Alliance helps overcome Indonesia's forest crisis

Alliance helps overcome Indonesia's forest crisis

Marius Gunawan , Communications Manager, TNC-WWF Alliance,
Jakarta

Indonesia's tropical rain forests -- the largest and richest
in Asia -- are in crisis.

The forests are being destroyed at the alarming rate of over
two million hectares per year -- or an equivalent of 300 soccer
fields per hour. As the forests disappear, so do natural
resources as a source of income for about 30 million of the
poorest Indonesians who live in and around the forests.

This deforestation is also disturbing the habitat for
protected species such as orangutans, tigers and rhinos. In
Indonesia, fires linked to illegal logging and forest clearing,
as well as lost tax revenue, cost the economy billions of dollars
annually. About two-thirds of the deforestation is caused by
illegal logging activities.

Increased awareness on the part of producers, consumers and
businesspeople, coupled with a strengthening political will,
gives us hope of reversing this destructive trend.

Greening Asia's wood markets

The most important markets for exported Indonesian timber are
within Asia, especially China and Japan. There is an emerging
momentum for change in Asian wood markets due to shifts in
business practices and government policies.

In North America and Europe, markets already favor
environmentally friendly forest products, though these countries
continue to import several hundred million dollars worth of
illegally cut wood from Indonesia each year. Market changes have
a major impact on suppliers.

To increase competitiveness, forest products companies in
Indonesia are making voluntary investments to improve forest
management.

Practical steps can also be taken in Indonesia to combat
illegal timber exports. Systems already exist to separate legal
and illegal wood. Progressive companies in Asia are using third-
party verification of responsible forest management to
distinguish good wood from bad. Such systems have been used on a
large scale in other parts of the world.

TNC-WWF Alliance

To promote responsible forest management, an alliance was
initiated by the Nature Conservancy (TNC) and the World Wide Fund
for Nature (WWF), with the support of the United States Agency
for International Development (USAID).

The goal of this alliance is to bring together business,
government and environmental groups to combat illegal logging and
create market links to promote the use of wood from well-managed
forests, with a focus on Indonesia.

There are five main objectives of the alliance. First, create
market links to combat illegal logging. The alliance promotes
products from well-managed forests and aims to reduce the market
for illegally cut wood products in Japan, China and other key
Indonesian export markets.

Second, increase the supply of Indonesian wood products from
well-managed forests by helping companies and community
enterprises in Indonesia to improve their forestry practices and
achieve certification.

Third, demonstrate practical solutions to differentiate legal
and illegal supplies in natural forest concessions in East
Kalimantan, smallholder teak plantations in Java and industrial
pulpwood plantations in Riau.

Fourth, reduce investment in companies engaged in destructive
or illegal logging in Indonesia by promoting the use of
investment screening tools; and finally, share lessons learned
from this project.

There is already strong demand for Indonesian wood products
from well-managed forests, but the supply of such products is
very limited. The TNC-WWF alliance will assist producers in
meeting higher standards through several strategies, including
technical assistance to companies and communities in East
Kalimantan and Riau to identify and manage forests of high
conservation value.

Another effort is to develop partnerships with communities in
Java to assist in the production of certified plantation teak.
The alliance is also improving communication between "green"
foreign buyers and more responsible Indonesian suppliers.

Part of this approach is sharing information on responsible
forestry with producers, markets, governments and NGOs in
Indonesia, Malaysia, China and Japan through the multilingual
website www.forestandtradeasia.org.

The alliance is now in its second year of work. Despite
significant obstacles it is making progress. Indonesian forest
product companies are seeking help from the alliance to improve
forest management, and some have even set aside substantial areas
for conservation.

Local communities in East Kalimantan, Java and Riau are
strongly engaged in efforts to improve their livelihoods and
ensure that they get a greater share of the benefits from forest
management and conservation.

And foreign wood buyers are discovering new opportunities to
work with the alliance to help protect rain forests.