Activists Send Letters to Trees in Protest: Malang, East Java

Malang residents took a different approach to protesting against the declining amount of green space in the East Java city — they wrote letters to the trees themselves. The letters were sent to a mahogany tree and a banyan tree in the city ahead of Earth Day on April 22. The protest was conducted by members of the Environmental Awareness Community Alliance in Malang as Wahyoe Boediwardhana writes.

“…Trees, my brothers, as long as our hearts are still beating, we will continue trying to protect you, fighting for you. We cannot share the pain that you have to go through, but we can see your suffering…,” one letter says.

The activists placed the letters on the trees’ trunks.

The activists also held theatrical performances in nine different parts of the city to illustrate the trees’ suffering.

“The two trees are witnesses to how other trees have been illegally felled for the sake of development,” said Purnawan Dwikora Negara, the head of the East Java chapter of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), speaking at the protest.

He said the protest was part of a series of events marking Earth Day and was aimed at encouraging all people to be aware of the decline of green space in Malang.

He said green spaces were a part of the ecosystem and needed to be preserved.

There are now just 3,000 hectares of green space in Malang city, 2.89 percent of its area. According to a 2002 government regulation, the city’s green space should actually amount to at least 10 percent of the area.

The city’s green space consists of 12 hectares of parkland, 80 hectares of riverbanks, 150 hectares of private gardens and plantations and 2,940 hectares of rice field.

The activists, which included representatives of the Widaya Gama University School of Law, Malang Corruption Watch, Walhi, the Surabaya Legal Aid Institute in Malang and the Green Student Environment, also visited Malang Town Square shopping complex, where their protest was shut down by security guards.

Purnawan said the shopping complex had been built without a permit on green space that was mean to be a water catchment area, increasing floods during heavy rains.

The shopping center’s management did not comment on the accusation.

Purnawan urged all Malang officials and policymakers to put a stop to the conversion of green spaces as it would cause problems in the future.

“We’ve started to feel the impacts now. Geographically, Malang is located on high ground but it now floods during the rainy season. This never happened before. This is real evidence that we can’t maintain the balance in the ecosystem,” he said

A series of activities marking Earth Day will continue with a prayer of Saturday night. The activists also plan to send out a petition, including to Lapindo Brantas Inc., the company blamed for the East Java mudflow, and the Malang administration.

Earth Day events will end Wednesday with a film screening and concert.

Wahyoe Boediwardhana