Environmental Outlook 2006
\nThe problems of environment in the years to come<\/p>\n
E.G. Togu Manurung
\nBogor<\/p>\n
Indonesia is blessed with some of the most extensive and
\nbiologically diverse tropical forests in the world.<\/p>\n
But the tragedy is that Indonesia has one of the highest rates
\nof tropical forest loss in the world. Minister of Forestry M.S.
\nKaban, in his many speeches at various events, repeatedly warns
\nthat Indonesia's forests are under serious threat.<\/p>\n
Based on forest cover interpretations of landsat images ETM-7
\nin 2000, of 120.3 million hectares of total forest area, 59.7
\nmillion hectares were degraded. The average annual rate of
\ndeforestation for the last five years has been 2.8 million
\nhectares. If the current problem of forest loss continues, it is
\nestimated that all natural forests of Indonesia will be gone
\nwithin 15 years.<\/p>\n
The country now finds itself the unwelcome center of world
\nattention, as domestic and international outrage mounts over the
\nrampant destruction of a great natural resource. Indonesia's
\neconomy is plagued by lawlessness and corruption. Illegal logging
\nhas been rampant for years and is believed to have destroyed tens
\nof millions of hectares of forest.<\/p>\n
Indonesia's wood-processing industries operate in a strange
\nlegal twilight, in which wood processing mills obtain more than
\nhalf their wood supplies from illegal sources. Timber is
\nroutinely smuggled across the border to neighboring countries,
\ncosting the Indonesian government millions of dollars in lost
\nrevenue each year.<\/p>\n
More than 35 years of bad forestry management and logging
\noperations are responsible for the heavy forest degradation, the
\ndepletion of forest resources and massive and life-threatening
\nenvironmental problems across the archipelago. Other main factors
\nis the conversion of natural forests (land clearing) to develop
\ntimber plantations, oil palm plantations and transmigration
\nresettlements areas, and forest loss due to forest fires and open
\npit mining operations.<\/p>\n
The implementation of regional autonomy in the beginning of
\n2001 has had a devastating effect on the forestry sector, with
\nuncontrolled exploitation leading to the further depletion of an
\nimportant and vital natural resource on which the people of
\nIndonesia rely for their livelihood and survival.<\/p>\n
There is no doubt that illegal logging is one of the most
\npressing issues facing Indonesia today. In spite of all the
\nattention and the strong words in recent years, and following the
\ngovernment's tougher illegal logging policy this year, illegal
\nlogging continues unabated, and the rate of forest loss has
\nactually accelerated.<\/p>\n
Illegal logging has reached epidemic proportions as a result
\nof Indonesia's chronic structural imbalance between legal wood
\nsupply and demand. The problem of overcapacity in the wood
\nprocessing industry continues. According to the Ministry of
\nForestry, total effective demand for wood to feed domestic wood
\nprocessing mills is 63.4 million cubic meters, but total log
\nproduction is 22.8 million cubic meters. The huge gap between
\ndemand and the supply of wood, i.e. 40.6 million cubic meters, is
\nsupplied by illegal logs from illegal logging operations.<\/p>\n
The total economic loss to the country from illegal logging is
\nestimated in the range of Rp 31 trillion to Rp 41 trillion a
\nyear, or US$3 to 4 billion annually. This does not include the
\nenvironmental costs and social costs that occur due to the
\ndestruction of tropical forest ecosystems, with estimated values
\nof several times higher than the total economic loss of revenue
\nfor the government.<\/p>\n
Illegal logging and the illegal trade that facilitates this
\nhas reached crisis levels. The root cause of this is corruption
\nand nonexistent law enforcement. In addition, the problems of
\npoverty and unemployment in the remote districts that are rich in
\nforest resources have forced some people who live in these areas
\nto get involved in the quick and dirty business of illegal
\nlogging, financed by the big financiers who work together as an
\norganized crime ring with corrupt government officials.<\/p>\n
In 2005 we saw the government introduce a tougher illegal
\nlogging policy. Presidential Instruction No. 4\/2005 was issued by
\nPresident Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, in which the President
\ninstructed 18 government institutions to work together to combat
\nillegal logging and the illegal trade of logs all over Indonesia.
\nIt worked for a while.<\/p>\n
But the success did not last very long. There are almost daily
\nmedia reports of illegal logging and the illegal trade in logs
\nacross the country. This happens because demand for cheap illegal
\nIndonesian timber from consuming nations continues, and does the
\nproblem of overcapacity in the domestic wood processing industry.<\/p>\n
Another serious source of forest destruction is open pit
\nmining operations in protected forests. The government has
\nallowed such activities through the enactment of Law No. 19\/2004,
\nwhich revised Law No. 41\/99 that banned open pit mining in
\nprotected forests.<\/p>\n
Six mining companies have been granted exploration permits by
\nthe government to work in protected forest areas. In 2006 and
\nbeyond, more mining companies will be operating open pit mines in
\nprotected forests, completely destroying almost one million
\nhectares of tropical forest.<\/p>\n
The continued destruction of the forest will eventually lead
\nto environmental changes that will threaten our very way of life.<\/p>\n
We are racing against time, and in fact are running out of
\ntime to save Indonesia's remaining tropical forests. If we fail,
\nwe will only reap disaster because nature cannot be compromised.<\/p>\n
The author is a senior lecturer at the Department of Forestry,
\nBogor Institute of Agriculture. He was the director of Forest
\nWatch Indonesia from 2000 to 2004.<\/p>",
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