State firms urged to manage 50% of RI forests<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): State-owned forestry companies should manage at
\nleast 50 percent of the country's productive forests to ensure
\nsustainable management, which is increasingly demanded by global
\nsociety, according to an environmental analyst.<\/p>\n
"Currently, state companies control only about 11 percent of
\nthe Indonesian forests. They should control at least 50 percent
\nof them to guarantee they are sustainably managed," Hasanu Simon,
\na lecturer at the Yogyakarta-based University of Gadjah Mada,
\nsaid here over the weekend.<\/p>\n
He pointed out that private sector companies tend to focus
\nonly on the economic functions of the forests.<\/p>\n
According to Hasanu, the government should allow all the six
\nstate-owned companies under the Ministry of Forestry -- PT
\nInhutani I, II, III, IV and V as well as Perum Perhutani -- to
\ntake over all of the ill-managed forest concessions for
\nrehabilitation purposes.<\/p>\n
Indonesia, which has long been criticized by local and foreign
\nenvironmentalists and donor agencies over its forest management,
\nhas an estimated 109 million hectares of forests, of which only
\nabout 64 million hectares are considered as productive forests.<\/p>\n
In 1989 the country had 565 forest concessions, which were
\nmostly in Kalimantan. Every concessionaire controlled between
\n20,000 and two million hecatres of forest. Because the government
\nrevoked many of them, the number was reduced to 500 in 1994.<\/p>\n
The analyst's statement came amid the government's efforts to
\ngradually replace the current forest concession system with a new
\narrangement called the Forest Management Unit (KPHP) to
\nanticipate the worldwide application of ecolabelling in the year
\n2000, a system whereby all wooden products made from sustainable
\nforests will have special labels attached.<\/p>\n
PT Inhutani I's president, A. Fattah DS, said that during the
\ncurrent Sixth Five Year Development Plan period ending in 1999,
\nthe government will set up 195 KPHPs. Each KPHP will have an
\naverage forest area of 100,000 hectares and will have to be
\nmanaged sustainably on a long term basis.<\/p>\n
"The establishment of the new system will be finalized all
\nover Indonesia during the second long term (25-year) development
\nplan ending in 2019," he noted.<\/p>\n
According to Fattah, poor supervision on clear-cut logging has
\nled to rampant violations in the forestry business.<\/p>\n
He cited the unclear border lines among forest concessions as
\none example of the shortcomings. "This has made them
\n(concessionaires) irresponsible about their bordering areas," he
\nnoted.<\/p>\n
He said the forest concession's validity of only 20 years is
\nless than the required recycling period of 35 years.<\/p>\n
"In addition to that, concessionaires have no guarantee from
\nthe government that they will have their licenses extended if
\nthey manage their concessions soundly," he noted.<\/p>\n
He stated that it has been made even worse by irresponsible
\nconcessionaires, who intentionally violate the government-set
\nregulations and take advantage of the government's limited
\nsupervision.<\/p>\n
According to a recent survey conducted by an independent
\ncommission, concessionaires generally comply only with the
\nregulations on the diameter of trees to be felled.<\/p>\n
Minister of Forestry Djamaludin Suryohadikusumo recently
\nblasted recalcitrant forest concessionaires, saying that no
\nextension will be given to concessionaires violating forestry
\nrulings, particularly those participating in document forgery and
\nillegal felling.<\/p>\n
"The number of violations has reached a serious level. Not
\nonly do such practices cause financial losses to the state but
\nthey also threaten the environmental sustainability of our
\nforests," he said. (13)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/state-firms-urged-to-manage-50-of-ri-forests-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}