Government cuts logging quota for 2005

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government has decided to cut the logging quota by 5 percent next year as part of its effort to help protect the nation's natural forests.

Ministry of Forestry spokesman Transtoto Handadhari said on Thursday that the ministry had set the logging quota for 2005 at 5.45 million cubic meters, down from 5.74 million cubic meters this year.

"The logging quota has been set to prevent the industry from unchecked overexploitation of natural forests... It is expected that with this quota, the country's timber supply will be sustainable," he said in a press statement on Thursday.

Transtoto said the ministry's Directorate General of Forestry Production Development would later determine an annual timber volume quota for each province.

Minister of Forestry M. Prakosa has been trying to restructure the forestry and related industries, which had enjoyed many privileges previously under the New Order regime and exploited the nation's forests to reap as much foreign exchange as possible.

As part of its restructuring policy, the ministry has decided to gradually lower the logging quota with an aim to restrict harvesting to timber from industrial plantations. The logging quota will be cut gradually and it is expected that in "several years to come", the quota will be down to only 2 million cubic meters per year.

The decision has sparked protests from industry players, who claim the industry has a production capacity of 30-40 million cubic meters per year.

Forestry-related companies are major export earners and last year, contributed about US$4 billion in foreign exchange revenue.

The government has also urged the industry to import logs or to procure them from industrial plantations to alleviate the shortage in raw materials.

Timber from plantations can supply only about 20 percent of domestic demand, most of which is taken from natural forests.

The government has also urged the industry to lower their collective reserve capacity from 30 million to 20 million cubic meters per year to cope with the declining supply of local raw materials.

The great discrepancy between the timber demand and the national logging quota has played a distinct role in the unchecked illegal across the country. In addition, deforestation destroys about 2.6 million hectares per year, threatening the remaining 40 million hectares of natural forest.