Illegal logging and deforestation in Mandailing

The urgent issues in Mandailing are environmental, in particular, illegal logging, forest burning and water management. Since indigenous populations have lost control over their communal lands in the post-Suharto era, illegal logging is rife in what is considered 'no man's land. Illegal logging has been going on in Natal and Batang Natal for decades, long before the formation of Madina (the autonomous district of Mandailing-Natal constituted in 1999). The logging is carried out PT. Gruti from Jakarta in collision with the local authorities including the police and military. Illegal logging in Hutanamale in Upper Mandailing resulted in the supply of water to the paddy fields in Maga drying up, causing a misunderstanding between the two villages.

The Mandailing community are angry that little has been done to stop the illegal logging, at both the national and provincial levels. The villagers in Sayur Maincat have prevented trucks from entering Desa Pagar Gunung, Upper Mandailing, where illegal logging is taking place. In a public demonstration against illegal logging in Sosa, 18-year old Febriadi Nasution was shot dead by police. Towards the end of 2000, many reports on illegal logging in Mandailing were carried by the Medan press. In April 2001, the national daily, Kompas, reported that a jungle post belonging to PT KNDI at Desa Tabuyung in Muara Batanggadis was razed to the ground by villagers.