Govt 'egoism' cited in environmental damage

JAKARTA (JP): Egoism in government agencies and the resulting competition among their vested interests are significant factors in environmental destruction and chaotic conservation management, environmentalists said on Wednesday.

The weak excuse of the lack of resources to cover the vast archipelago has been relied upon to answer critics' accusations the government lacked seriousness about conservation management, a report by the Indonesian Center for Environmental Law (ICEL) said.

It stated, however, that "a more basic issue is sectoral egoism, either in or between departments in charge of conservation management... and other agencies with interests in exploitation of conservation areas".

It cited the Ministry of Forestry and Plantations and its related government agencies. Among several instances of environmental destruction, the report referred to the forest fires of 1997 and 1998 which destroyed 627,280 hectares.

Various policies and regulations have been conveniently used, sometimes in contradiction of each other, to justify large scale exploitation, the report said.

The report championed decentralization as essential to save fast-deteriorating natural resources and the ecosystem.

"Significant changes in regulations have to be made soon. Overlapping policies resulting in chaotic management of natural conservation must be stopped," said Sulaiman N. Sembiring, head of case advocacy at ICEL.

He cited mining at the Kutai National Park in East Kalimantan and the Lorentz National Park in Irian Jaya, an activity illegal according to the 1990 law on conservation of living resources and the ecosystem.

However, the activities were permitted according to a 1989 joint decree of the forestry ministry and the mines and energy ministry, he said. It regulates mining activities in forest areas.

The 1990 law should include recognition and guarantee of local people's rights and participation in conservation activities, and access to information concerning natural conservation areas, Sembiring said. "We all know that the centralized policy on natural conservation has failed."

In his presentation on the study conducted from last September to January, Sembiring said the 1990 law referred to the responsibilities of provincial governments, but no subsequent regulations were ever drawn up to put them into effect.

Clause 38 of the law states the government can delegate part of its tasks to provincial or regional governments for the purpose of conservation.

Sembiring also said the 1989 decree on mining in forest areas regulated that protected areas under exploration at the time they were proposed for national park status could be exempted from the 1990 law.

Sembiring noted that since the joint decision came into effect, private companies used it to justify exploration of protected areas. He called for the 1989 decree to be revoked.

ICEL coordinator Mas Achmad Santosa urged the government to soon establish policies for democratic and transparent natural resource management.

Yaman Mulyana, program director of the Directorate General on Natural Conservation and Protection of the forestry ministry, said the ministry was preparing technical guidance on the use of natural conservation areas in conjunction with non-governmental organizations.

Recent hardwood looting in protected forests in Jepara, Central Java, he said, reflected low environmental awareness due to lack of information.

Sembiring countered that backing of authorities and parties seeking profit were also responsible. (edt)