Half of Tanah Toraja`s Forest Destroyed: Makassar, Sulawesi

By Barrie | May 15th, 2007 | No Comments

It’s mindboggling that the irresponsibility of the Indonesian government would allow such destruction of rainforests in the archipelago, but, it’s nothing new. Latest news has it that some 65,000 hectares or almost half of Tanah Toraja`s 138,101 hectares of forests have been destroyed by illegal logging activity, an environmentalist reported in the Antara News.

“Illegal logging activity in Toraja has reahed an alarming level and could threaten the environment of Toraja, which is a famous tourist resort,” Luther Sambolinggi, executive director of Wahana Lestari Persada (Walda) Foundation, said here on Monday.

Some parts of the forest areas had turned into barren land, while actually the areas used to be `water reservoirs” for several rivers flowing through South Sulawesi such as the Saddang and Pareman rivers, he said