Aceh rebuilding 'may endanger forests'
Hera Diani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
In a rush to rebuild tsunami-devastated Aceh, there are fears that the reconstruction work may endanger the resources of first- growth forests in the province and other areas in the country due to the massive need for timber.
Observations conducted by non-governmental organization (NGO), Greenomics, in several regencies in Aceh showed that there was no proof that the timber being used in rebuilding Aceh was legal.
Greenomics executive director Elfian Effendi said that the proof of this statement was to be seen in how neighboring Riau had been one of the main suppliers of timber for reconstruction projects in the province, including those funded by the government and international organizations.
"Whereas in reality Riau's forests are threatened. The province has a quota of only around 220,000 cubic meters of timber from the forests and is barely capable of meeting the demand from local industry. How could it be supplying timber to other provinces?" Elfian told a media conference on Wednesday.
As for Aceh, the forests were left largely untouched by the Dec. 26 disaster. But there was a moratorium on logging across the province, which was declared in 2001 to protect its tropical forests.
The moratorium, however, had not completely stopped illegal logging, sometimes with the backing of the military.
The Greenomics survey showed that the earlier belief that people would simply cut down nearby trees to rebuild their homes rather than buy legally-sourced timber from elsewhere had turned out to be untrue.
"Only some five percent said they had considered obtaining the timber from nearby forests. Which means that the threat to the forests is not from the local people but from the suppliers, contractors and others involved in reconstruction projects," Elfian said.
According to Elfian, the government and other organizations appeared oblivious as to where the timber for the reconstruction of Aceh was sourced from, and were unable to give any details in this regard.
The master plan drawn up by the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) and the Ministry of Forestry, he added, also lacked clear pointers as regards logging and timber sources.
With the total amount of timber needed to rebuild Aceh estimated at between four and eight million cubic meters, Greenomics projected that in the coming year some 95 percent of the timber supply would probably turn out to be illegal.
"The logging could have a ripple effect ... It could eliminate vital water catchment areas, raising the risk of flooding. In the past two years, floods have inundated Aceh and other provinces in Sumatra," Elfian said.
Greenomics urged the government to draw up concrete plans, including mapping forests all over the country, so as to determine how timber could be supplied to Aceh in a legal and environmentally feasible manner.
"If there is not enough timber in the country, then the government must import it. Illegal logging and lifting the moratorium are not the answer," said Elfian.
The international organizations working in Aceh, he added, should not just delegate the responsibility of supplying timber to contractors.
"These organizations must oversee where the timber comes from. Otherwise, they can be considered as the buyers or users of illegal timber, and as such need to be prosecuted," Elfian stressed.