Govt says no new permits for natural forest conversion

JAKARTA (JP): The Ministry of Forestry and Plantations has stopped the issuance of new permits to develop natural forests for logging, plantations and other forestry-related industries.

Moch. Toha Bratakusumah, the head of the ministry's planning agency, said here on Wednesday that the suspension of all new applications for the conversion of natural forests would last for at least two years.

"The suspension will continue until a national program for forest management has been approved within the next two years," he said.

He said all applications received after May 22 would be rejected, and those which were still being processed would be reevaluated.

The existing permits could be revoked if the owners did not develop their areas, he said, adding that there were 1,896 applications for forest conversion licenses within the last 20 years, and that 259 had been granted involving an area of 1.87 million hectares.

Only 1.5 million hectares had since been replanted, he added.

The suspension was decided upon in line with Indonesia's commitment at a meeting of the Consultative Group on Indonesia (CGI) earlier this year to prevent further damage to Indonesia's forest areas, Toha said.

He said that of 41 million hectares of forest which had been licensed for logging or plantation activities, about 18.3 million hectares (45 percent) still consisted of primary forests, 11.6 million hectares (28 percent) were badly damaged and 11.1 million hectares (27 percent) slightly damaged.

Toha said some 2.2 million hectares of the country's 12.5 million hectares of protected forests, and 3.7 million hectares of 17.3 million hectares of conservation forest land were no longer being logged.

He said that during the last decade, deforestation had reached a rate of 1.6 million hectares a year due to exploitation, conversion, plundering, fires and cultivation activities.

"The number will continue to rise unless we can put a stop to it," Toha said.

Head of the Center for Forestry and Plantation Planning Boen Muchtar Purnama said the national program on forest management was a program to conserve as well as optimize the utilization of forest products.

"It would be a base for forestry activities for all sectors," he said.

The program has to be approved not only by the government but also by provincial administrations, non-governmental organizations and provincial legislation councils. (10)