Environmentalists move to protect lowland forests

Environmentalists move to protect lowland forests

Tb. Arie Rukmantara and Theresia Sufa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta, Bogor

Environmentalists fear that the remaining lowland forests on
Sumatra will vanish in the next 10 years because of its
conversion into industrial forest to produce raw materials for
the world's rapidly growing pulp and paper industry.

Senior forestry specialist at the Center for International
Forestry Research (CIFOR) Christian Cossalter said recently that
timber from Sumatra's forests, especially from Riau province, was
being harvested not only to meet domestic industry's demand, but
also for export to China, where many Indonesian businessmen have
set up pulp and paper factories.

According to Cossalter, in early January of this year,
Indonesian-based Asia Pulp and Paper established a paper factory
in Hainan, southern China, with an annual production capacity of
up to 1 million tons. "Raw materials from China are insufficient.
I suspect that the timber comes from Indonesia," he said.

He also said major pulp and paper firms operating in Sumatra,
such as PT Indah Kiat and PT Riau Andalan Pulp and Paper, had a
huge production capacity that could reach up to 2 million tons of
pulp and paper annually, making them the biggest producers in the
world.

"Such a huge production capacity will surely threaten the
environment," he said.

Cossalter said his organization had conveyed the projection to
the government five years ago, and therefore he wondered why the
situation was getting worse.

"CIFOR is here to find the best way to manage Indonesian
forests. We have carried out various studies and voiced our input
to the government, but of course it's for the government to
decide whether or not they should listen to us," he said.

Meanwhile, a conservation biologist at BirdLife Indonesia,
Victoria Ngantung, said Sumatran lowland forests have experienced
rapid deforestation since 1900, when it occupied about 16 million
hectares of land.

"But now, only 500,000 hectares are left," she told The
Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

She explained that aside from wood-based industries, the
deforestation of the island was also being caused by conversion
of forests into plantations.

"If no immediate action is taken, it (Sumatran lowland
forests) will disappear in the next few years," she said.

Victoria said the lowland forests were vital as they possessed
rich biodiversity, and were home to about 425 bird species and
over a dozen endemic mammals, such as Sumatran Rhino and
elephant.

Therefore, a consortium consisting of BirdLife Indonesia,
BirdLife International and the Royal Society for the Protection
of Birds have taken the initiative to restore the ecosystem in a
100,000 hectare-forest block in Jambi and South Sumatra
provinces.

"After a series of studies we gave priority to lowland
forests in the two provinces because they are less damaged than
other lowland forest areas in Sumatra," she explained, adding
that the consortium had succeeded in encouraging the Ministry of
Forestry to issue regulations supporting their initiative.

The concession area will be safeguarded from clear-cutting for
timber, as well as from the paper industry and oil palm
plantations, BirdLife document says.

"The purpose is to save lowland forest in Sumatra by securing
it from any logging activities," Victoria said.

Through the effort, she said, it was expected that in about 20
years the area would have recovered, and large, tall trees could
function optimally as homes for endangered species.

The BirdLife document says surveys have revealed that 235 bird
species and 32 mammals, of which seven were wild cats and five
primates, are living in the concession area that also hosts a
high density of Sumatran Tiger and gibbons.