Concession areas exceed the country's total area

Concession areas exceed the country's total area

Muninggar Sri Saraswati and Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Inconsistent and overlapping legislation on forest
exploitation has resulted in the total area of forest and mining
concessions, of around 200 million hectares, exceeding
Indonesia's total land area of 191 million hectares, according to
a non-governmental organization (NGO).

"Indonesia's total land area is only 191 million hectares,
with another 330 million hectares of maritime zone," said the
Mining Advocacy Network (Jatam).

The forest and mining concession areas also exceed Indonesia's
total remaining forest area of 104 million hectares, Jatam said
in a recent report.

Mining projects on 84 million hectares of land have taken the
largest portion of the country's land, followed by forest
concessions (HPH) on some 54 million hectares of land.

"It reflects an overlap in authority and lack of coordination
between institutions due to inconsistent legislation on forest
management," said Harry Alexander of the Natural Resources Law
Institute (IHSA).

As a result, the country's forests are managed by several
institutions, including the forestry ministry and the energy and
mineral resources ministry, as well as regional administrations.

Each institution has the authority to issue concession rights
and exploit the country's forests, as stipulated in their
respective laws.

Environmental observer Longgena Ginting and forest expert Togu
Manurung, meanwhile, blamed the plethora of mining operations on
loose control by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources.

"Projects permits are generously handed out to two or three
companies for the same area," Longgena of the Indonesian Forum
for the Environment (WALHI) said, adding that it was easy for
companies to obtain a mining permit.

Meanwhile, Togu blamed the forestry ministry for the
uncontrolled exploitation of Indonesia's forests.

"The forestry ministry appears to have failed to draw a clear
line between conservation areas and those allocated for
commercial exploitation," Togu said.

To make things worse, Harry said, both forest and mining
concessions were allowed to operate on either the protected or
conserved forests. That policy explains why the total area
allocated for forests concessions is way above the actual, total
forested area.

"Consequently, it should not come as a surprise if a mining or
logging operation occurs in a protected forest," he said.

Harry warned that Indonesia's forests would vanish if each
institution continued to issue and enforce its own regulations
without taking into account the impact on ecology.

Although the forestry ministry claims there are some 104
million hectares of forest remaining, Indonesia is believed to
have only 60 million hectares at present, after losing more than
75 percent of its forests to exploitation in the past few
decades.

Some 43 million hectares of the forest, or an area more than
half the size of Borneo, has been damaged in the past five years.

The condition of the country's forests, once known as the
second-largest source of biodiversity in the world after Brazil,
started to decline after the New Order regime exploited the
forests and mines as its two major money machines.

Currently the government has also adopted an unfriendly
approach to forest exploitation. It is, for example, asking for
approval from the House of Representatives for 22 mining
companies to resume operations within protected forests.

Last July, State Minister for the Acceleration of Development
in Eastern Indonesia Manuel Kaisiepo openly rejected Forestry Law
No. 41/1999, which replaced Forestry Basic Law No. 11/1967.

Kaisiepo rejected Article 38(4), which bans open-cast mining
on protected forests, as he fears it would jeopardize some 39
mining operations in protected areas in Eastern Indonesia.

While the House has yet to give its consent to the 22
companies, the proposal has drawn protests from environmentalists
who warn that mining operations in protected forests would not
only endanger the ecosystem but also jeopardize the lives of the
indigenous people.