2004 elections add to forestry woes

2004 elections add to forestry woes

Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Illegal logging is set to intensify this year as political
parties race to raise funds, even from illegal logging, to
finance their campaigns ahead of the 2004 general elections, a
senior government official warned on Wednesday.

The warning was voiced by I Made Subadia, the Director General
of Forest Protection and Nature Conservation at the Ministry of
Forestry, during a meeting with the House of Representatives'
Commission III for forestry and agriculture affairs.

Based on previous experiences, Subadia said, illegal logging
usually rose dramatically prior to general elections.

The ministry said that this was because many politicians would
press the illegal loggers to provide them with more kickbacks.

"We predict the preparation of the upcoming general election,
which is usually tense, will have an impact on our forests in the
sense that it will intensify illegal logging practices," Subadia
said.

Predictably, the statement infuriated most of the Commission
members.

"We can't accept such an accusation. It is illogical. We
demand the statement be retracted," an angry legislator said.

Most of the Commission members nodded in approval.

Unconfirmed reports said that many members of the Commission
were involved in the logging business and even had forest
concessions in Kalimantan and Sumatra before being elected as
legislators.

Subadia reiterated that the rise in the illegal logging was an
all too unfortunate, yet common, phenomenon ahead of any general
election in the country.

"Anyway, I see why they would demand that I retract the
statement if it has caused inconvenience to the House members,"
admitted Subadia.

During his presentation, Subadia did not provide the projected
figures of illegal timber this year, but he said last year, the
volume of illegally-cut forest was estimated to reach 20 million
to 30 million cubic meters.

The ministry's data say Indonesia lost between 2.1 and 2.5
million hectares of natural forests last year, in comparison to
the annual depletion rate of 1.6 million hectares in the previous
five years.

During the meeting, Subadia also voiced concerns over the move
by many regions in Sumatra, Kalimantan and Papua to issue forest
concession licenses despite the fact that a 2001 forestry law
bans the issuance of such licenses by anyone but the central
government.

This will exacerbate the already grim situation of the
country's forests, he said.

After being sidelined for many decades, local administrations
are now eager to take what is left in their forests which were
massively plundered mostly by greedy businessmen during former
president Soeharto's reign.

Subadia said local administrations, which have been given
greater powers to handle their own political and economic
affairs, were not happy that the control of conservation areas
still lied with the central government and so most defy the law.

The ministry data showed that about 300 concession licenses
had been issued by the regencies over the past two years,
covering a total area of 2 million hectares.

Subadia also said poverty, which had been on the rise due to
the economic crisis, was also a factor behind the rise in the
illegal logging as many impoverished people would do anything,
including illegal logging, for survival.

Besides, the illegal logging has also been on the rise thanks
to the high demand for timber from China, he said .

He predicted China needed at least 40 million cubic meters of
timber each year, most of which was expected to come from
Indonesia.