Pulping the forests<\/p>\n
The concern repeatedly voiced by both domestic and foreign
\nevironmentalists over what they call over-capacity licensing by
\nthe government in the pulp industry over the last few years is
\nlegitimate. The development of pulp wood estates appears not to
\nbe as smooth and efficient as the government apparently had
\nestimated when it licensed more than three million tons in
\nadditional pulp making capacity to realize Indonesia's ambition
\nto become the world's largest pulp producer.<\/p>\n
A report by the Ministry of Forestry shows that only 13
\npercent of the 4.05 million hectares designated for pulp wood
\nplantations had been planted by the end of last year. If the
\ndevelopment of the pulp industry proceeds according to schedule,
\nwe are afraid that the industry will have to pulp natural forests
\nbecause the opening of wood plantations continues to run at a
\nsnail's pace.<\/p>\n
This concern has also been raised by Neil Byron of the Center
\nfor International Forestry Research in Bogor. Last month he
\nquestioned the sustainability of the fledgling pulp industry amid
\nthe current uncertainty about wood plantation development.<\/p>\n
The record is even more disappointing because 2.62 million ha
\nof the total estate concessions were licensed to 13 companies in
\nthe late 1980s. But these 13 concessionaires have developed only
\naround 493,510 ha of their land. That means, on average, each of
\nthe concessionaires has planted a maximum of only 6,300 ha a
\nyear.<\/p>\n
What makes the poor achievement even more perplexing is the
\nfact that nine of the pulp wood estate projects are joint
\nventures between private and state-owned forest companies. The
\nfour private sector concessionaires which are not tied up with
\nstate companies accounted for more than 33 percent of the planted
\narea. That once again serves to strengthen our doubts about the
\nability of the state forest companies, which the forestry
\nministry has been trumpeting as being in the vanguard of
\nsustainable forest management.<\/p>\n
The poor record further raises doubts about the efficacy of
\nthe government policy of putting poorly-managed private sector
\nconcessions under the management of state forest companies and of
\nmaking it mandatory for new timber estate projects to have one of
\nthe state companies as a business partner.<\/p>\n
The government policy that emphasizes the development of pulp
\nwood plantations should actually be hailed as it has been
\ndesigned as a component of the concept of sustainable forest
\nmanagement. Theoretically the program could curb the pressures on
\nthe natural forests which, according to official and independent
\nestimates, have been decreasing by between 800,000 and 1.2
\nmillion ha a year due to logging, conversion and slash-and-
\nburning farm practices. Indonesia also has comparative advantages
\nin pulp making due to its labor-intensive nature and the
\nconducive climate that allows trees to grow throughout the year.
\nPut another way, this country could become the lowest-cost pulp
\nproducer in the world.<\/p>\n
What however has been missing from the laudable concept are
\nthe crucial preparations for pulp wood plantations which are
\nstill new practices. Pulp wood estates are different from
\nplantations or regreening projects to protect watersheds. The
\nformer require the choosing of a suitable species; identifying
\nseed provenances to obtain the desired fiber length, wood density
\nand disease resistance seedlings; large nursery centers and
\nmassive site preparations. All these, besides requiring the
\nsupport of continuous research, require a few years before large
\ncapacity nursery centers can be established on wood plantation
\nsites. In other countries which have successfully developed pulp
\nwood plantations, most of the preparations were initially done by
\ngovernment agencies.<\/p>\n
Our problem though is that pulp mills have been licensed even
\nbefore the investors open their wood plantations. No wonder
\ntherefore, that most pulp mills depend on the wood derived from
\nthe clear-cutting of their concession area which is designated
\nfor pulp wood plantations. But as the pace of pulp wood
\nplantation development has been very slow, as reported by the
\nforestry ministry, the pulp industry may have to rely for much
\nlonger on natural forest wood.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/pulping-the-forests-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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