturing the palm oil product.
We found that there is a forest area twice Los Angeles size that has been converted into a palm tree plantation. This situation is dire. Without proper maintaining and further act, it can eventually damage the forest, wildlife that lives in that forest, and the resources that people need to live and run the business and economy of this area.
The Causes of Problems
As we mentioned before, the palm tree plantation for producing palm oil is the main cause of this problem. But, why could that happen? According to the government, many of the companies that own palm tree plantations have broken the agreement that they have signed before. They make illegal moves to expand the plantation. Furthermore, they also are not using the green method to do that. That could damage the forest even further.
The Solutions
People that live in west Papua has voiced their opinion out. They report this matter to the Indonesian government as a part of the movement, which is the forest conservation in west papua. Fortunately, the government has made a move regarding this matter. One of them is revoking the permits of the 12 palm plantations in the West Papua area. These are the ones responsible for the forest damage in West Papua.
Furthermore, many activists also suggest that government not only revoke the permits of those companies. However, the government also needs to manage the area that they have been revoked. Instead of giving other new permits to a new investor, this method will ensure that the forest conservation process in the West Papua area can be conducted without any problems.
The good news is the West Papua government agreed and even vowed to support that movement. They promised to protect the remaining rainforest in West Papua and control the agriculture, mining, and logging industry in this area more strictly.
The Locals Movement
On the other hand, many people also have done their task to support the forest conservation program and maintain the forest situation in West Papua. They start to use more environmentally friendlier methods to open the land for plantation or farming. It will prevent the damage caused by fire, a traditional method to open land.
They also try to convert the forest into a vacation destination. This way, the forest maintenance will keep going. It also can attract more people’s attention and organization from the world, so the prevention for forest exploitation will be achieved.
Conclusion
We are indeed facing a serious problem regarding the forest condition in West Papua. With so many parties and people involved in forest conservation in west papua, we can solve this problem completely. We can enjoy the forest for decades. Then, we leave something that our kids and grandkids can learn and see.
