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This is part 1 of 5 of Tempo Magazine's August 3rd edition cover story.
Minister of Environment and Forestry Siti Nurbaya Bakar gave the subsidiary of Rajawali Corpora, owned by tycoon Peter Sondakh, the permit to build a road for transporting coal in Harapan Forest in Jambi and South Sumatra. Before issuing the permit, Minister Siti even went as far as revising a regulation that would have prohibited building the road.
The Harapan Forest restoration area, which is a natural habitat for Sumatra's endemic animals, will be split by the 26-kilometer-long and 60-meter-wide road. Besides destroying trees in the secondary forest, at a value of over Rp400 billion, the mining road will also threaten biodiversity and indigenous communities, and will open the opportunity for illegal loggers to enter the restored production forest.
Menteri lingkungan Hidup dan Kehutanan Siti Nurbaya Bakar memberi cicit usaha Rajawali Corpora milik taipan Peter Sondakh izin membanguan jalan angkut batu bara di Hutan Harapan Jambi dan Sumatera Selatan. Menteri Siti merevisi aturan yang melarang jalan tambang di area restorasi sebelum menerbitkan izin tersebut.
Area restorasi Hutan Harapan yang menjadi perlintasan satwa endemis Sumatera itu akan dibelah sepanjang 26 kilometer dan selebar 60 meter. Tak hanya akan menyebabkan hilangnya kayu hutan sekunder yang besar-besar senilai lebih dari Rp 400 miliar, pembukaan jalan tambang juga mengancam keberagaman hayati dan masyarkat adat serta membuka celah bagi para perambah untuk masuk ke area hutan produski yang sedang dipulihkan itu.