Government to establish environmental court<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The government is recruiting and training a dozen judges and
\nprosecutors to allow them to handle environmental cases,
\nincluding illegal logging, says State Minister of the Environment
\nNabiel Makarim.<\/p>\n
\"We are still developing Formula 12 (12 judges and 12
\nprosecutors), to be deployed to try environmental cases in
\nregions across the country. They are still undergoing training to
\ngive them the necessary skills in environmental issues,\" Antara
\nquoted the state minister as saying during a seminar on
\nstrategies to combat illegal logging and community advocacy. The
\nseminar was held in cooperation with the non-governmental
\norganization Inspired, in Pekanbaru, Riau, over the weekend.<\/p>\n
The state minister said that every three judges would have
\nthree prosecutors as their counterparts, and they would be
\nobliged to cooperate with judges in district courts across the
\ncountry in carrying out their work.<\/p>\n
Nabiel said the judges would be required to publicly announce
\nall verdicts they make, to ensure transparency in the judicial
\nprocess.<\/p>\n
\"Judges must explain to the public all verdicts they make to
\nsupport the transparency of the judiciary and the public's right
\nto be informed in detail of the judges' verdicts,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Nabiel pointed to the urgency of establishing an environmental
\ncourt in response to the serious problem of illegal logging in
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
He said the forests would vanish completely within the next
\nfive to seven years unless illegal logging was halted.<\/p>\n
\"Almost two million hectares of forest areas are looted every
\nyear,\" he said, adding that the threat of extinction was being
\nfaced by natural forests, production-oriented and protected
\nforests.<\/p>\n
The people who engage in illegal logging do not care that the
\ncountry has various types of forests, as their only objective is
\nto further their own interests, the state minister said.<\/p>\n
He admitted that it was difficult to combat illegal logging in
\nthe country, because of what he called the organized backing of
\nnational and regional \"rat alliances\", or criminal groups
\ninvolved in the illegal business.<\/p>\n
He was referring to well-established networks in Indonesian
\nand many neighboring countries that back illegal logging.<\/p>\n
According to the state minister, it is difficult to stop the
\nillegal logging because the networks are strong and well-
\norganized in many villages, making use of the poverty of the
\ncommunities living near the forest areas. Weak law enforcement
\ncompounds the problems, so local residents have little fear of
\ngetting involved in illegal logging.<\/p>\n
Because of these weaknesses, he said, these \"rat alliances\"
\nwere able to grow at the national as well as global levels.<\/p>\n
The state minister said illegal loggers not only destroyed
\nproductive forests, but also preserved forests and national parks
\nset aside for protected animal species and tourist activities.<\/p>\n
\"It is feared that in the next five or 10 years, Indonesia
\nwill have no forests left unless illegal logging is stopped,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Asked how much time would be needed to rehabilitate the
\ndamaged forests, Nabiel said that it was impossible to predict.<\/p>\n
\"I think the (damaged) forests will never return to their
\noriginal conditions. You can grow trees on certain plots of land,
\nbut the biodiversity will not be the same as it was,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He added that weak and confusing laws contributed to the
\nillegal logging.<\/p>\n
\"The ironic thing is that Indonesia has some 500 conflicting
\nlaws and decrees. The conflicting laws and sectoral egoism have
\ncontributed a great deal to the rampant illegal logging,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, he said that in the face of \"rat alliances\" on a
\nglobal level, the government had asked other countries not to
\npurchase timber and wood products that were not properly and
\nclearly documented.<\/p>\n
He added that some of his foreign counterparts had forged a
\ncooperation with the British government to boycott timber and
\nwood products such as furniture that came from illegal logging.<\/p>\n
\"At the recent East Summit in South Africa, I also signed an
\nagreement with envoys from Norway, Finland and the European Union
\nboycotting products made from illegal timber,\" Nabiel said.<\/p>\n
He said the agreement was welcomed by foreign countries, some
\nof which also offered to train port officials to spot illegal cut
\ntimber.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/government-to-establish-environmental-court-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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