President asks for reform on forest management<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
President Megawati Soekarnoputri insisted on Thursday that
\nIndonesian forestry officials and management must reform the
\nentire industry to save the rapidly dwindling forests.<\/p>\n
During her opening statements at a forestry congress in
\nJakarta, Megawati lamented the fact that the old management
\nsystem had allowed corruption and collusion between dishonest
\nofficials and timber companies.<\/p>\n
\"To atone for our past mistakes, we will have to show our
\nresponsibility to the future generation by greatly improving
\nforest management,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Unchecked illegal logging and a lack of reforestation programs
\nwere blamed for the quickly deteriorating forests throughout the
\narchipelago. According to the World Bank, Indonesia lost about
\n1.5 million hectares of forests on average each year between 1985
\nand 1997. By the beginning of 2000, Indonesia's forests had been
\nreduced to a mere 20 million hectares, down from pre-1985 levels
\nof nearly 43 million hectares.<\/p>\n
Government officials are being blamed for the decrease along
\nwith farmers who employ slash-and-burn techniques in addition to
\na large group of illegal loggers. Non-governmental organizations
\npoint their finger primarily at companies engaged in illegal
\nlogging and their collusion with government officials for the
\nproblem.<\/p>\n
Megawati stated that the era when forests were a major source
\nof state revenue and livelihood for many people is over.<\/p>\n
The President said that mismanagement and the lack of proper
\nplanning with reforestation programs had ended it all.<\/p>\n
\"The result of (mismanagement and corruption) is that we now
\nface immense losses to the state budget and a great number of
\npeople have been deprived of their livelihood,\" she said.<\/p>\n
\"Whatever our excuse is, the over-exploitation of forests has
\nturned vast forested land into grassland and devastated the
\necosystem.\"<\/p>\n
The President said that outside Java, problems such as illegal
\nlogging, encroachment and land clearing for plantation projects
\ncontinue unabated. In densely-populated Java, it is difficult to
\nprotect the remaining patches of forested land.<\/p>\n
\"We should keep in mind that the weaknesses in planning and
\ncoordination among related agencies has contributed to the loss
\nof our forests,\" she said.<\/p>\n
The congress, held by the Ministry of Forestry, was attended
\nby government officials, environmentalists, forestry experts and
\nother forestry stakeholders.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/president-asks-for-reform-on-forest-management-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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