TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Fire had razed more than one hundred hectares of forest in Mt. Lemongan, Klakah district, Lumajang regency during last week. The most severe fire hit on Friday and Saturday.
“More than 100 hectares of forest were burnt,” said Aak Abdullag Al Kudus, an activist of Laskar Hijau, a community of environment conservation in Mt. Lemongan to Tempo on Sunday.
Aak confirmed that the affected area is a protected forest and conservation area owned by Laskar Hijau. Suspicion is aimed to the illegal land opening by residents in an irresponsible manner.
The fire consumed around 500 hectares of the protected forest which consisted of 1,000 Petung Hitam Bamboo (black asper) and thousands of other types of trees that was planted by Laskar Hijau in the end of 2013.
“The loss is estimated up to Rp350 million,” said Aak.
Based on a research by Tempo, the forest in Mt Lemongan has been hit by fire each year or each time the dry season hit.
Local government of Lumajang regency is planning to allocate 10,000 seedlings of the black asper this year. They will also provide signboards that forbid forest burning and animal hunting in 20 spots.
DAVID PRIYASIDHARTA
