In the past few decades, due to overpopulation in Madura, many Madurese settlers exploited the Tenggerese land by clearing some of their nature reserves and converting 2-3% (up to 10,000) of the Tenggerese to Islam in the process — particularly those in the more accessible areas in the lowlands just outside the Tengger range. Because of this Islamic missionary activity, the remaining Hindu Tenggerese asked the Balinese Hindus for help by reforming their culture and religion closer to the Balinese. The Indonesian government declared the Tengger mountains as the Bromo-Tengger-Semeru national park and declared that any more logging in this area is an illegal act, therefore protecting the Tenggerese from further disruption.