Early 2023, PROFAUNA Found Two Cases of Protected Forests Encroachment in Malang
Forest patrols conducted by the PROFAUNA Indonesia team revealed two cases of protected forest encroachment in Malang Regency in January 2023. Fortunately, the encroachment of the forest could be curb before it spread widely, because the PROFAUNA patrol team worked together with the Forestry Management (locally known as Perhutani) team as the authority is responsible for managing the forest for handling the encroachment of the protected forest.
The first forest encroachment occurred in the working area of Karangan Area of the Forestry Management with the encroached forest area covering about 0.5 ha on Plot 87. The encroachment of the forest was carried out by burning the forest to be converted into vegetable plantation.
The perpetrator of the arson in the protected forest area was Wiroto (single name), a resident of Giripurno Village, Batu City, East Java. The culprit has been called to the Karangan Forestry Management office to make a statement letter containing the perpetrator's willingness to restore the burned forest area by planting trees. The statement letter was signed by Wiroto on January 26, 2023.
The second case of forest encroachment occurred in the protected forest area of Plot 124 in Ngantang, Malang Regency, East Java. The PROFAUNA Indonesia team, which initially wanted to install an information board prohibiting wildlife poaching, found a protected forest covering an area of about 0.6 ha that was cleared by cutting down the tree stands. After an investigation, it turned out that the protected forest would be planted with avocado fruit trees by a local villager named Siswantoro (single name).
The perpetrator of forest encroachment in Ngantang was then summoned to the Sekar Forestry Management office for guidance (social "punishment" or awareness) on January 27, 2023. The encroacher promised to immediately replant the encroached forest area with fruit trees such as avocados and durians.
"The importance of regular forest patrols is to detect the initial occurrence of encroachment in the forest, so that it will not widespread and damage the rest of the forest as what have happened in the forests of the southern Malang region," said Rosek Nursahid, founder of PROFAUNA Indonesia.