Wednesday, 13 October, 2010 | 14:21 WIB

TEMPO Interactive, Jambi:The Jambi Province will soon have the widest village forest in Indonesia.

Residents in 17 villages from five subdistricts in Merangin, Jambi, are proposing that 49,514 hectares of its land be transformed into village forest.

The wood is part of a production forest, included in the buffer zone of Kerinci Seblat National Park.

“We do this to give a chance to the community to cultivate their own land, as a form of justice,” said Arif Munandar, the Executive Director of the Jambi branch of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), on Monday (11/10).

A private company, PT Duta Alam Makmur has proposed the land as 118.955 hectares of industrial plant area.

But the permit was cancelled by the Forestry Department because of the community’s rejection, advocated by three NGOs, which are Walhi KKI Warsi, Sumatra Sustainable Support, and Tiga Beradik Foundation.

They are worried that if the land was managed by a private company, the national park area will be encroached.

SYAIPUL BAKHORI