Logging ban pleases environmentalists but upsets pulp industry<\/p>\n
Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The government's plan to temporarily ban logging in natural
\nforests has been praised by environmentalists but upsets industry
\nplayers who fear the policy will have a big impact on their
\nbusinesses.<\/p>\n
The Ministry of Forestry is reportedly drafting a decree on
\nthe logging moratorium's details following the issuance of
\ngovernmental regulation No. 34\/2004 on June 8, which authorizes
\nthe ministry to impose the moratorium.<\/p>\n
\"We fully support the plan as it will protect our forests,
\nwhich have suffered major damage in the past,\" Agus Purnomo,
\ndirector executive of World Wild Fund (WWF) for the Jakarta
\nbranch, told The Jakarta Post over the weekend.<\/p>\n
Agus maintained that the new policy was not aimed at hurting
\nforestry-based businesses, but at forcing them to take more care
\nof the environment in their operations.<\/p>\n
\"The government regulation emphasizes the use of wood from
\nforest estates as raw material for the businesses,\" said Agus.<\/p>\n
Today, despite having been given concessions for large
\nindustrial timber estates (HTI) timber and pulp factories prefer
\nto take their raw material from natural forests rather than
\nplanting trees on their concessions.<\/p>\n
The ministry has thus far allowed the practice to continue by
\nproviding them with logging licenses (IPKS).<\/p>\n
Many forestry-based businesses take their raw material from
\nnatural forests because it is much cheaper than buying logs grown
\non timber estates or than the expenses they would incur to
\ndevelop forests on their concessions.<\/p>\n
\"Pulp factories would not be affected by the moratorium if
\nthey had developed their forests long ago and had not heavily
\nrelied on natural forests.<\/p>\n
\"They should have developed forest estates before setting up
\nfactories,\" said Agus.<\/p>\n
Based on joint research by WWF and the Center for
\nInternational Forestry Research (CIFOR), of the 120 million cubic
\nmeters of logs used by the pulp industry during 1988-2000, only
\n10 percent was harvested from forest estates.<\/p>\n
Statistics of the Office of the State Minister of the
\nEnvironment show the rate of deforestation in the country reaches
\nbetween two million and 2.4 million hectares a year.<\/p>\n
The secretary-general of the Pulp and Paper Association, Kahar
\nHaryopuspito, said the logging moratorium would deal a heavy blow
\nto the industry as it would result in a shortage of raw material.<\/p>\n
\"The moratorium is a serious threat to the industry. And this
\nis deplorable given the fact that world demand for pulp increases
\neach year, and the pulp industry has handsomely contributed to
\nthe country's foreign exchange earnings,\" said Kahar.<\/p>\n
Despite the economic crisis, the country's pulp and paper
\nindustry has progressed well over the past five years. Exports of
\npulp and paper products reached US$3.5 billion in 2000, up from
\n$2.7 billion in the previous year. Some 60 percent of the
\nindustry's output is exported, while 40 percent is sold at home.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, pulp industry analyst Gatot Ibnusantosa warned that
\nif the government realized its moratorium plan, the country's
\npulp and paper output could fall this year.<\/p>\n
\"The ban will, of course, have a severe impact on the
\nindustry. The industry will have to reduce its capacity or even
\nimport raw material, which will render their products
\nuncompetitive against those produced in other countries,\" said
\nGatot.<\/p>\n
Gatot added that the government should find a solution that
\nwould protect the businesses as well as the country's forests.<\/p>\n
\"For instance, if the government wanted the pulp industry
\nplayers to rely on forest estates, the government should
\nfacilitate licensing for forest estates,\" he said.<\/p>",
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