TEMPO.CO, Pekanbaru - Giam Siak Kecil and Bukit Batu biosphere reserve forests in Bengkalis Regency, Riau have become endangered due to forest fires that occur over the last two weeks. "[The fires] have burnt around 1,000 hectares and they keep spreading," Bengkalis Police chief Adjunct Senior Commissioner Andry Wibowo told Tempo on Thursday, February 20, 2014.
Biosphere reserve forest is an internationally acknowledged environment conservation and cultivation concept. Giam Siak Kecil was acknowledged as a biosphere reserve forest during an UNESCO session in South Korea on May 26, 2009, and is one of the seven biosphere reserve forests in Indonesia. Riau also has another biosphere reserve forest in Siak Regency.
Giam Siak Kecil forest covers 84,967 hectares of land while Bukit Batu covers 21,500 hectares. Both forests are a part of the Sumatran eco-region, which is a conservation area covering a total of 178,722 hectares of land.
According to Andry, the fires were caused by illegal logging activities. The police are currently searching for HD, a person responsible for funding plantation areas and SM, village chief who suspected of selling land to HD. The police had previously detained three men working for HD; they are US (52), DS (42), and JD (36), who accussed of setting the forest on fire.
RIYAN NOFITRA