The author's name has been withheld for security reasons. Though it is the widespread violation of human rights in East Timor that remains the focus of the world's concern, environmental tragedies also have followed in the wake of Indonesia's 1976 invasion. In the highlands of Maubessi, Ermera, Bobonaro and Atsabe, where the large majority of people live, land is fertile and water occasionally abundant, even in the long dry seasons, thus allowing coffee and vegetables to flourish. Over the years, the East Timorese have built massive terraces similar to the famed rice terraces of Bali and Java. Rather than a Javanese patchwork of verdant green, the Timorese moved millions of rocks to create gray terraces that climb the steep mountains for hundreds of meters.
People grow only enough for their own needs.
Commerce is not a priority when life itself remains threatened. In some areas, particularly between Letofoho and Hatubulico, once productive land has been laid waste by napalm. In other areas, deforestation has occurred in the name of security, leaving great swathes of fertile land devastated and eroded beyond rehabilitation. Of particular concern isthe watershed around the capital city of Dili. Under Portuguese rule, forests covered the mountains overlooking Dili.