Police action needed to save C. Java forests<\/p>\n
Agus Maryono, The Jakarta Post, Purwokerto<\/p>\n
State-owned forest company PT Perhutani has called on
\nauthorities in Central Java to take action against widespread
\nillegal logging practices, which had contributed to recent floods
\nand landslides in the southern part of the province.<\/p>\n
Haryono Kusumo, chief of the natural resources development
\ndepartment of Perhutani in the province, conceded that the annual
\nflooding and landslides in the regencies of Kebumen, Cilacap and
\nBanyumas were related to illegal logging and people cultivating
\nthe land for farming in mountainous areas throughout the region.<\/p>\n
He said that illegal logging had been rampant since the fall
\nof former president Soeharto in 1998, while 80,000 of a total
\n700,000 hectares of forest area in the region were cleared and
\nconverted into farmland over the last nine months.<\/p>\n
\"Our concern is that the illegal logging has happened in
\nproductive forest areas and those who loot the forests are local
\npeople living under the poverty line near the forest areas,\"
\nHaryono said in a recent interview with The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
Thousands of houses and tens of thousands of hectares of rice
\nfields were damaged in the recent flood that hit the three
\nregencies.<\/p>\n
He added that illegal logging had caused a 40 percent decrease
\nin the annual logging output, to 180,000 cubic meters of logs
\nthis year from 300,000 cubic meters in 2000.<\/p>\n
According to him, both persuasive and repressive approaches
\nare needed to minimize the illegal logging and farming.<\/p>\n
\"Local authorities in the regencies must be strict in
\nenforcing the law. Sawmills and timber businessmen who have
\nsupported the illegal logging must be taken to court, while local
\npeople found guilty of clearing trees without permission must be
\npunished.<\/p>\n
\"The illegal logging will continue unless the forest
\nauthorities and police do not take action against squatters and
\ntimber businessmen who are allegedly behind the tree theft,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
He said that it did not appear local authorities were serious
\nduring a recent operation to curb the illegal logging because
\nonly six squatters were apprehended.<\/p>\n
Some 400 police personnel deployed were unable to do much
\nbecause information about the operation had been leaked to timber
\nbusinessmen before it was launched, he said.<\/p>\n
Banyumas Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Sukamto Handoko vowed to
\ntake stern action against looters and their sponsors because the
\nlooting and its negative impacts on local people had reached an
\nalarming level.<\/p>\n
\"We will never compromise with those who have devastated the
\necosystem. Measures must be taken to serve as a good lesson for
\nlocal people involved in the illegal logging activities,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
He said Perhutani and the local administration should be
\nproactive in conducting a campaign among local people to improve
\ntheir awareness of the importance of the ecological system to
\navoid flooding and landslides.<\/p>\n
Data at Perhutani's branch office in Banyumas shows that, from
\na total of 46,600 hectares of hardwood forests in the regency,
\nalmost 9,000 hectares was lost to illegal logging in 2000 and
\n8,600 hectares had disappeared over the last ten months, causing
\nRp 1.8 billion in material losses to the state.<\/p>\n
Sudiman, an employee at Perhutani's local office, said
\nPerhutani had problems halting the illegal logging and farming
\nbecause it was being committed by local people with a low
\nstandard of living.<\/p>\n
\"The forest areas in the regency are surrounded by 421 of the
\nleast-developed villages and they have been used by timber
\nbusinessmen to steal logs from the forest areas,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Ongoing reforestation in the barren areas will stop completely
\nif the illegal logging continues, he said, revealing that
\nPerhutani has spent only Rp 2 million annually to support the
\nregency's reforestation program.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/police-action-needed-to-save-c-java-forests-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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