A Sumatran View of Rainforest Destruction by Melanie Jae Martin for SOS

            In Indonesia, the forests are being destroyed at a rate of about six football fields per minute. In Sumatra, destruction is happening especially fast, though it’s one of the last places where many animals like the orangutan live. Recently I was talking with a Sumatran friend in Ubud who has seen the forests of his homeland being destroyed without regard for the wildlife, the local people, or the health of the earth as a whole. I asked how the local people in Sumatra feel about the loss of their native forest, one of the most diverse environments on the planet.

My friend, Olie (Said Fudaily), lived most of his life in Aceh, Sumatra, the northernmost province. Though he is all too aware of what’s happening to his homeland, he said that most people there don’t know how serious the problem is. Many people don’t realize they’re living in one of the most diverse environments on the planet, or that their forests play a large role in cleaning the planet’s air. Seeing elephants roaming through the jungle, and vast numbers of bird species in the trees, is just part of life in some areas. Not realizing how special and important it is, people sometimes sell away this rich natural heritage. Most people from his village of Kualasimpang, on the northeast coast of Sumatra, don’t have much background on environmental issues, Olie says. That makes it easier for palm oil and timber companies to exploit the people and the forests. “The rich buy the land from the villagers step by step,” he says, adding, “NGOs from all over the world teach them [the villagers] how to care more about the environment.” But, he says, it takes a long time to help the people realize how serious rainforest destruction is. It’s been happening on a large scale since the 1930s, and many people have lived all their lives surrounded by palm oil plantations. Now it seems like just a normal part of life, like the two factories in Kualasimpang that make margarine from palm oil. And if that weren’t enough, the area is surrounded by oil rigs plumbing the earth for liquid fuel. I felt surprised at first that local people don’t realize how serious the problem is. But growing up in “coal country” in the United States, I didn’t realize that strip mining was a major environmental problem. Bulldozers slicing through the mountainsides of Appalachia were just part of the landscape in some places. I didn’t realize what had been lost until later. Even when environmental problems become severe, we sometimes don’t connect them to their cause. Or we believe we have no choice but to keep cutting down trees or bulldozing mountains. In Sumatra, some people sell their land to send their children to college, Olie says. Others want funding to improve their villages. And companies have simply seized land from some people, or made promises they never kept. Lack of awareness, or of other options, makes education and outreach critical. SOS works with local communities to help them develop better alternatives, because the consequences are becoming more and more extreme. In the 1980s, severe flooding destroyed much of the mangrove forests along the coast in Sumatra, Olie says—and in 2006, the biggest flood in 60 years hit, devastating many villages. People are still trying to recover from the loss of lives and the damage it caused to their homes and communities. Flooding has become such a problem because the lush natural forest has been removed, and the palm oil trees’ roots don’t absorb much water. If deforestation continues, flooding will only keep getting worse. Landslides are a huge problem too; water, earth, and logged trees form a deadly combination for villages in their path, as Olie points out. Coming from one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots, he finds it extremely frustrating to see the forests being transformed from a lush paradise to a farm. “I love something wild. I love something beautiful. I love wonderful things like beautiful green nature. I love forests,” he says. He imagines that anyone who wants to destroy such places must have become a monster inside. And what is a monster, if not someone who has forgotten how to care about other people, animals, and the most magnificent natural places of our world? How did Olie come to have such a different perspective on the forest than most people from his homeland? Years ago, he says, he started listening to a Brazilian heavy metal band that sung about the destruction of the Amazon rainforest, and took the messages of its music to heart. Though the Amazon is halfway around the world, the problems there are the same, with just as much at stake—the fate of the world’s atmosphere, and the numerous species, including humans around the world, who depend on the forests for survival. The fact that music and words have the power to transform and teach people gives us reason to hope. To save the rainforests of the world, we need to keep sharing our knowledge and our love for these places through our words, music, and art. We need to send a message to our governments that we care about the world ecosystem including all humans in all places, not just our own country. Only through collaboration between many individuals and governments can we save these beautiful natural wonders. We need to imagine a better world, and create it together. Imagining a world where greed doesn’t blind us to the wonders of nature, Olie says with a smile, “I’m kind of a dreamer.” But he’s not the only one. And we need many, many dreamers to dream this healthier, happier world into being.