Holiday Ayo - The Ministry of Forestry (Kemenhut) has revealed the origin of thousands of logs carried by flash floods and landslides in Sumatra at the end of November.

The Ministry's Director General of Law Enforcement (Gakkum), Dwi Januanto Nugroho, stated that the logs could have come from various sources, including illegal logging.

Some of the logs are suspected to be rotten trees, fallen trees, river-borne material, former legal logging areas, abuse of Land Rights Holders (PHAT), and illegal logging.

However, Dwi stated that his office is still investigating the origin of the logs. He stated that his office will professionally investigate any indications of violations and process evidence of forestry crimes through applicable legal mechanisms.

"Regarding the developing news, I need to emphasize that our explanation was never intended to deny the possibility of illegal practices behind the flood-borne timber, but rather to clarify the sources of the timber we are investigating and ensure that any illegal logging is processed according to regulations," said Dwi, as reported by cnnindonesia.com, Sunday (11/30).

Dwi explained that throughout 2025, the Ministry of Forestry's Law Enforcement Agency (Gakkum) handled several cases related to illegal timber laundering in areas affected by the floods in Sumatra.

One such case occurred in Central Aceh in June 2025, when investigators uncovered illegal logging outside the PHAT (Plantation Clearing) area and forest area by the PHAT owner, with evidence of approximately 86.60 cubic meters of illegal timber.

Then, in Solok, West Sumatra, in August 2025, logging activities in forest areas outside the PHAT were uncovered using PHAT documents, with evidence of 152 logs, two excavators, and one bulldozer.

In October 2025, the Mentawai Islands and Gresik Islands seized 4,610.16 cubic meters of logs from the Sipora Forest, the export of which involved problematic PHAT documents.

Meanwhile, in Sipirok, South Tapanuli, in October 2025, four trucks carrying 44.25 cubic meters of logs were seized, with the timber documents sourced from the PHAT frozen.

"Forestry crimes no longer operate simply. Timber from forest areas can be dragged into legal schemes by exploiting falsified, duplicated, or misappropriated PHAT documents. Therefore, we are not only cracking down on illegal logging in the field, but also investigating the documents, goods flow, and funding flows behind it," said Dwi.

Previously, a video showed piles of thousands of pieces of wood covering Parkit Beach in Padang City, West Sumatra, after flash floods occurred in the area.

In a video uploaded by the Instagram account @antaranewscom, piles of wood can be seen filling the estuary and shoreline of Parkit Beach on Friday (November 28th).

The video also shows the beach water appearing brownish. In addition to the piles of wood, various types of trash can also be seen piled up at the location.

"On Friday (November 28th), the estuary and shoreline of Parkit Beach were covered in thousands of pieces of wood and other drifting debris. This condition disrupts access for fishermen and significantly changes the appearance of the beach," the post reads.

Separately, Hatma Suryatmojo, a researcher in Forest Hydrology and Watershed Conservation at Gadjah Mada University (UGM), suspects that ecological sin or massive deforestation is behind the flash floods and landslides that hit Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra.

According to Hatma, the flash flood disaster at the end of 2025 is not an isolated event.

He said experts could be said to agree that the flash floods and landslides in Tanah Andalah are part of a recurring pattern of hydrometeorological disasters that have increased over the past two decades due to a combination of natural and human-caused factors.

According to Hatma, rainfall is indeed very high, potentially triggering disasters. He said the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) recorded several areas in North Sumatra receiving more than 300 mm of rain per day at the peak of the event.

This extreme rainfall was triggered by extraordinary atmospheric dynamics, including Tropical Cyclone Senyar, which formed in the Strait of Malacca in late November 2025.

"However, extreme weather is only the initial trigger. The devastating impact of these flash floods is actually exacerbated by the fragility of natural barriers in the upstream areas. Damage to the forest ecosystem in the upstream watershed (DAS) eliminates the carrying capacity and capacity of the underlying ecosystem to absorb high rainfall," Hatma said in a statement distributed by UGM on Monday (1/12).