Govt drops plan to raise logging quota this year<\/p>\n
Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The Ministry of Forestry has decided to drop its plan to raise
\nits logging quota this year after discovering that unscrupulous
\ntimber companies were deliberately misreporting their demand.<\/p>\n
Minister of Forestry Malam Sambat Kaban told The Jakarta Post
\nrecently that a comprehensive and reliable audit was needed since
\nbusinesspeople, who had legal concessions, were not being honest
\nabout their exact demand of timber and the capacity of their
\nplants.<\/p>\n
\"There is an attempt from (the companies) to 'legally' rake
\nincrease their concession area and plant capacity by overstating
\nthe actual domestic demand and then selling the excess wood
\nillegally overseas,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Kaban said the audit would be conducted soon on the ground in
\neach of the registered companies by officials from the forestry
\nministry and independent auditors.<\/p>\n
The audit, which is expected to be completed before the end of
\nthe year, may also help ensure the exact availability of timber
\nfrom the country's sustainable production forests and plantation
\nindustry.<\/p>\n
The ministry had planned to increase its logging quota from
\n5.45 million cubic meters to up to 30 million cubic meter this
\nyear to meet domestic demand and help create employment.<\/p>\n
The ministry argued that reducing the logging quota was not
\nthe answer to curbing the illegal logging, because the low quota
\nhas prompted most forestry-based companies to seek illegal timber
\nso they could sell overseas.<\/p>\n
At present, the timber processing industry has an estimated
\ncapacity of about 42 million cubic meters per year, but the
\nindustry is flooded with illegal timber from already depleted
\nnatural forests.<\/p>\n
The great discrepancy between the demand and the available
\nlogging quota has been cited as a key contributor to widespread
\nillegal logging across the country since former President
\nSoeharto provided privileges for businessmen willing to utilize
\nthe country's forestry resources in early 1970s.<\/p>\n
According to Kaban, their decisions on a logging quota are
\nbased on demand, as reported by number of forestry based industry
\nassociations. But the demand cannot be verified by his ministry
\nbecause it was not a result of an audit, but a mere estimate.<\/p>\n
\"I don't want to risk the sustainability of our forests
\nbecause of unreliable data. We have problems dealing with rampant
\nillegal logging and I don't want to exacerbate it by allowing the
\nforest concession groups to consume more timber from our forests
\ntoo,\" he said.<\/p>\n
To cope with shortages in the legal timber supply, the
\nministry has urged the industry to lower their collective reserve
\ncapacity and to import logs or procure them from industrial
\nplantations.<\/p>\n
The quota decrease was apparently decided upon as part of the
\nprevious government's efforts to protect Indonesia's rapidly
\ndiminishing natural forests.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/govt-drops-plan-to-raise-logging-quota-this-year-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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