Forest conversion on Kalimantan border halted<\/p>\n
Tb. Arie Rukmantara, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The government said on Wednesday it would forbid any new
\nconversion of forests for plantation use in the Kalimantan border
\nareas in a bid to help protect the environment.<\/p>\n
Minister of Forestry Malam S. Ka'ban said that his office
\ninstead wanted to lure private investors to rehabilitate some 1.1
\nmillion hectares of abandoned deforested areas on the Kalimantan
\nborder through a \"build, operate, rehabilitate and transfer\"
\n(BORT) mechanism.<\/p>\n
\"The Ministry of Forestry will no longer allow conversion of
\nforests into plantations. We will instead optimize the use of
\nabandoned lands,\" the minister said in a written speech read out
\nby the director general of forest protection and natural resource
\nconservation Arman Malolongan at a workshop on a conservation
\narea referred to as the Heart of Borneo (HOB).<\/p>\n
Under the BORT mechanism, investors would be allowed to
\nreplant 40 percent of the areas with commercial agricultural
\ncrops, while the remaining 60 percent must be reforested.<\/p>\n
\"Under BORT, the companies will only receive concession rights
\nfor 25 years to 35 years. And they cannot be extended. After
\nthat, the firms have to restore the areas that were used for
\nplantations,\" Ka'ban said.<\/p>\n
The plan should bode well with the conservation work at the
\nHOB, environmentalists said.<\/p>\n
The HOB, the only place on earth where massive conservation is
\nviable, is located in a 220,000 square kilometers protected area
\nthat straddles the transboundary highlands of Brunei, Indonesia
\nand Malaysia.<\/p>\n
The area is the third largest tropical forest on the planet,
\nafter the Amazon in Brazil and Congo in Africa.<\/p>\n
\"Should the minister's words be fully implemented, we all
\nshould be happy that HOB will remain protected and that the
\nplanned giant oil palm plantation project will not be allowed to
\nharm the HOB area,\" World Wide Fund for Nature Indonesia head of
\nforestry programs Dian Achmad Kosasih told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Several environmental groups, including WWF, have opposed the
\ngovernment's plan to set up a giant oil palm plantation in
\nKalimantan covering an area of 1.8 million hectares, fearing that
\nit will threaten the rich biodiversity of the island. Under the
\ninitial plan, the plantation project would cover part of the HOB
\narea on the Kalimantan border.<\/p>\n
WWF Indonesia executive director Mubariq Ahmad said the HOB
\nshould always be kept protected because it was home to many
\nspecies.<\/p>\n
He said in the last 10 years, researchers from all over the
\nworld had found 361 new species in the area, making it the most
\npristine biodiversity center on the planet.<\/p>\n
\"About three new species are now found every day and many more
\nwill be found if we protect the area,\" he told Antara.<\/p>\n
WWF recently announced its discovery of a new carnivore,
\nslightly larger than a domestic cat with dark red fur and a long
\nbushy tail, in the Kayan Mentarang National Park, East
\nKalimantan, that is part of 23 national parks and protected
\nforest areas included in the HOB.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/forest-conversion-on-kalimantan-border-halted-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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