INFLUENCE OF FOREST COVER LOSS ON ORANG UTANS HABITAT 2. Methods and Materials 2.1. Study Area As mentioned above, Kalimantan forests are suffering from destruction from logging activities, agricultural encroachment, and conversion to plantations, which have no exception for forests in Kapuas Hulu District, West Kalimantan. Even though having 2 important national parks (Betung Kerihun and Danau Sentarum), Kapuas Hulu district is mostly threatened by declining forest areas caused by huge economic activities (Departemen Kehutanan, 2003). Based on WWF (2005), Betung Kerihun, the second largest national park in Kalimantan (800.000 ha) after Kayan Mentarang NP, provides habitat for approximately 1,200 Orang Utans. Meanwhile, Danau Sentarum NP (132.000 ha), listed as a Ramsar site since 1994, also provides habitats for Proboscis monkey and Orang Utans (WWF, 2005). In addition, another reason for choosing this study area of Kapuas Hulu District is the data availability, particularly the spatial data from WWF and Ministry of Forestry of Indonesia. Moreover, there is awareness from Bupati of Kapuas Hulu towards the forests condition in the area as shown by Bupati Decree No.144 of 2003 concerning Determination Kapuas Hulu District as Conservation District. The decree states that natural resource components in Kapuas Hulu are related to each other and threatened by destruction, so it is urgent to manage the natural resources in a sustainable manner and to eliminate the current impacts from human activities. Furthermore, there is currently big project “Heart of Borneo” launched by WWF Indonesia and supported by national and local government to ensure the protection and sustainable use of the forests in the area. Kapuas Hulu District is located in the Northern part of West Kalimantan province between latitude 0,5° N - 1,4° S and longitude 111,4° E and 114,1° E. It covers an area of 29,842 km². It shares its border with Sarawak, Malaysia to the North, East Kalimantan province to the East, Central Kalimantan province to the South, and Sintang district to the West. 16 INFLUENCE OF FOREST COVER LOSS ON ORANG UTANS HABITAT The climate exhibits a very high annual rainfall, being typical of the wet inland areas of Kalimantan. The average annual rainfall is between 2,863 to 5,517 mm, the number of rainy days is between 120 and 309 per year, and means annual temperature varies from 22°C to 31°C. There are two distinct seasons, dry months occurs between June and September with approximately 100 mm rainfall per month, and the rainy season between October and May (Susilo, 2003). The vegetation and floristic composition can generally be divided into Lowland dipterocarpforest, Alluvial forest, Swamp forest, Old secondary forest, Hill dipterocarp forest, Limestone forest, Sub-montane forest, and Montane forest. The topography is mainly hilly and mountainous, with altitude ranging from 150 to 2,000 masl. Forest types that are suitable habitat of Orang Utans, are lowland dipterocarp forest, swamp forest, old secondary forest, and hill dipertocarp forest. .. (a) (b) (c) Figure 8 :(a) Location of Indonesia, (b) Location of Borneo, (c) Location of Study Area (Kapuas Hulu District . Almost 50% of the district is protected area, two of them are Betung Kerihun NP (800,000 ha or approximately 27.60% of the total area of Kapuas Hulu District) and `Danau Sentarum NP (132,000 ha) (Susilo, 2003 and Morrogh-Bernerd, 2003). 17 INFLUENCE OF FOREST COVER LOSS ON ORANG UTANS HABITAT The two national parks located in the upper Kapuas River Basin parks are extremely important for biodiversity conservation in Kapuas Hulu District. Betung Kerihun NP is recommended to be a World Heritage Site, and Danau Sentarum NP is a Ramsar Site since 1994. The parks are important home for many kinds of primates (e.g. Orang Utan and proboscis monkey). Besides as habitat of Orang Utans, forests area of Betung Kerihun and Danau Sentarum are also important for indigenous inhabitants of the region, a variety of Dayak tribes, who live from hunting, collecting non-timber forest products and subsistence farming based on a pattern of shifting cultivation. Unfortunately, the existence of the Dayaks also influences the decline of Orang Utans population as they frequently poach Orang Utan babies and kill their mothers for money (Wallace, 1962). 2.2. Methods The research methods were divided into several steps: 2.2.1. Literature Review Literature review was used to build understanding the problems that occurred related to forest cover loss and habitat fragmentation issue of Orang Utans mainly in study area. Habitat requirements of Orang Utans were also obtained from it, as the fundamental information in doing spatial analysis and were useful to determine distance classes from rivers/roads. In addition, it was used to support analysis of the relationship of proximate causes (rivers/roads, logging concession, timber concession, palm oil plantation, transmigration areas) on forest cover loss and the extent of the forest cover loss influence Orang Utans habitat. Furthermore, West Kalimantan RTRWP was analyzed to find out the extent of regional planning has considered forest cover loss (habitat loss). Regional development that generates proximate causes of forest loss could be deeply elaborated from literature review. This review focused on two significant sources, which are journal articles and selected books. Data and information were also extracted from internet and other publications. 18 INFLUENCE OF FOREST COVER LOSS ON ORANG UTANS HABITAT 2.2.2. Data Collection The main source of input data used in examining the relationship of forest cover loss to habitat fragmentation of Orang Utans in this research are spatial data. Spatial data, collected from WWF Indonesia and Ministry of Forestry of Indonesia as secondary data, consist of forest cover of study area and Orang Utans habitat of study area. Road and river maps were obtained from Bakosurtanal Indonesia. West Kalimantan RTRWP map was acquired from provincial government/Bakosurtanal as comparison material in analyzing the relationship of regional development and regional planning towards forest cover loss in study area. The other cause maps (logging concession, timber concession, palm oil plantation, and transmigration/resettlement areas) were obtained from Ministry of Forestry and local government. 2.2.3. Data Analysis There were six kinds of analysis done in this research: decision making system, technical system, kappa index of agreement, correlation and regression analysis, proximity analysis, regional development and regional planning related to forest and habitat loss. The general flowchart of Analysis method is shown in figure 9. 19 INFLUENCE OF FOREST COVER LOSS ON ORANG UTANS HABITAT Figure 9:General Flowchart of Analysis Method Decision Making System This part explains about the mapping system in Indonesia. BakosurtanalIndonesia (National Mapping Agency) has authority in providing national spatial data and carrying out surveys in order to map geographic conditions (geospatial data). The Bakosurtanal produces base map (“peta rupa bumi”) which has high validity and accuracy. The base map contains base elements as hydrology (rivers, lakes, swamps, coastal); elevation (contour, height spot); transportation/communication (roads); and toponimy (geographic names).