Umi Sriwahyuni, The Jakarta Post, Banjarmasin

Kaget Island which was once known worldwide as a tourist destination in South Kalimantan for its proboscis monkey population, has been abandoned by tourists since all trees and bushes on the island have withered because of the prolonged drought in 1996.

Foreign and domestic tourists no longer visit the uninhabited island while the local administration is carrying out a reforestation program to regreen the rambai trees and bushes.

Rusma Hermedi, chief of the local office of the Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKA), said it would need 10 years to regreen the island because of the limited funds allocated by the local administration for the program.

He regretted that the local administration slow to act in paying attention to environmental deterioration on the island.

"The local administration has provided only Rp 40 million over the last two years to handle environmental damage on dozens of islands in the province while the environmental problem surfaced in 1996," he told The Jakarta Post recently.

He called on international organizations concerned about rare species to pay attention to the damage to the rare species' habitat.

"The monkey population will certainly become extinct unless a special program is designed immediately to save the island," he said.

He cited a breeding program for the monkeys in Surabaya Zoo in East Java that failed because the place did not resemble their usual habitat.

Some 400 proboscis monkeys, locally known as Dutch monkeys for the species' sharp well-formed nose, have been evacuated to nearby islands for time being while the reforestation program is under way.

Hermedi said some of the rambai trees on the 247-hectare island have started growing and so far, more than 12 proboscis monkeys have returned to the island.

"The monkeys swam back to the island because they did not feel at home on the other islands," he said.

According to Hermedi, under the regional autonomy program, the South Kalimantan provincial government should allocate special funds to finance the reforestation program.

He said he was sure the island would attract more foreign tourists if the reforestation program went successfully. Kaget island can be reached by speedboat in a three-hour journey from the provincial capital.