The agar wood fragrance is tempting the hunters from outside the area. They're not like residence people who are able to select and choose a good quality agar wood; they tend to cut down every agar wood they found, leaving nothing behind.
The traces were still fresh: footprints, broken twigs, and leaves on the forest floor. Abet Nego, a member of Village’s Conservation Officer, was tracking the traces into the middle of the forest. Not far from a creek, the Deputy Chief Dayak Lesan found three shelters which were just left behind. The smoke was still coming out from the fireplace. The ants still haven’t touched leftover food. Feeling sure the shelters’ owners was still not far from there, Abet shouted, “Oeeeee.”
As an answer to Abet’s shout, a voice can be heard from a distance. After one kilometre, Abet found four young men holding sickle and machete. One of them holds an axe. All of them shoulder a same big plastic bag. Undoubtedly, they are “gaharu hunters” who have made the villagers restless lately.
Lesan Forest in Kecamatan Lesan, Kabupaten Berau is what’s left of Borneo forests. Apart from being the “storage house” for agar wood, in this forest there is also hundred-years-old Eusideroxylon zwageri, an exceptionally rare species. This forest is a former HPH forest, and full of enormous trees from Dipterocarpaceae family, with more than one metre in diameter. Lesan forest is one of the last habitats for orangutan, a rare primate species who only live in Sumatra and Kalimantan.
More than that, Lesan Forest is a home for an East Kalimantan endemic sub-species orangutan Pongo pygmaeus mario. This forest is not only a sanctuary for rare species of plants and animals, but also a source of live for the people who live around it. The people from Muara Lesan, Lesan Dayak, Merapun and Sidobangun can easily get honey, fish, herbal medicine, and sometimes agar wood (Aquilaria sp). Agar wood is not only fragrant, but also valuable. These people call it tree karas, garu, alim, or kompe.
Since the past, agar wood is a famous raw material for perfume industry. The price is extraordinary. One kilogram of black, shiny, first quality of agar wood “heart” can reach Rp. 10.000.000, even Rp. 30.000.000 (approximately equivalent to $1000 - $3000). Even shards and piecesof agar wood can reach Rp. 600.000 per kilogram (approximately equivalent to $60).
From the knowledge of ancestor of Dayak Punan, the villagers are able to make selection of fully infected “heart”-blackened agar wood, that have incredible scent and high price. With that skill, they can pick a ripe agar wood to be cut down and let others grow old enough to be harvested. This way, the “fragrance mine” can be conserved.
Unfortunately, this very fragrance also attracts people from outside the villages, and these so-called hunters came from various area. Niel Makinuddin, Forest Program Manager of The Nature Conservancy (TNC) said that agar wood hunters in Lesan forest came from far places like Banjarmasin, or even Lombok Island. “If there is a local person, they only as guide,” he said.
These hunters can’t differentiate ready-to-cut agar wood from the others, unlike the villagers. They cut down every agar wood they found, not caring whether it’s old enough or not. Their attitude could threaten agar wood conservation.
Not only that, these hunters have dangerous side jobs, such as taking everything they found in the forest, like wildlife, black orchid, or anything they can sell. Lately, they even target the rare and very expensive iron wood. Iron wood, unfortunately, is the kind of tree where orangutans prefer as sleeping tree. Threat against iron wood is a direct threat against Pongo pygmaeus mario.
Because they come from afar, these hunters have to stay in the forest for days, which means they have to make shelters and do other daily necessities like bathing, washing, and cooking. In times of dry weather, the fire these hunters left often turns into a big fire burning down the forest.
The hunters Abet found claimed that they came from Labanan, a village not far from Lesan. Abet didn’t believe them because the distance between Lesan and Labanan can be covered in one day trip on foot. There was no need to stay the night in the forest, if it was true what they had claimed that they came from neighbouring village. When Abet confronted them again, they asked permit to be in the forest one more day. “What else can I do? I don’t have authorization as a ranger. It’s my own willingness to guard the forest,” said Abet.
A few days later, Abet caught them again. It turns out there were eight of them, not four. And they had been weeks in the forest, not a day or two. Realizing the danger they might have presented to the forest, Abet asked them to leave at once. “Please, sir, this is a protected forest,” said the nephew of Lesan Dayak’s chief, “if you insist to stay, you will have to face the entire villagers, not only me.”
To Lesan Dayak people, forest is not only a place to live for iron wood and orangutan, but also their life. “If it’s gone, how will we live?” said Abet. (To be continued.)
This article has been published in Tribun Kaltim newspaper on Wednesday, November 19th, 2008, ssupported by fellowship program of orangutan news coverage. This fellowship program is a collaboration project between Orangutan Conservation Service Program (OCSP), Yayasan Pro Media, and Analisis Jurnalis Independen (AJI) Jakarta.
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