Sumatra: Harapan - Illegal Logging in Harapan

The greatest threat to the forest and inhabitants of Harapan Rainforest is the continuation of widespread deforestation, despite the land being officially protected.

Mass clearing of the forest has dramatiaclly increased in the last 6months and the face of the East side of Harapan has been detrimentally changed, forest removal and conversion to Oil Palm.

Forest clearance: Only a lone tree survives

Palm oil planting: A sea of palm oil on the horizon

Palm oil plantation: Big business

Illegal selective logging within central portions of Harapan Rainforest also poses a major threat to large trees. This is generally undertaken on a smaller scale than forest clearance, but it is changing the forest and allowing invasives species to take over.

Logging rails make dragging the trees out much easier. They also indicate that this is a pretty big operation. 

We followed this logging track at least half a kilometer back into the forest.

Trees are cut into planks in situ.

The forest that remains is degraded and disturbed. Invasive species often fill in these gaps.

Wood is cut and prepared in the forest then floated out with ease

Logging operations make use of the river to float the cut wood out of the forest

Deforestation is an ongoing battle in Harapan Rainforest:

redd-monitor.org: The SPI settlement is deep inside Harapan, on a scale large enough to compromise the ecological integrity of the forest