Wonosobo awaits control of forest<\/p>\n
Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Wonosobo<\/p>\n
Should you ever sit on a hillside in the Sumbing and Sindoro
\nmountains in the Central Java regency of Wonosobo, you'll give
\nthanks to the regency for its green area, which collected the
\nnational reforestation award for five consecutive years beginning
\nin 1994.<\/p>\n
The glory days are a part of history now, when locals used to
\nprovide sesajen or offerings of food to the spirit of the trees,
\nbelieving them to be the source of life.<\/p>\n
Until 1998, almost one-third of the regency's 98,467 hectares
\nwas still covered with large trees.<\/p>\n
Around 20,161 hectares of the forest were managed by state-
\nowned timber management company Perhutani while the remaining
\n19,472 hectares belonged to the local community.<\/p>\n
But then illegal logging hit the regency, replacing the
\nsesajen with chainsaws and axes, with apparent immunity.<\/p>\n
Almost 60 percent of the industrial estate was destroyed,
\nleaving only bushes and shrubs in place of the big trees,
\nalthough the local community's forest was left undisturbed.<\/p>\n
The looting of the forest caused around Rp 40.8 billion
\n(around US$39 million) in losses to the state, while climatic
\ndisasters were to pose even worse problems for the tourist-
\ndestination town.<\/p>\n
An immense flood inundated the regency in 1998 and even hit
\nthe Dieng Plateau, around 2,000 meters above sea level.<\/p>\n
These environmental problems have encouraged the regency
\ncouncil to return the entire management of the forest to the
\npeople. As Constantinus Krustanto, chairman of the regency
\nlegislature's Commission B on economic and natural resources, put
\nit: \"It is proof the local community is capable of taking care of
\ntheir forest\".<\/p>\n
Krustanto was speaking during a discussion organized by the
\nIndonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) in the town
\nrecently. Also attending the meeting were several representatives
\nof the farmers union in Wonosobo, government officers from the
\nlocal forestry and plantation and tourism and culture offices,
\nexecutives of Perhutani's local branch in Kedu Utara, and
\njournalists.<\/p>\n
The discussion was aimed at evaluating the regency's Bylaw No.
\n22\/2001 on Community-based Forest Management issued last October,
\nwhich excluded Perhutani from the new forest management system.<\/p>\n
The bylaw was developed -- after a series of discussions with
\nlocal farmers, administrators and experts -- in order to ensure
\nthat the people received a beneficial portion of the government's
\nincome from forest exploration and, according to Krustanto, to
\nminimize the deterioration of the forest.<\/p>\n
The bylaw stipulates that the community will be the sole
\nstakeholder of the timber estate and will determine which trees
\nor plants are appropriate for growing in the forest area, in
\nkeeping with the regency's land conditions. The Wonosobo Forest
\nForum, consisting of the local administration and experts, will
\nserve as a coordinating body.<\/p>\n
D. Soehardono, chief of the local forestry and plantation
\noffice, explained that, similar to the new policy on forest
\nmanagement implemented in Sumedang, West Java, the ownership of
\nthe forest in the regency had been returned to the indigenous
\ncommunity.<\/p>\n
The allocation of profits, he said, would be in line with the
\nspirit of regional autonomy as regulated in Law No. 25\/1999 on
\nfiscal balance between the central and regional administrations.<\/p>\n
\"The local community is to decide on the management of the
\nforest. Thirty percent of its profits will go to the people, 20
\npercent to the village administration while the remaining 50
\npercent goes to the regency and will be allocated to the building
\nof infrastructure.\"<\/p>\n
Farmers praised the bylaw, which they believed would help them
\nmake a living from their own backyard, previously in the hands of
\nPerhutani.<\/p>\n
Leader of the Kedu-Banyumas Farmers Union, Sumaeri, revealed
\nthat Perhutani had prohibited farmers from tending to their herds
\nnear the timber estate and collecting twigs there for firewood.<\/p>\n
\"Perhutani only enrich themselves, but never let us enjoy the
\nprofits from the timber estate,\" Sumaeri said, while calling for
\nthe withdrawal of the company, which he said \"was no use to the
\ncommunity\".<\/p>\n
Under the current system, farmers are allowed to plant
\nintercrops such as coffee, Zalacca palm, and spices at the local
\ncommunity-managed forest and potatoes at the pine estate. The
\nintercrops have become the source of the farmers' livelihood.<\/p>\n
But, according to Krustanto, the farmers are still treated as
\nif they are coolies working for the timber estate.<\/p>\n
\"Perhutani has placed a strong emphasis on the economic
\naspects of the forest but ignores other aspects such as ecology,
\nthe ecosystem, water reservation, medicinal herbs that grow only
\nin the forest, and especially squatters or semi-nomadic farmers
\nliving in the forest,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The timber company's management is not happy with the bylaw,
\nclaiming that it has not contributed to the deterioration of the
\nforest and blaming it on the upheaval following the fall of the
\nNew Order regime, when \"outsiders\" were allowed to exploit the
\nforest with impunity.<\/p>\n
\"We have tried to protect the forest from the poachers. We
\nhave caught many and have turned them over to the police.
\nPerhutani has also implemented programs to alleviate locals'
\npoverty and the reforestation program,\" Perhutani Kedu Utara
\nadministration assistant Bambang Djoemadijono said.<\/p>\n
Perhutani also insisted that they had the right to control the
\ntimber estate under the terms of Law No. 41\/1999 on forestry,
\nwhich was enacted long before the package laws on regional
\nautonomy were endorsed.<\/p>\n
Bambang said Perhutani had even raised its contributions to
\nthe local people, even though they had suffered losses due to
\nillegal logging, adding that the company had formulated the plan
\nto rehabilitate and expand the forest as a means of compensating
\nfor the destruction of forests in Java, where only 16 percent of
\nthe original forest cover now remained.<\/p>\n
A member of Tambi village Farmers Union, Nurul Mubin,
\ncriticized the policy imposed by Perhutani that gives villagers
\nthe right to manage the conservation forest but requires each
\nvillage to collect specified amounts of money.<\/p>\n
\"Perhutani has collected Rp 8 million from Tambi village,
\nwhere each family had to pay Rp 20,000 for one small plot of
\nland. But we are luckier than the neighboring Cemara residents
\nwhere they have to pay five times that amount for the same plot
\nof land,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Bambang denied the existence of such a policy and promised to
\nreturn the money should the culprits responsible be found.<\/p>\n
The bylaw is expected to come into force in April if Jakarta
\nhas no objection to its contents. The administration, along with
\nthe council, the people and experts, are now drafting guidelines
\nfor the bylaw that are expected to be ready at the same time.<\/p>\n
\"We hope the government passes the bylaw, on the grounds that
\nit will give more benefits to the people compared with the
\nexisting regulations,\" Krustanto said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/wonosobo-awaits-control-of-forest-1447893297",
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