'Reforestation plan a mission impossible'<\/p>\n
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
An environmental activist has called the government's plan to
\nreforest critical land areas across the country a \"mission
\nimpossible\" due to lack of preparation and time.<\/p>\n
The Rp 12.7 trillion project that would supposedly cover a
\ntotal land area of 300,000 hectares this year has to be completed
\nin only three months, but still must wait for final government
\napproval, said Wisnu Rusmantoro, a forestry researcher with the
\nPelangi environmental watchdog.<\/p>\n
\"We suggest that the government postpone the project until the
\napproval guidelines are ready. Otherwise, it would be prone to
\nabuse,\" he told a meeting between environmental watchdogs and the
\nState Ministry of Environment on Friday.<\/p>\n
Currently, some 43 million hectares of the country's forest,
\nor an area more than half the size of Borneo, have been denuded
\nin the past five years here.<\/p>\n
A hastily prepared guideline that is supposed to cover the
\nproject's planning, implementation, monitoring and sanctions
\nwould render the project vulnerable to violation and corruption,
\nWisnu said.<\/p>\n
Liana Bratasida, the deputy minister of environment
\nconservation, acknowledged that the government had not yet
\nprepared any data or details for the project.<\/p>\n
Also, it has yet to inform the officials and people in the
\nregions in charge of the project about it. The government will
\nonly begin \"a brainstorming session\" with provincial
\nadministrations about the program next week.<\/p>\n
However, she said that the government would continue the
\nproject as \"it has become a national movement\".<\/p>\n
She earlier said in the meeting that the government expects
\npublic participation in the project to prevent possible
\nviolations.<\/p>\n
\"We don't want to repeat past mistakes,\" she said, referring
\nto violations of reforestation funds worth billions of rupiah in
\nrecent years.<\/p>\n
In the past, the government purchased plant seeds to be grown
\nin deforested areas across the country from certain cronies,
\nregardless of compatibility. The project failed miserably.<\/p>\n
Wisnu warned that it would just become yet another \"cash cow\"
\nby certain corrupt people involved in the project, with the
\nambitious-sounding title, the Movement for the Rehabilitation of
\nNational Protected Forests (GRHLN).<\/p>\n
\"Frankly speaking, we all know about the clandestine moves of
\nsome brokers to prepare certain species of plant seeds for the
\nproject nowadays,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Should the government insist on doing the project this year,
\nit is possible that it would buy plant seeds from the brokers to
\nmeet the reforestation target, he said.<\/p>\n
The government has allocated Rp 400 billion to buy plant
\nseeds.<\/p>\n
Sources at the Forestry Ministry said that increasing requests
\nfrom provincial administrations to take part in the project led
\nthe government to increase the number of areas to be reforested
\nfrom 21 to 29.<\/p>\n
The NGOs, therefore, urged the government to be transparent in
\nmanaging the project and its trillions of rupiah of taxpayer
\nmoney.<\/p>\n
Liana said that she could only guarantee transparency from her
\nministry, which is assigned to monitor the project. But signs of
\ndoom are already apparent. During the same meeting, an official
\nwith the Forestry Ministry, refused to answer some fairly simple
\nquestions from reporters about the project's details and costs in
\neach area.<\/p>\n
Following severe drought this year, the government has
\nannounced the disbursement of Rp 1.2 trillion for this year
\nreforestation program covering 300,000 hectares of critical land
\nin 15 provinces and 154 regencies across the country.<\/p>\n
This year's program will initiate the government's commitment
\nto replant 3 million hectares of woodland across the country
\nwithin five years. Next year, some 500,000 hectares of deforested
\nland is expected to be reforested.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/reforestation-plan-a-mission-impossible-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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