PROTECTING THE SLEEPING PAPUAN GIANT - Climatelinks
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USAID LESTARI: STORY FROM THE FIELD
PROTECTING THE SLEEPING
PAPUAN GIANT
By: Rezki Mulyadi
When he first arrived in Papua to begin a new career
as the regional head of Lorentz National Park, Johan
Nendisa, was aghast. He was unpleasantly surprised
by how heavy his responsibilities would be. Actu-
ally, his reaction is reasonable; the agency is under-
staffed for such a heavy job of taking care a 2.5-
million-hectare large national park, the largest in
South East Asia.
Lorentz National Park is one of the most ecologi-
cally diverse national parks in the world. The park
is one of only three tropical regions with glaciers in
the world. At 5,030 meters above sea level, snow
covers the highest peak of the mountain. Far away
from the mountains, its coastal areas are home to
mangrove forests. Besides its outstanding biodiver-
sity, some glaciers in Jaya Peak sometimes disappear
into the ground in Ballem Valley.
“There are only six of us, Johan realizes that there is an imbalance between
and yet we are responsible to workload and available human resources. He has
been trying to come up with effective and efficient
take care of 48% of Lorentz work division, work scheme, and strategy to fulfill
his duty in Lorentz. “This area is so huge, but our per-
National Park. Try to imagine sonnel are limited. However, we must fulfill our duty.
that.” This area is vital to the livelihoods of the surrounding
communities,” said Johan.
USAID LESTARI: STORY FROM THE FIELD 1
As he walked to a meeting room with the USAID face was obvious when he talked about the needed
LESTARI team in Mimika, he kept telling his stories. resources to protect the national park. The patrol
Right in front of the entrance to the room, he gave route in Lorentz National Park is difficult and very
a friendly smile to his guests as a welcoming gesture. expensive. One patrol costs dozens of millions of
According to his colleagues, Johan is indeed a warm rupiah. “How can it be possible to secure 48% of this
and likeable person. He is a good conversationalist national park with only six personnel. Try to imagine
and makes friends very easily. That is how he han- that,” said Johan while reluctantly smiling.
dles his job. He is aware that he has to build a good
rapport with the surrounding communities to obtain His story is indeed ironic. Half of the national park
their trust. is 2.5 million hectares large. That means one person-
nel is responsible for 184,000 hectares. The figure
In 2014, Johan left his family in Ambon to take a is unbelievable. The involvement of local communi-
new position as the regional head of National Park ties becomes an absolute necessity. Involving local
Service of Lorentz National Park. He had no reason communities is Johan’s secret recipe. He actively re-
to turn down the offer. After he graduated from minds his staff to maintain good relationships and
Faculty of Administration of Pattimura University, build partnerships with the locals. Request for ad-
he began his career in Regional Forestry Agency of ditional personnel and budget has been made pre-
South Sulawesi in 1992. Since that point, he never viously, but there was no response. Furthermore,
stopped caring for the environment. At first, he found according to Johan, alumni of Forestry Vocational
the job difficult because he had never been involved School are often unaccommodated and live unpros-
in or studied the field previously. But his passion for perously. “That is the reality. We must continue involving
the environment motivates him to continue to learn. local communities because that really eases our work,”
Johan said, “It is something normal [to leave home for said Johan.
work]. We have to be ready to be placed anywhere
because it is our life’s choice. It is hard at the beginning, For several times, he asked administrative emplo-
but continuous learning and strong motivation will even- yees to help in the field. According to Johan, adminis-
tually overcome the obstacle.” trative work in the office is not heavy. But the fact
that they have to do something that they were not
His tone quickly changed when he started talking initially assigned for is ironic.
about the sleeping giant, Lorentz National Park.
As the regional head of National Park Service of
Lorentz National Park, he is in charge of supervi- Multi-Stakeholder Forum
sing the national park which is located in Mimika and National Parks are supposed to be protected from
Asmat Regencies. His friendly mannerism helps him destructive human activities and pollution. Accor-
do his work. However, the disappointment on his
Photo:
Johan Nendisa, informing
local residents and village
officials on the importance
of protecting forest areas
situated close to residential
areas.
2 USAID LESTARI: STORY FROM THE FIELD
Photo:
Sailing accross the Lorentz
National Park.
ding to Law 5/1990 about Conservation of Natural Johan realizes that repressive measures will be in-
Resources and Its Ecosystems, National Park is, “a effective because poaching was a cultural tradition
natural conservation area with pristine ecosystem and and a source of income for the locals before the
managed by zonation system for research purposes, area was declared a World Heritage Site. His only
science, education, cultivation, tourism, and recreation.” option is to engage in a dialogue with local commu-
nities. He believes that the Multi-Stakeholder Forum
Lorentz National Park has approximately 630 spe- facilitated by LESTARI is an appropriate initiative to
cies of birds and 123 mammals, and is decorated socialize the importance of preserving the national
with outstanding cultural diversity. Growing popu- park. The forum can also become an avenue where
lation pressures and economic interests necessita- stakeholders meet and plan to work together to
ted the declaration of the park as a World Heritage secure the national park from animal poaching and
Site by the UNESCO in 1999. illegal wildlife trade.
Forest clearing is Lorentz’s biggest threat. The threat “Building and maintaining harmonious relationships
is multiplied by the presence of animal poaching with different parties are vital to the attempt to protect
and illegal wildlife trade, especially birds. The inten- the area. If we fail to do so, the national park is expect-
tion of those actions is clear: money.The presence of ed to be destroyed,” he said.
illegal and destructive activities in Lorentz is unsur-
prising considering the fact that most of the people Animal poaching still frequently occurs. Managing
who live surrounding the park are still economically and protecting the forest is not cheap. Building part-
unprosperous. nerships with different parties allows them to share
resources and minimize expenses. Furthermore,
Papuan cockatoos are targeted by poachers. To Johan believes that future obstacles will be far more
address this problem, Johan cooperates with vil- challenging, and the management team will not be
lage headmen to educate the community about the able to solve them alone.
importance of the national park. He believes that
this strategy can minimize illegal poaching. Ultimately, the preservation of the national park is
in the hands of the local communities. Their envi-
“The local people often excuse themselves by claiming ronmental awareness and local wisdom can mani-
that bird poaching is necessary to fund their children’s fest into precautionary measures that can effectively
education. Socialization from one village to another prevent illegal acts. Involving local communities in a
will not stop. If we keep doing this [socialization and multi-stakeholder forum is necessary to achieve suc-
education], we can reduce the threat against the na- cessful conservation.
tional park,” said Johan.
Failing to work collaboratively with the local peo-
Johan admits that the limited number of person- ple may result in ecological disasters such as flooding,
nel and the abundant entry points provide a condu- drought, and social conflicts. Johan knows that for
cive situation for crimes to occur. Even though hu- a fact. For that reason, we have to work together
mans have the basic right to exploit natural resour- to maintain ecological balance. “We have to embrace
ces, that right has to be exercised wisely. We have every stakeholder to protect Lorentz National Park to-
to take into account the sustainability of the ecosys- gether,” he said.
tem that supports the lives of many.
USAID LESTARI: STORY FROM THE FIELD 3You can also read
