Govt to delegate forest management<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The government is to issue a decree later this
\nyear on the delegation of forest supervision from the central
\ngovernment to local administrations.<\/p>\n
\"The decree will be made to promote the preservation of our
\nforests,\" Minister of Forestry Djamaludin Suryohadikusumo said
\nyesterday.<\/p>\n
Under the current regulation, the supervision of forest
\nmanagement, including the issuance of forest utilization
\nlicenses, is held by the central government.<\/p>\n
The planned decree, he said, will transfer most aspects of
\nforest supervision to local administrations, leaving the central
\ngovernment only handling a small number of national-scale
\nforestry affairs.<\/p>\n
He did not elaborate on the national-scale forestry affairs.<\/p>\n
The planned decree will give local administrations
\nresponsibility over forest protection and the rights to issue
\nlicenses for the use of non-wood forest production.<\/p>\n
\"With the current regulation, local authorities always say it
\nis not them but the central authorities which are responsible for
\nforest destruction in their areas. With the planned decree, they
\nwill not be able to say so again,\" the minister said.<\/p>\n
In line with the issuance of the planned decree, Djamaludin
\nsaid the government will try to harmonize the Master Plan for
\nForestry Areas with the Forest Landuse by Consensus scheme to
\nprevent overlapping occurring.<\/p>\n
The Master Plan for Forestry Areas, which is issued by regency
\nadministrations, often overlaps with the Forest Landuse by
\nConsensus scheme, which is issued by the Ministry of Forestry to
\nforest concessionaires.<\/p>\n
If both projects are harmonized, he said, the Forest Landuse
\ndocument will clearly set lines between state forests and the
\nnon-state forests, which may be utilized by local authorities.<\/p>\n
In a situation where a non-state forest is still under the
\ncontrol of a concessionaire at the issuance date of the planned
\ndecree, the concessionaire should negotiate with the regency
\nadministration on the continuing use of the land.<\/p>\n
\"There are two possible outcomes to such negotiations. The
\nregency administration may wait for the (concessionaire's)
\nlicense to expire or the concessionaire could make a new
\ninvestment in the forest, by, for instance, changing it into a
\nplantation,\" said the minister. (jsk)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/govt-to-delegate-forest-management-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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